Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attends a quadrilateral meeting between the U.S., Iran, Pakistan, and Qatar at the Lake Lucerne Summit, aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at Buergenstock Resort Lake Lucerne, near Stansstad, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) to implement a ceasefire but said it would require a “complete cessation” of fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after U.S.-led talks in Washington.

U.S.-Israel war on Iran: Follow LIVE updates on June 4, 2026

The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create “pilot zones” in which the Lebanese armed forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors”.

The development came despite continued cross-border attacks earlier in the day, with Hezbollah saying it targeted Israeli troops and Israeli strikes killing at least nine people in southern Lebanon.

The joint statement said the ceasefire was “contingent on a complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah as well as evacuation of the group’s operatives from southern Lebanon.

The meetings in Washington were the fourth round of direct talks by Lebanese and Israeli diplomats since fighting erupted on March 2, when Hezbollah renewed attacks against Israel in support of Iran.

Both sides will meet for more talks the week of June 22, the statement said, “with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement”.

Lebanon state media says Israel strike kills paramedic

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a paramedic, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported late on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) citing Lebanon’s health ministry.

“The Israeli enemy, in what marks the fourth attack in less than 24 hours on paramedics and healthcare facilities, directly targeted an ambulance team affiliated with the Islamic Health Committee in the town of Zibdine in the Nabatieh district, resulting in the death of one paramedic and the injury of another,” the NNA reported. The Islamic Health Committee is linked to Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s health ministry said earlier on Wednesday that two paramedics were killed in a separate Israeli strike, with at least 130 emergency and health workers now killed since the Israel-Hezbollah war began in March.

Hostilities continue

Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the war with Iran.

Tehran, however, insists the conflicts are linked and its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that any attack on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of war.

The Israeli military said it intercepted a “hostile aircraft” and two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon on Wednesday (June 3, 2026).

Hezbollah, for its part, said that “in response to the Israeli enemy army’s violation of the ceasefire”, its fighters targeted soldiers in northern Israel with a rocket barrage.

A truce to halt the fighting in Lebanon was meant to take hold on April 17, but has never been observed, with both sides justifying their ongoing attacks by the other’s alleged violations.

Senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati had told AFP on Tuesday (June 2, 2026) that the group would “not accept a partial ceasefire”.

Paramedics

Among the Israeli strikes on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) was one targeting a car on the main highway out of the capital, the NNA said.

The NNA also reported strikes on more than 20 locations in the south, some after Israel’s military warned residents of several villages to evacuate.

The health ministry said an Israeli attack on Al-Hawsh near the city of Tyre killed four Syrians and two Palestinians.

But an Israeli military spokesperson told AFP‘s Jerusalem bureau that “we are not aware of any such attack having occurred in the area”.

The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli strike elsewhere in the south targeted an ambulance, killing two paramedics from the Risala Scouts Association, which is affiliated with Hezbollah’s ally the Amal movement.

The ministry circulated images of a badly damaged ambulance, with medical masks spilling out of the vehicle and scattered on the road.

At least 130 emergency and health workers have been killed since the fighting began.

Lebanon’s army said a soldier was also killed in an Israeli strike, while an officer and a soldier were wounded in a separate attack on a military vehicle.

The force denounced what it called Israel’s “deliberate targeting of army personnel, vehicles and positions”.

Petition

On Tuesday (June 2, 2026), Israel’s military alleged that Hezbollah members were operating in Tyre’s Christian quarter and said it would warn people to leave should the group remain there.

An AFP correspondent said the situation in Tyre was relatively calm on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) morning, adding that some people who had been sleeping in cars or tents at the edge of the Christian quarter left for other parts of the city.

A petition calling for Tyre to be declared an “open city” free of any armed presence and urging Lebanon’s military to deploy there has garnered more than 180 signatures, including local lawyers and intellectuals.

Hezbollah has a strong presence in Tyre, and some signatories have since been attacked on social media for their stance.

More than 200 people have signed a similar petition concerning Nabatieh, another large south Lebanon city that has come under Israeli attack.

Israel has recently escalated its attacks and is staging its deepest ground offensive into Lebanon in two decades.

Published – June 04, 2026 08:59 am IST

Iran accused the United States of breaching their ceasefire on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) and warned it was ready to retaliate after overnight U.S. strikes targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats threatened a deal to end the war.

The Brent benchmark oil price jumped up by more than 4% after U.S. Central Command announced the new wave of bombings, and China urged both sides to respect the truce and to resolve their dispute peacefully.

According to the maritime safety monitor UKMTO, a blast damaged a tanker on the waterline off Oman — although the crew and vessel were reportedly safe after what was described as an “external explosion”.

Iranian state media reported overnight blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the country’s Revolutionary Guards said its forces had downed a U.S. drone entering its airspace and had fired at an F-35 fighter jet.

“The U.S. terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire … has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

It added that Tehran “will not leave any evil unanswered and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation,” without elaborating.

In a statement marking the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Tehran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared that Washington was losing its influence in West Asia and warned countries in the region to stop hosting bases from which the U.S. could launch attacks.

The United States, he said in a written statement, “in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day”.

Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said: “U.S. forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”

‘We’ll see’

He gave few details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines.”

Despite the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) that a deal remained within reach.

But he remained firm on the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil and gas shipping route which Iran is seeking to control.

“There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we’ll see if we can make progress. I think it’s a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it’ll take a few days,” Mr. Rubio told reporters, during a visit to India.

He said the strait was “going to be open one way or the other,” adding: “What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, it’s unacceptable.”

Tasnim news agency said Tehran’s negotiators are seeking the release of frozen assets, with half to be made available once an initial memorandum of understanding is signed.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said a top delegation returned from a two-day visit to Qatar on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) and Tehran said it was finalising a 14-point framework for a deal on ending the war, which began with US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28.

“Iran’s frozen assets are to be released during the course of the negotiations, and this amount is estimated at $24 billion in accordance with the 14-point memorandum of understanding,” Tasnim said.

Internet partially restored

The new U.S. strikes threaten the ceasefire that began on April 8 as the US and Iran struggle to reach an accord.

China, Washington’s great power rival and a major energy importer, expressed concern.

“We urge the parties concerned to fulfil their ceasefire commitments, resolve disputes through peaceful means… and promote the early restoration of peace,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.

Hopes of an accord took another blow when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Hezbollah in Lebanon on Monday (May 25, 2026).

Iran has demanded that any peace accord apply to the fighting in Lebanon as well.

An Israeli military official told AFP on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) they were expanding their ground operations inside Lebanon, sending forces beyond their self-declared ‘Yellow Line’, already 10 km deep into the country.

In better news for Iranians, internet connectivity saw a “partial restoration” after nearly three months of blackout, monitor NetBlocks said on Tuesday (May 26, 2026), calling it the “longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history”.

Iran’s Vice-President later confirmed the “first step” had been taken towards restoring the internet for Iranians, adding that the demands of Iranians “will be fulfilled”.

“Since a few minutes ago I could open international websites using my home internet provider,” said a 22-year-old woman from the western city of Kermanshah who declined to be named, but she said she still needed VPNs for social media.

Published – May 26, 2026 10:39 pm IST