Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on June 1 that a ceasefire in Lebanon remains a key condition for any deal with the US to end the Middle East war.
“We insist that a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition for any deal aimed at ending the war,” the ministry’s spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, said at a weekly news briefing, as Israel expands its offensive in Lebanon.
Tasnim added that Tehran and allied militant groups in the region have placed on their agenda the “complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the activation of other fronts,” including the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have previously launched attacks on passing vessels.
On April 14, the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States, Nada Hamadeh and Yechiel Leiter, met in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The goal is ostensibly to extend the ceasefire while working “on longer term disarming of Hezbollah, along with a peace deal between the countries.” During the two hours in which the meeting took place, Israel bombed at least 23 towns in southern Lebanon; afterward, Leiter said that both Israel and Lebanon were united in “liberating Lebanon” from Hezbollah.
This came less than a week after one of the most violent days in Lebanese history. On April 8, Israeli warplanes ravaged large parts of the country, killing at least 303 people and wounding 1,150.
(April 21, 2026)
Reacting to the EU’s failure to call for a vote to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement or to agree on any other concrete measures today at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns said:
“At this point, the EU’s decision to maintain its trade agreement with Israel represents a moral failure and illustrates brazen contempt for civilian lives, particularly in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and in Lebanon.
“One million people in Europe, more than 75 NGOs, almost 400 former diplomats, UN experts as well as Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia and Spain have all called for the immediate suspension of the agreement. Once again, these calls have been disregarded with Germany and Italy playing a key role in blocking the suspension.
The three countries sent a joint letter to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas last Friday, urging her to “urgently review the EU‘s response” and calling for action in light of the situation in Lebanon, as well as a recently approved Israeli law that would impose the death penalty by hanging on Palestinians convicted in Israeli military courts.
Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland have urged the European Union to consider suspending its association treaty with Israel, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters on Tuesday before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
„Spain, along with Slovenia and Ireland, has requested that the suspension of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel be discussed and debated today,“ Albares said.
(April 16, 2026)
(April 17, 2026)
In total, 40 senators supported the resolution late Wednesday. The seven Democrat Senators who voted against the measure were Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Chris Coons of Delaware, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
(April 16, 2026)
Sanders’ resolutions to stop bulldozer, bomb deliveries gain unprecedented Democratic support, demonstrating major shift in party’s approach toward Israel over wars in Gaza, Lebanon
Durchaus als historisch zu bezeichnen ist hingegen das Versagen der libanesischen Regierung. Sie nimmt mit ihrem Versuch, die Hisbollah zu entwaffnen, nicht nur in Kauf, dass die libanesische Bevölkerung der israelischen Kriegs- und Annexionsmaschinerie ausgeliefert wird. Sie riskiert auch einen Bürgerkrieg.
Send a message and demand the leaders of Germany and Italy support suspending the EU’s trade agreement with Israel. There is no time to lose.
On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin‘ Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE. It has been my Honor to solve 9 Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let‘s, GET IT DONE! President DONALD J. TRUMP
A phone call took place Thursday afternoon between U.S. President Donald Trump and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, during which Aoun reiterated his gratitude for Trump’s efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, sources told LBCI.
He also stressed the importance of ensuring long-term peace and stability as a step toward a broader peace process in the region.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun will not speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the near future, a senior Lebanese official told Middle East Eye, after reports of a planned phone call between the two leaders.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Beirut had informed Washington of Aoun’s position ahead of a call between the president and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday.
The development comes two days after the US hosted the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon in Washington, in the first such talks between the two countries since 1993.
NNA – Lebanon‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on Wednesday stated in a letter that, „Based on Cabinet Decision No. 14 dated 9/4/2026, it has instructed Lebanon’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations to submit an urgent complaint to the Security Council and the Secretary-General, regarding the Israeli airstrikes on April 8, 2026, which targeted several Lebanese areas, particularly the capital, Beirut. The Ministry also requested that the complaint be circulated as an official document to the General Assembly and the Security Council.“
We condemn in the strongest terms the attacks of Hezbollah against Israel which must cease immediately. We also condemn in the strongest terms the massive Israeli strikes on Lebanon conducted on 8 April which, according to the latest information shared by the Lebanese authorities, resulted in the death of more than 350 persons and wounded more than 1000. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.
We also condemn in the strongest terms the attacks against UNIFIL and we reiterate that the safety and security of UN peacekeepers must be ensured at all times.
We express our full solidarity and our steadfast support for the Lebanese people and authorities. We stand ready to provide emergency assistance to the more than one million displaced persons in Lebanon, in coordination with the Lebanese government.
We reaffirm the importance of respecting for Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 (2006). We will continue to support the Lebanese state to exercise its full sovereignty over the whole Lebanese territory. In this context, we commend the decision of the Lebanese government to ban Hezbollah’s military activities, as well as its decision to reinforce the full imposition of state authority over Beirut and to have the sole monopoly on weapons, and we encourage full and swift implementation.
Neben Großbritannien und Frankreich sind die weiteren Unterzeichnerstaaten Australien, Belgien, Dänemark, Finnland, Griechenland, Island, Kroatien, Luxemburg, Malta, Norwegen, Portugal, Schweden, Slowenien, Spanien und Zypern.
In der Erklärung verurteilen die Außenminister auch „in den schärfsten Worten“ die Angriffe der pro-iranischen Miliz Hisbollah auf Israel sowie die „massiven israelischen Luftangriffe auf den Libanon am 8. April, bei denen nach den jüngsten von den libanesischen Behörden veröffentlichten Informationen mehr als 350 Menschen getötet und über 1000 verletzt wurden. In Washington sollen heute Verhandlungen zwischen Israel und dem Libanon beginnen.
The strike on the Saeed family home in the village of Srifa took place on Wednesday, the first day of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire that many in Lebanon hoped would apply to their country, too. Instead, Israeli strikes killed more than 350 across Lebanon and left the Saeed family with four more relatives to bury.
„They said it was a ceasefire. Like all these people, we went up to the village. We went to the casket to read the prayers and walk home… suddenly we felt like a storm was landing right on us,“ said Nasser Saeed, Aline‘s 64-year-old grandfather, who also survived.
On Sunday, he joined other relatives in the southern port city of Tyre to pick up the bodies…
(April 9, 2026)
Hundreds of people have been killed in one of Israel’s deadliest strikes on Lebanon on April 8, one day after an agreed two-week ceasefire deal with the US. However, US and Israel have said that Lebanon was not included in the deal.
Souveränität und Sicherheit sind nicht umsonst zu haben. Dafür braucht es Rückgrat, das der Iran in den vergangenen Wochen bewiesen hat und weiter beweist. Die libanesische Regierung unter Präsident Joseph Aoun und Premier Salam aber fügt sich lieber dem israelisch-US-amerikanischen Diktat – auf Kosten der libanesischen Bevölkerung.
On 8 April 2026, shortly after the announcement of a ceasefire to the 2026 Iran war and Hezbollah signalling a pause in attacks against Israel according to the ceasefire,[5] Israel launched what it described „the most strong attacks“ across Lebanon, killing at least 357 people.[3][6] The casualty count was among the highest of the 2026 Lebanon war.[6][7]
Lebanon called the attacks Black Wednesday,[8] and accused Israel of carrying out a massacre.
In a rare diplomatic development, Lebanon and Israel have initiated direct contact through a phone conversation between their ambassadors in Washington, marking an unusual step for two nations that remain technically at war. The call, arranged by the United States, also included the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, according to confirmation from the Lebanese presidency.
The exchange signals a cautious opening in a relationship defined by decades of hostility and the absence of formal diplomatic ties. While limited in scope, the communication has already led to a more tangible outcome: both sides have agreed to meet in person on April 14 at the U.S. State Department.
“In Bibi, we don’t trust,” read one banner, as protestors chanted: “No to endless wars, no to a government of death”.
“What happened immediately after the ceasefire in Iran, Israel launched one of its largest attacks in Lebanon, which in my opinion, was an attempt to try and sabotage the ceasefire with Iran,” one demonstrator told AFP.
It’s no surprise that Benjamin Netanyahu immediately started to sabotage Donald Trump’s Iran ceasefire, by launching murderous Israeli air attacks on Lebanon, which already killed more than 200 people. It’s also, sadly, no surprise that the mainstream U.S. media did not report that Netanyahu and Israel were deliberately trying to torpedo the fragile ceasefire.
The Prime Minister contacted his Lebanese counterpart by telephone and strongly condemned Israel’s aggression.
According to a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s House, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam spoke over the phone.
The remotely piloted aircraft, often used by the RAF, supports missions including „surveillance, search and rescue, and armed operations alongside Nato and US forces“, according to the RAF.
The drone flew over Lebanon before and after the wave of Israeli strikes on Wednesday afternoon, which came after a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the US was agreed on Tuesday night.
The first thing Abdelwahab noticed was the silence after the blast.
Then came the smoke, the screams – and the realisation that the bodies he was pulling from the rubble belonged to people he knew.
It was shortly after 2pm on Wednesday when across Lebanon, Israeli warplanes had launched a heavy wave of air strikes on densely populated areas, including in Beirut, its southern suburbs, the eastern Beqaa governorate and southern villages.
The simultaneous strikes killed more than 300 people and wounded over 1,150, according to the Lebanese health ministry.