Israel to continue ground operation in southern Lebanon despite agreed ceasefire – as it happened

From 5h ago 14.38 CEST Hezbollah leader rejects latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon Qassem said that Hezbollah has rejected the latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal. In a written statement read on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV on Thursday, the Iran-backed group’s leader said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.” “What we are concerned about is an end to the aggression, ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal,” he said. “We did not make any commitment to any party to stop resisting as long as there is occupation,” he added. Share 1h ago 18.31 CEST Closing summary Iran’s supreme leader Motjaba Khamenei said in a written statement read out by a cleric that “the enemy is experiencing a meaningful and profound humiliation in the field and the streets, and it is now focused on trickery.” “After Iran was able to repel the enemy, who was defeated on the battlefield, it now seeks to undermine the resilience of the Iranian people and sow discord. The US created a military base called Israel, and Iran will not back down from its stance toward Israel,” Khamenei wrote. Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Thursday that as long as Lebanese villages were being bombed and people were being killed , northern Israel will not be safe. It comes as Israeli strikes killed at least four people in Lebanon, according to local authorities, and a UN peacekeeper was killed in the crossfire on Thursday. Qassem also said that Hezbollah has rejected the latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal. In a written statement read on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV on Thursday, the Iran-backed group’s leader said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.” Donald Trump has brushed off a House vote to rein in his powers to attack Iran without approval from Congress (see post at 12:34), saying it was “ meaningless ”. He singled out the four Republicans who joined Democrats to pass the bill in a vote of 215 to 208 yesterday. Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam said that the army would begin deploying in ‘pilot zones’ in the country’s south, a day after Israel and Lebanon agreed in Washington to implement a ceasefire. “The next step is practical and tangible: the deployment of the Lebanese army in pilot zones as a first phase,” Salam said, according to remarks read out by information minister Paul Morcos after a cabinet meeting, adding that “this does not prejudice our right to a full [Israeli] withdrawal, but brings us closer to it”. Israel’s Supreme Court has said Israel must allow visits to Palestinian prisoners by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ruling in favour of a petition against a ban that was brought in at the start of the Gaza war. The bar on Red Cross visits to Palestinian detainees has restricted independent verification of their treatment, following reports of systemic abuse, starvation, and denial of medical care towards Palestinian prisoners. The UN peacekeeper who was killed in southern Lebanon (see post at 10:08) has been identified as a Serbian soldier. The Serbian defence ministry issued a statement naming the soldier as Milovan Jovanović. The UN nuclear watchdog has sent a report to member states repeating its calls on Iran to urgently inform the agency of the fate of its enriched uranium since its atomic sites were bombed a year ago and let inspections resume fully. “The [International Atomic Energy Agency] director-general has emphasised to Iran that it is indispensable and urgent to implement effectively the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) Safeguards Agreement... and that its implementation cannot be suspended by Iran under any circumstances,” the confidential report, seen by Reuters, said. Four Iranian-flagged oil tankers passed through the strait of Hormuz on Monday, a first since 15 April and the US blockade of Iranian ports, according to maritime tracking firm Kpler. In data published on Thursday, the firm detected the passage of the Hilda I, the Amber, the Silvia 1, and the Happiness I, which were carrying a total of seven million barrels of oil. In Gaza, at least nine people have been killed in overnight Israeli strikes, including members of the same family, according to Palestinian health officials. They were killed in at least four separate strikes in Gaza City, the al-Shifa hospital said, which received the bodies. Five members of one family were killed in a strike north-east of the city, the hospital reported, adding that 15 others were injured in the attacks. Share 1h ago 18.13 CEST Joseph Gedeon Donald Trump has two things to say about his war with Iran. The first is that it’s already over. And second, a symbolic congressional vote to end it – carried by four members of his own party – is a stab in the back that could derail the peace talks he’s conducting for the war that’s already over. By a 215-208 margin on Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted to direct the president to withdraw US forces from hostilities with Iran, the first time either chamber has passed such a measure in the little over three months since Operation Epic Fury began on 28 February. By Thursday morning, Trump was on Truth Social calling the vote “unpatriotic” and blaming it on “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. The four Republicans who crossed the aisle, each with different ideologies, don’t exactly fit the bill for such a diagnosis. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is a libertarian-leaning constitutionalist who has opposed the war from day one, lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, and has, in Trump’s estimation, nothing left to lose. Warren Davidson of Ohio is a West Point graduate, former army ranger, and ex-Freedom Caucus member who voted against the war with Massie in March, but flipped back until recently. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a former FBI agent representing Philadelphia’s suburbs, is well known as a moderate who framed his vote in the plainest possible terms “You either follow the law, or you change the law,” he said. “You can’t violate the law. That’s not an option.” Trump’s Iran war messaging is not winning over Americans – or their representatives Read more Share 2h ago 17.50 CEST Four Iranian-flagged oil tankers passed through the strait of Hormuz on Monday, a first since 15 April and the US blockade of Iranian ports, according to maritime tracking firm Kpler. In data published on Thursday, the firm detected the passage of the Hilda I, the Amber, the Silvia 1, and the Happiness I, which were carrying a total of seven million barrels of oil. They all loaded their cargo in mid-April on Kharg Island, the country’s main oil terminal, through which 90% of the Islamic republic’s crude oil normally transits. The ships crossed the strait on Monday with their AIS transponders turned off. Share Updated at 17.51 CEST 2h ago 17.26 CEST Israel’s Supreme Court has said Israel must allow visits to Palestinian prisoners by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ruling in favour of a petition against a ban that was brought in at the start of the Gaza war. The bar on Red Cross visits to Palestinian detainees has restricted independent verification of their treatment, following reports of systemic abuse, starvation, and denial of medical care towards Palestinian prisoners. “We take note of the decision of the court and stand ready to resume our work in visiting detainees in Israeli places of detention,” said Patrick Griffiths, a spokesperson for the ICRC. The ruling, which was issued late on Wednesday and covers those held in Israeli prisons and military detention, followed a joint petition by several Israeli rights organisations including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) to end the ban. Share 3h ago 17.02 CEST Sanam Vakil The US-Iran ceasefire is entering yet another round of escalation since it came into effect on 8 April. This week, there have been further strikes on Iran by the US, and Iranian retaliation on Kuwait and Bahrain, alongside Israeli escalation in Lebanon. Earlier flare-ups over the past two months were quickly contained. Both sides have tried to keep the balance between no war and no peace. But as this ceasefire drags on it risks becoming yet another Middle East stalemate, albeit one with international economic and political consequences. Four obstacles are preventing progress. The first is trust. Iran does not believe Donald Trump can deliver a deal, much less stick to one. The fear is not only that Washington will walk away again but that the goalposts will keep moving, where first nuclear limits are imposed, followed by missiles, then regional policy and finally further political concessions dressed up as security guarantees. The second obstacle is the absence of meaningful contact. Since the Islamabad meeting in April between the US vice-president, JD Vance, and Iran’s speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, there has been no direct channel capable of turning political signals into compromise. Instead, negotiations are moving through regional mediators and a serial exchange of proposals. The third obstacle is the gap between what each side needs. Iran wants details and commitments, such as which sanctions will be lifted, when revenues will be unfrozen, how enforcement will work, and what protection will exist against another US reversal. Trump wants a faster and looser memorandum of understanding that can be announced and sold as a breakthrough. One side is searching for guarantees and the other for a headline and victory. The fourth obstacle is domestic politics. Any agreement between Iran and the US is toxic for both sides. In Washington, it will be attacke