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Israel and Lebanon extended their shaky ceasefire by three weeks yesterday as Iran’s foreign minister prepared for meetings with officials in Pakistan, which has been mediating efforts to end the wider Middle East war.US President Donald Trump announced the truce had been extended after he met Israeli and Lebanese envoys in Washington, and described himself as confident that a peace deal in that conflict would be an “easy one”.However, there was no sign of a breakthrough in the stand-off between rival US and Iranian blockades of the Strait of Hormuz, which has all but choked off maritime trade through a channel that before the war carried around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.No date has yet been set for a second round of direct US-Iran talks in Islamabad, but Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to arrive in the Pakistani capital, an official source in Pakistan said, without providing details about who he was likely to meet.It was not clear whether US Vice-President JD Vance or other senior administration officials were planning to return to Pakistan, after he announced he was leaving without a deal after a previous round of talks, but American logistics and security teams are present in Islamabad, the Pakistani official source said.In Lebanon, despite Trump’s announcement of a renewed ceasefire, Israel confirmed a claim by Hezbollah that it had shot down an Israeli drone with a surface to air missile.Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, urged the Lebanese government to withdraw from direct talks with Israel and warned that a lasting peace deal of the kind sought by Trump “will in no way enjoy Lebanese national consensus”.Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.”Every Israeli attack… gives the resistance the right to a proportionate response,” he added.Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire agreement, and has strongly objected to Lebanon’s face-to-face contacts with Israel.Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy the Iran-backed movement, said: “We have started a process to reach a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it’s clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this.”The April 16 agreement does not require Israeli troops to withdraw from the belt of southern Lebanon seized during the war.The zone extends 5-10km (3 to 6 miles) into Lebanon.Israel says the buffer zone aims to protect northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the war.Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war.Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, the Lebanese health ministry says.The continued fighting has angered war-weary Lebanese, who say they want to see a genuine ceasefire put a full halt to violence.”What’s this? Is this called a ceasefire? Or is this mocking (people’s) intelligence?” said Naem Saleh, a 73-year-old owner of a newsstand in Beirut.Residents of northern Israel had mostly returned to daily life, but expressed pessimism about the longevity of the ceasefire with Lebanon.”I believe that the ceasefire is so fragile, and unfortunately it won’t stand long, in my opinion,” said Eliad Eini, a resident of Nahariya, which lies just 10km (six miles) from the border with Lebanon.In south Lebanon’s Tyre, a man named Mohamad Ali Hijazi was searching a mountain of rubble for mementos of his family, killed in an Israeli airstrike minutes before the ceasefire took hold.”I’m trying to find my mother’s hairbrush… and a bottle of perfume that she loves,” said Hijazi, 48 – some of the last things he sent her from France, where he has long lived with his wife and two daughters.”My life has been destroyed. I haven’t slept for five days,” he told AFP, repeatedly fighting back tears.In Washington, Trump spoke in glowing terms of peace prospects for Lebanon, voicing hope for a three-way meeting with the Lebanese and Israeli leaders.The two countries have been officially at war for decades and until last week had not met so directly since 1993.A meeting between the leaders, let alone a peace treaty, would be historic.The envoys’ meeting came after Trump said he was in no rush to end the parallel war with Iran, adding that “the clock is ticking” for the Islamic republic.”I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t,” Trump said on social media.The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East, the US military said on Thursday, bringing to three the number of these floating American arsenals operating in the region.A second carrier was operating in the Red Sea on Thursday, while a third is also in the region, according to social media posts by US Central Command (Centcom).Iran has vowed it would keep the strait closed to all but a trickle of approved vessels for as long as the US Navy blockades its ports, brushing off demands from Trump to both reopen Hormuz and surrender its enriched uranium. 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Rebuilding trust between Abu Dhabi and Tehran will take “ages and ages”, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said yesterday, after Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East conflict.”You can’t be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones and then talk to me about trust. That will take ages and ages,” he said at a World Policy Conference in the town of Chantilly north of Paris.The top official said that 89% of the Iranian attacks targeted “civilians, civilian infrastructure, energy infrastructure”.”Tehran was telling the Arab Gulf countries that ‘you don’t matter in my calculations’, and I think this is going to last for a very long time,” Gargash said. “To the region – to the United Arab Emirates and other countries, Iran will be seen as a strategic threat.”Israeli-US strikes on Iran in late February sparked region-wide conflict, with Tehran targeting US allies in the Gulf.A ceasefire was agreed at the start of the month, but peace talks in Pakistan have stalled in recent days.Since the truce, the United States and Iran have shifted their focus to the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports ordinarily flow.Iran has all but closed it in retaliation for the war, while the US has imposed a blockade of its own on Iranian ports.Gargash said earlier this month he thought Israeli influence in the Gulf would increase as a result of Iran’s strategy in the region. Source link
This photo obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim shows an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boat allegedly taking part in an operation to…
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi reaffirmed support for international initiatives to ensure the free and secure flow of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, stressing its critical role in global trade.Speaking at an informal EU-regional leaders' meeting in Cyprus, he highlighted the need to deepen GCC-EU strategic ties and enhance coordination to support regional and global stability.Albudaiwi underscored the importance of dialogue to de-escalate tensions, noting that any comprehensive agreement with Iran should address its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as regional activities.He warned that any disruption to the Strait would directly impact European energy security and vital sectors, including aviation, calling for stronger cooperation on energy supply security and the development of alternative transport routes via pipelines and multimodal links.He also reaffirmed the centrality of the Palestinian cause, calling for an end to the Israeli occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.On Lebanon, he welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative for an international conference to support southern Lebanon and reconstruction efforts.Albudaiwi expressed hope for the second GCC-EU summit this year to advance cooperation on trade, visa facilitation, digital transformation, logistics connectivity, clean energy, and investment. Source link
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, announced yesterday that an Indonesian blue helmet died in hospital of wounds suffered on March 29 in an attack on his base.”Unifil deplores the passing today of Corporal Rico Pramudia, who was critically injured following a projectile explosion in his base in Adchit Al Qusayr on the night of 29 March,” the force said in a statement.His death brings to six the number of peacekeepers killed since the start of the most recent war between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2.A ceasefire has been in effect since April 17.Unifil said at the time of the March 29 attack that one Indonesian soldier was killed and another wounded.A preliminary investigation by the UN found that the soldier was killed by an Israeli tank shell.The following day, two more Indonesian blue helmets were killed by an improvised explosive device.The same UN investigation found that Hezbollah was likely responsible.Indonesia has already urged the UN to launch a thorough investigation into both incidents.Two French soldiers serving in Unifil were killed in an ambush on April 18, which French authorities and the UN have blamed on Hezbollah.The group denied any involvement. Source link
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly condemned a drone attack targeting two northern land border posts in Kuwait, describing it as a violation of the country’s sovereignty and security.In a statement issued on Saturday, the OIC General Secretariat said the attack was carried out by two drones originating from Iraq.The organization expressed its full solidarity with Kuwait and affirmed its support for all measures taken to safeguard the country’s security and stability. Source link
A Palestinian girl has died of wounds sustained days earlier after being shot by Israeli occupation forces west of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, medical sources said on Saturday.In a separate incident, the Palestinian news agency (WAFA), citing medical sources, reported that a civilian was wounded by Israeli naval fire off the coast of Gaza City. Intermittent gunfire from Israeli military vehicles was also reported in Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces continued demolishing residential buildings in eastern Gaza City, residents said.On Friday, 13 Palestinians were martyred in Israeli airstrikes in northern and southern Gaza. The overall death toll from the Israeli offensive since October 2023, has risen to 72,568, with 172,338 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities. Source link
GCC Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi strongly condemned attacks that targeted border posts in Kuwait, carried out from Iraq using drones.In a statement, he affirmed that the continuation of such attacks originating from Iraq constitutes a blatant violation of the principles of good neighborliness and all international laws and norms.He also expressed the GCC’s full solidarity with Kuwait and its support for all measures it takes to safeguard its sovereignty, security, and stability. Source link
This screen grab taken from undated video footage released by IRGC shows naval forces allegedly boarding a ship attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz. (AFP)…
The Israeli military on Friday ordered residents to evacuate the southern Lebanese town of Deir Ames, north of its self-declared “security zone,” saying it planned to carry out strikes there, a day after Israel and Lebanon extended a ceasefire by three weeks.The military said Hezbollah was operating from the town, without providing evidence or specifying when, warning that militant activity launched from Deir Ames would prompt Israeli action. Source link