Israel struck the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Tuesday, according to Lebanese state media, after warning residents of the city and its surrounding areas to evacuate ahead of possible strikes. The attack came a day after Iran warned it would resume attacks on Israel if it kept striking Lebanon. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
At least two Iranian military members killed in Israeli attack on Iran
Iranian state television reported that at least two members of an air defense unit were killed in the Israeli attacks that rocked the country the day before.
The report represented the first time Iran acknowledged fatalities from the attacks, which have put the Mideast on edge and represented the biggest blow yet to the straining ceasefire in the Iran war.
Lebanon state media reports strike on Tyre after Israeli warning
Lebanese state media said Israel struck the southern city of Tyre after the Israeli military for the first time warned the entire city to evacuate ahead of strikes.
“Enemy warplanes launched a heavy strike on Tyre,” the state-run National News Agency said. An AFP correspondent in the city had earlier seen remaining residents fleeing and heavy traffic heading north.
A delegation from France Unbowed (LFI) in Lebanon to meet with President Joseph Aoun
A delegation of elected officials from France Unbowed, led by MEPs Manon Aubry and Rima Hassan, is in Lebanon for the week to meet with Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and express its “solidarity with the Lebanese people”, LFI announced on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the far left-wing movement, the delegation will meet with “Lebanese political parties represented in parliament, the country’s main authorities who have honoured them with a visit and the representative of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Residents of Lebanon’s Tyre flee after Israel evacuation warning
Residents of south Lebanon’s Tyre including the Christian quarter fled, an AFP correspondent said, after Israel’s army for the first time warned the entire city to evacuate ahead of strikes.
The warning came a day after Iran, which insists a halt to the wider Middle East conflict must include a ceasefire in Lebanon, warned it would resume attacks on Israel if it kept striking its neighbour.
Israel has repeatedly struck the coastal city of Tyre since the latest war erupted with Hezbollah, following the Iran-backed group’s rocket fire on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
Pakistan, Lebanon army chiefs meet as Middle East mediation drags on
The heads of the Pakistani and Lebanese armed forces agreed to boost cooperation as they met in Pakistan with peace talks over the Middle East war dragging on.
Pakistan has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the months-long conflict, with Tehran insisting that any deal should include Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Lebanese army chief Rodolphe Haykal left on Saturday to meet his powerful Pakistani counterpart Asim Munir, with a Lebanon-based source telling AFP the visit was linked to the broader peace talks.
Israel army calls for evacuation of Lebanon’s Tyre, surrounding areas
The Israeli army on Tuesday called on residents of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and its surrounding areas to evacuate ahead of expected strikes.
“Urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, and the camps and surrounding neighbourhoods,” read a message posted on X by the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee.
“For your safety, we ask you to immediately evacuate your homes … and move north of the Zahrani River.”
The United States and Israel make their differences public
US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on Monday that while the United States and Israel shared interests, their positions did not always align. “The Israelis and the United States, we have a lot of shared interests,” Vance said. “But we also have some situations where our interests diverge.”
Middle East peace deal could be reached in ‘two or three days’, says Trump
US President Donald Trump said that negotiators were in the “final throes” of talks for a peace deal in the Middle East, after Iran and Israel halted fresh hostilities that threatened to reignite the months-long war.
Trump has repeatedly said that a peace agreement with Tehran is imminent, but diplomacy has stalled and the two sides have traded fire despite a ceasefire in place since April 8.
Iran and Israel “were going back and forth and now they both agreed through me to stop and we’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal”, the US leader told reporters on his return from an NBA Finals game.
Asked whether it would be matter of days or weeks, he said it would take “two or three days”.
Pilots are fine after US helicopter crashes near Strait of Hormuz, says Trump
The pilots of a helicopter that crashed around the Strait of Hormuz are “fine”, US President Donald Trump said late Monday.
Trump made the comments to journalists after watching the NBA Finals in New York while at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The New York Times first reported that a US Army Apache attack helicopter went down near the strait in unclear circumstances.
US Army Apache helicopter goes down near Strait of Hormuz
A United States Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and its two crew members were safely rescued, The New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the incident.
It was not immediately clear whether the Apache was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem, the report added.
Israel intercepted aerial target launched from Yemen
Israel’s military said early Tuesday it had intercepted an aerial target from Yemen, but there were no injuries.
“A suspicious aerial target from Yemen was intercepted. The incident has concluded. No injuries were reported,” the IDF said, adding that the incident occurred in the region of Eilat.
At least 14 people dead in Israeli strikes in Lebanon
Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed at least 14 people on Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said, including seven after Iran threatened to attack Israel again if it continued bombing the country.
Iran-backed Hezbollah meanwhile said it had targeted Israeli troops inside Lebanon, but did not claim any attacks on Israeli territory.
“An Israeli enemy raid on the city of Tyre, near the Red Cross centre, resulted in 5 martyrs and 8 wounded, four of whom were Red Cross paramedics,” the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement.
It later reported a strike on Marwanieh, also in the south, killed two people, including a child, and wounded 10.
Welcome to the France 24 liveblog covering events in the Middle East. Catch up on yesterday’s key developments here.
• US President Donald Trump clashed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over renewed fighting between Iran and Israel, as Netanyahu insisted that Israel has a “right to self-defence”.
• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed Monday to press on with Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, despite a warning from Iran that any such action would prompt the Islamic republic to take “severe” measures in response.
• Israel conducted strikes against military targets in western and central Iran, hours after Iran fired a salvo of missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation for an attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
