Three Lebanese hospitals hit by Israeli forces in under a week

Airstrikes in south of country kill nine people and wound another 150, most of them medical staff

Three hospitals in southern Lebanon have been attacked by Israel in under a week, wounding more than 150 people and killing nine, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health.

Israel carried out an attack in the immediate vicinity of the public hospital in Tebnine on Wednesday, just days after strikes next to the Hiram and Jabal Amel hospitals in Tyre. The attack next to Jabal Amel on Monday killed four people and injured 127 – most of whom were medical staff.

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Israel strikes southern Lebanon despite Trump’s effort to shore up ceasefire

Warplanes carry out dozens of airstrikes and Israeli army issues evacuation warning for city of Nabatiyeh

Israeli warplanes have launched dozens of strikes across southern Lebanon despite a new agreement supposedly brokered by Donald Trump aiming to bolster the tattered ceasefire in Lebanon.

The US president said on Monday that he had stopped an imminent Israeli strike on Beirut and that he had spoken to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and representatives of Hezbollah and both agreed that “all shooting will stop”.

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Israel seizes strategic castle in deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years

Experts say capture is largely symbolic, but it complicates efforts to extend the ceasefire between US and Iran

Israeli troops have captured a clifftop castle as they made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than 26 years, further shattering a nominal US-brokered ceasefire and complicating efforts to extend the separate truce between the Washington and Tehran.

After days of intense fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military had captured Beaufort Castle, also known as Qalaat al-Shaqif, which it had used as a base during its previous occupation of southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000.

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Israel launches more than 120 airstrikes against Lebanon in a day

One of heaviest days of bombing in weeks complicates peace talks as Israel targets sites linked to Hezbollah

Israel launched more than 120 airstrikes against Lebanon on Tuesday in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks, as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his military was escalating its offensive against Hezbollah.

A ceasefire brokered by the US last month between Israel and the militant Islamist movement now appears close to total collapse, complicating negotiations to bring a definitive end to the war with Iran.

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Middle East crisis live: US attacks Iran missile sites as Tehran negotiators hold talks in Qatar

US Central Command claims targets also included boats trying to lay mines, rattling ceasefire, while Iranians meet with Qatari prime minister in Doha

Welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.

US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines on Monday, US Central Command said, as top Iranian negotiators arrived in Doha for talks to end the war.

Trump said the enriched uranium held by Iran could be destroyed inside the country, in a process overseen by an international nuclear agency. Experts said his announcement could amount to a major concession to Tehran.

Trump also said any deal to end the war with Iran should require certain countries in the region – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan – to sign up to the Abraham accords. The agreements aimed at normalising relations with Israel were brokered by the US during Trump’s first term.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Hezbollah in Lebanon, dealing another blow to hopes for a US-Iran deal. Tehran has demanded that any peace accord apply to the fighting in Lebanon as well.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi praised Hezbollah for the Tehran-backed militant group’s ongoing resistance in Lebanon against Israel.

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US strikes Iran missile sites and mine laying vessels as Trump’s promised peace deal remains elusive

Negotiators from Iran travelled to Qatar on Monday, with the fate of the country’s nuclear programme and access to frozen assets under discussion

The US has launched strikes on southern Iran in a test of the seven-week long ceasefire, as both sides played down hopes for an imminent peace deal even as negotiators from Tehran began new talks in Qatar.

US forces targeted missile launch sites and boats attempting to lay mines, US central command (Centcom) said on Tuesday, but stressed that the strikes did not indicate the ceasefire with Iran was over.

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Israel escalates strikes in Lebanon as Netanyahu vows to ‘crush’ Hezbollah

Hezbollah and Israel launch attacks amid increasingly imperilled ceasefire and stalling talks between US and Iran

The Israeli army has intensified strikes in southern Lebanon, as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate its offensive in an effort to “crush” Hezbollah in a further erosion of an already fragmented ceasefire.

In turn, Hezbollah said it staged several attacks on Monday on three barracks and a military post in northern Israel “in response to the violation of the ceasefire” by Israel.

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Israeli strikes pound Lebanon despite signs US and Iran are close to peace deal

Some casualties after attacks on multiple locations in south and east of country on Sunday, state media reports

Israeli strikes have hit southern and eastern Lebanon, a day after 11 people were killed in a single raid on the south despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war and claims that the US and Iran are about to reach a peace deal.

Saturday’s strike in Sir al-Gharbiyeh “resulted in a massacre whose final toll is 11 dead including a child and six women, and nine wounded including four children and a woman,” Lebanon’s health ministry said.

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Middle East crisis live: Trump warns ‘clock is ticking’ for Iran to reach peace deal

US president says there ‘won’t be anything left’ of country if it doesn’t come to an agreement

Oman’s foreign ministry has condemned the drone strike that caused a fire at the perimeter of UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant on Sunday.

In a statement shared to X, the ministry expressed its solidarity with the UAE but stressed that it rejected all “hostile and escalatory acts” as it urged for dialogue to address regional issues and called for international law to be respected by all parties.

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Shaky truce between Israel and Lebanon extended for 45 days, US says

Statement following ‘productive’ talks in Washington comes as Israel launches strikes on southern city of Tyre

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 45-day extension of their ceasefire after another round of talks in Washington, the US state department has said.

It came after two “productive” days of talks, and more negotiations would be held from 2-3 June, the department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.

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Hezbollah drone strikes target Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon

Ceasefire frays further as Israel also carries out airstrikes and issues new displacement orders for south Lebanon

Hezbollah launched several drones at Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon on Tuesday, while Israel issued new displacement orders for south Lebanon and carried out airstrikes, as the fraying ceasefire failed to stop fighting between the two sides.

Hezbollah claimed Tuesday’s attack injured several Israeli soldiers, but no confirmation was given from the Israeli military, apart from a statement saying interceptor missiles had been fired at incoming Hezbollah drones.

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Lebanon health ministry says Israeli strikes kill 14 in deadliest day since ceasefire began

The Israeli government and Hezbollah have traded blame over breaches to the truce, which is set to run for several more weeks

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south killed 14 people on Sunday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into force over a week ago.

The health ministry said the dead on Sunday included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded. Israel said one of its soldiers was also killed.

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Middle East crisis live: Iran claims it has ‘new cards for battlefield’, and weighs talks in Pakistan

Iranian official stresses no decision made on taking part, as US vice-president JD Vance is set to travel to Islamabad for negotiations

Iran’s armed forces are ready to deliver an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed hostile action by its adversaries, Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, was quoted by the Tasnim news agency as having said.

He said Tehran had the upper hand militarily, including in the management of the strait of Hormuz, and would not allow Donald Trump to “create false narratives over the situation on the ground.”

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Middle East crisis live: Iran warns it will close strait of Hormuz if US blockade continues

Iranian parliamentary speaker also says passage through waterway will depend on Iranian authorisation and accuses Donald Trump of multiple falsehoods

A convoy of tankers was seen departing the Gulf and transiting the strait of Hormuz on Saturday, vessel-tracking data showed.

The group comprised four liquefied petroleum gas carriers and several oil product and chemical tankers, with more tankers following from the Gulf, according to MarineTraffic data cited by Reuters.

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Iran says strait of Hormuz ‘completely open’ but sounds warning on US blockade

Iran’s parliamentary speaker says strait could close again if US blockade continues, but Trump says it will remain in place until ‘transaction’ with Tehran is complete

Iran’s foreign minister has said that the strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, reinforcing hopes for an eventual end to the war in the Middle East and sending oil prices tumbling despite analysts’ warnings that there will be no immediate widespread resumption of passage through the vital waterway.

In a barrage of social media posts, Donald Trump claimed on Friday that Iran had agreed never to close the strategic waterway again, hailing “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!”

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Donald Trump claims to have ended a 10th war – but will the Lebanon ceasefire hold?

Lasting peace depends on resolving a border dispute dating back to 2000 and dealing with Hezbollah’s weapons

Israel’s security cabinet first heard about the ceasefire with Lebanon from a social media post by Donald Trump. Hezbollah first heard about the ceasefire from the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon. Each side shot off as many bombs, drones and rockets as they could before the ceasefire – imposed from above – came into effect.

Despite the US president claiming it is the 10th war he has ended, the situation on the ground in Lebanon looks anything but stable.

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Middle East crisis live: Hezbollah urges Lebanon to pull out of talks with Israel; blockade of strait of Hormuz begins

Hezbollah says it will not abide by agreements that result from the Lebanon-Israel talks in the US; Trump claims Iran wants to make a deal

Pakistan has reportedly proposed hosting a second round of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad in the coming days, before the end of the ceasefire, the Associated Press has reported.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter with the press, said the proposal would depend on whether the parties request a different location.

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Netanyahu says there is no ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel launches fresh strikes

Israeli PM says he will continue to attack Hezbollah ‘with full force’ after attacks that killed more than 300 people

Benjamin Netanyahu has said there is “no ceasefire in Lebanon” and Israel would continue “to strike Hezbollah with full force” as the country’s military launched fresh strikes.

The Israeli prime minister’s remarks and latest attacks on what the IDF called “Hezbollah launch sites” came shortly after Donald Trump said he had asked Netanyahu to be more “low-key” in Lebanon.

Later on Friday, a US state department official said Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week. The announcement came as Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct talks with Lebanon focused on disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

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Israel vows to occupy swathes of southern Lebanon to expand buffer zone

Defence minister outlines plans to destroy all homes and villages in area ‘in accordance with the model in Gaza’

Israel says it will occupy swathes of south Lebanon and destroy the homes along the border to prevent the return of about 600,000 residents, prompting concerns of long-term forced displacement.

The defence minister, Israel Katz, said that when fighting with Hezbollah ended, Israel would occupy the area under the Litani River, about 19 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border, as part of its so-called buffer zone inside southern Lebanon.

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Middle East crisis live: oil spill warning after tanker attacked in Dubai; explosions in Tehran and Jerusalem amid wave of attacks

Kuwait says fire broke out after Iranian attack on giant tanker and warns of possible oil spill in surrounding waters

Japan and Indonesia have agreed to step up coordination on energy security, Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi said on Tuesday.

“In light of the Iran situation, the strategic importance of resources and energy security is once again being recognized globally. Indonesia is a major resource-rich nation,” Takaichi said alongside Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto after they met for talks in Tokyo.

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