Summary of the day so far…
It has just gone past 14.50 pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut, and 15.20 pm in Tehran. Here is a summary of the key events so far today:
-
The US president, Donald Trump, told Iran and Israel to stop “shooting” after the two sides attacked each other’s territory for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took effect in April.
-
Trump then said that Israel and Iran were “looking to do an immediate ceasefire”.
-
Shortly afterwards, the Iranian military’s joint command said it was halting its offensive operations against Israel, but warned that if attacks continue, “including in southern Lebanon,” Iran will respond in “much more severe and crushing” ways than before.
-
The Israeli army said before this statement that it was preparing for at least several days of conflict with Iran and was operating in coordination with the US.
-
Iran launched waves of attacks on Israel on Monday, and Israel launched strikes on central and western Iran. Explosions were heard in the Iranian capital of Tehran – there were no immediate reports of casualties.
-
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Monday it launched a missile attack on a petrochemical plant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa in retaliation for Israeli strikes on the Karun petrochemical plant in Mahshahr, a city in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province.
-
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels also fired at Israel and warned they would target Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea.
-
The escalation in conflict, which threatened to drag the region back into war, came after Israel attacked the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Sunday in what Tehran viewed as a violation of the US-Iran ceasefire.
-
Israel claimed it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure after it said the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group fired rockets at northern Israel.
-
The Israeli attack hit two apartments in two separate buildings, Lebanon’s state news agency reported, killing two people, according to a preliminary casualty count.
Key events
MAP criticises closure of Gaza aid borders, calls it ‘illegal act of collective punishment’
Aneesa Ahmed
The director of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has criticised the closing of aid borders in Gaza, calling it an “illegal act of collective punishment”.
This comes after the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said on Sunday that all crossings with the Gaza Strip will remain closed until further notice – after Iran’s missile strikes in Israel.
According to The Times of Israel, COGAT said: “a number of necessary security measures have been implemented” after the missile firing. This includes “the closure of the crossings into the Gaza Strip, among them the Kerem Shalom Crossing and the Rafah Crossing, until further notice.”
However, Fikr Shaltoot, Gaza director at MAP, says that this is a “form of collective punishment against Palestinians and egregious use of starvation as a weapon of war”, and he argues that this is illegal and will cost more lives.
Shaltoot said: “Nearly a thousand Palestinians have been killed since the so-called ‘ceasefire’ came into effect – and even before the crossings were sealed, aid was only ever trickling in, keeping millions only slightly above the threshold of starvation and between living and dying.
“Life-saving medical supplies, fuel, cooking gas, essential equipment – all of it might now be blocked. Hospitals that were already struggling without medicines or power will now face an even graver crisis.”
MAP calls for the crossings to be opened, and calls on the international community to support the guarantee of full humanitarian access, the suspension on all arms sales, and support accountability mechanisms.
US did not intercept Iranian missiles fired at Israel – official
Speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity, a US official denied Israel’s claim that the US intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles launched at Israel overnight.
It contradicts an Israeli military official who said earlier that the US helped Israel’s air defence efforts, including by intercepting some of the Iranian missiles.
In previous rounds of fighting, the US has acknowledged helping Israel shoot down Iranian missiles fired toward the country, making the denial unusual.
Patrick Wintour
In this insightful analysis piece, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, sums up the state of US-Iran negotiations and nods at how Tehran’s grip on the strait of Hormuz puts them in a relatively strong position going forward despite the country’s economy suffering heavily from the war. Here is an extract:
Iran’s negotiating demands have been remarkably consistent: a ceasefire in Lebanon including the withdrawal of Israel forces and the unfreezing of half of Iran’s frozen assets, about $12bn; a form of Iranian management over the strait of Hormuz; and detailed discussions later about how Tehran assures the US it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, including the down-blending of its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
Trump has been very close to agreeing these terms, but is trying to find ways to phrase them to make them more palatable to his domestic audience.
That is because on balance, the battle of blockades in the strait of Hormuz is trending in Iran’s favour. World oil inventories slowly running out, crashing the global economy from Japan to Brazil, seems more dangerous than Iran running out of cash and oil exports. The democratic west’s capacity to absorb economic pain does not match that of the Iranian regime.
Iraq’s civil aviation authority said the country’s airspace has reopened after earlier announcing a 72-hour closure in response to the renewed exchange of fire between Israel and Iran.
Syria also reportedly reopened its airspace to commercial air traffic on Monday, after partially closing it yesterday. Iranian media is reporting that Iran has cancelled all domestic flights (until further notice).
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, announced that member states have sanctioned Iran over “restricting naval traffic” in the strait of Hormuz as she said Tehran’s drones are threatening safe passage for commercial vessels wanting to transit the key waterway. In a social media post, Kallas wrote:
Ministers were clear that Iran’s actions are unacceptable. In response, EU member states in Brussels today sanctioned Iranians over restricting naval traffic in the Strait. This is the first time the EU applies its new freedom of navigation sanctions regime.
Allow content provided by a third party?
This article includes content hosted on platform.x.com. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a full security cabinet tonight at 9pm, the Times of Israel is reporting. There has been no formal comment from Netanyahu on the renewed fighting with Iran since it began yesterday.
Hezbollah said earlier that it fired a rocket barrage at Israeli army vehicles and soldiers in southern Lebanon this morning in retaliation to Israel’s “violation of the ceasefire and its attacks on villages in southern Lebanon”.
Netanyahu will be under pressure domestically to continue his strikes on Lebanon and to degrade Hezbollah’s ability to conduct retaliatory attacks against Israel, but is in a bind as he is being told by the US to halt the military assault because it is derailing Washington’s peace talks with Iran.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has urged “all sides” to show restraint in order to give peace and diplomacy a chance of success.
In a post on X, Sharif said:
The recent surge in violence in the Middle East is a stark reminder of the dangers associated with a tenuous ceasefire and the unbearable consequences it may lead to.
As we work earnestly and painstakingly, together with our brothers and partners, to find a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict, and especially when the final objective is just about to be achieved, we sincerely urge all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a little more chance.
Let us continue to remain on the path of peace and diplomacy which have bright prospects of success instead of violence and destruction!
Pakistan has relatively good ties with both Washington and Tehran and has been the main mediator in the peace talks between the two sides.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting that a child was among three Palestinian people killed in an Israeli strike targeting a group of civilians in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
In a separate report, citing local sources, Wafa reported that several Palestinian people were injured after Israeli warplanes targeted a residential apartment in Gaza City.
Israel’s education minister Yoav Kisch wrote in a post on X this afternoon that schools would not open on Tuesday.
Kisch said the ministry of education aims to reopen classrooms on Wednesday under guidelines that would ensure students have access to close shelter.
Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Israeli military to halt preparations for another attack on Iran on Monday, two Israeli military officials told the NY Times, suggesting that the Israeli prime minister is looking to de-escalate attacks, for now, after pressure from the US, Israel’s biggest weapons supplier and most powerful ally.
Israel has struck southern Lebanon, according to its state-run national news agency (NNA). This comes less than an hour after Iran said it suspended military operations against Israel – with the condition of ending attacks, including on Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israel says that several sirens rang in the country’s north. Earlier today, Iran said that “if aggressions and hostile actions continue, including in southern Lebanon, far more severe and crushing measures than before will follow.”
Iran’s president says his country’s priority is “national security and the peace of our people.”
Posting on X, Masoud Pezeshkian wrote: “We will defend the rights of the nation with authority and will not retreat in the face of any threat.”
“Diplomacy and defense are the two wings of national power; we have neither abandoned the field nor the negotiating table. God willing, with unity and rationality, Iran will emerge triumphant from this trial as well.”
Israel halts Iran strikes as per Trump’s request – report
Israel’s Channel 12 news channel is reporting that Israeli strikes on Iran are being halted per US president Donald Trump’s request.
But the channel also reported that a senior Israel official said that the IDF will attack southern suburbs in Beirut if Hezbollah attacks Israeli towns.
Hezbollah official says group had “no direct contact” with Trump, despite president’s claims
A senior Hezbollah official has said that the group has not had any “direct contact” with US president Donald Trump.
Despite recent statements from the US leader suggesting otherwise, AFP reports that a senior official from the group claims that they did not have any direct contact with the president.
Senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati told the agency in a written response that “there has been no direct contact between President Trump and Hezbollah officials.”
This comes after Trump told reporters last Wednesday that “we actually spoke with Hezbollah for the first time, ever.”
Two days earlier, after Israel threatened to again bomb Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, Trump said that “through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah.”
Qomati said that the president was “perhaps” referring to the fact that parliament speaker Nabih Berri’s adviser “communicates with the US ambassador and passes on messages”.
Washington considers Hezbollah a “terrorist” group, including both its military and political wings.
Summary of the day so far…
It has just gone past 14.50 pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut, and 15.20 pm in Tehran. Here is a summary of the key events so far today:
-
The US president, Donald Trump, told Iran and Israel to stop “shooting” after the two sides attacked each other’s territory for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took effect in April.
-
Trump then said that Israel and Iran were “looking to do an immediate ceasefire”.
-
Shortly afterwards, the Iranian military’s joint command said it was halting its offensive operations against Israel, but warned that if attacks continue, “including in southern Lebanon,” Iran will respond in “much more severe and crushing” ways than before.
-
The Israeli army said before this statement that it was preparing for at least several days of conflict with Iran and was operating in coordination with the US.
-
Iran launched waves of attacks on Israel on Monday, and Israel launched strikes on central and western Iran. Explosions were heard in the Iranian capital of Tehran – there were no immediate reports of casualties.
-
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Monday it launched a missile attack on a petrochemical plant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa in retaliation for Israeli strikes on the Karun petrochemical plant in Mahshahr, a city in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province.
-
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels also fired at Israel and warned they would target Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea.
-
The escalation in conflict, which threatened to drag the region back into war, came after Israel attacked the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Sunday in what Tehran viewed as a violation of the US-Iran ceasefire.
-
Israel claimed it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure after it said the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group fired rockets at northern Israel.
-
The Israeli attack hit two apartments in two separate buildings, Lebanon’s state news agency reported, killing two people, according to a preliminary casualty count.
Iran’s armed forces announce the end of military operations against Israel – report
Iran’s armed forces have announced an end of military of operations against Israel, but have warned of harsher attacks if Israel resumes attacks on Lebanon, according to the Fars news agency. We have not been able to independently verify this report yet and Israel has not issued a comment in response.
The Khatam ol-Anbiya Central Headquarters was quoted as saying that “in support of the oppressed people of Lebanon” Iran gave a “painful response” to Israel after it attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday.
“Accordingly, a halt to the operations of the armed forces is announced; but it is emphasized that if the aggressions and evils continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures will be on the way.”
Trump claims that Israel and Iran are ‘looking to do an immediate ceasefire’
In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump said Israel and Iran are “looking to do an immediate ceasefire” and that “final negotiations on peace” are under way, without giving any further details.
He said the US blockade of Iranian ports – put in place to counter Iran’s effective closure of the strait of Hormuz – will remain in place until a final deal is secured. “Things should move quickly,” Trump added.
In an earlier Truth Social post, Trump said Israel and Iran must immediately stop “shooting”.
Israel has bombed Lebanon nearly 3,500 times during ceasefire, minister says
Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 airstrikes on Lebanon and hundreds of controlled explosions since the US announced a ceasefire for the country in mid April, Lebanon’s defence minister, Michel Menassa, said.
During a cabinet meeting, Menassa said that from 17 April to 7 June, Israel had carried out 3,491 airstrikes, 407 controlled demolitions and six “razing” operations, or demolitions – which have left some entire villages in the southernmost strip of Lebanon entirely flattened.
At least 3,613 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war on 2 March, according to the country’s health ministry. Israel’s renewed war on Lebanon was triggered in response to Hezbollah firing rockets at northern Israel after the US and Israel killed the former Iranian supreme leader in Tehran on 28 February.
More than 1 million people have already been displaced by the renewed Israeli war on Lebanon, triggering a major refugee and humanitarian crisis.
Over in the UK, British prime minister Keir Starmer has said it was “really important that all parties get back to a ceasefire” in the Middle East after Israel and Iran attacked each other’s territory for the first time since the April ceasefire came into effect.
The prime minister said:
I am deeply concerned about the resumption of violence. It is really important that all parties get back to a ceasefire.
There are serious negotiations going on, towards a lasting peace. It’s really important that we give them ever chance of success because this conflict is already having a huge impact across the world, including here in the United Kingdom.
So I say to all parties, we all have a responsibility to get back to that ceasefire and it’s really important we’re very clear about that.
