Lebanon | Pakistan

The Israeli military published for the first time a map of its new deployment line inside Lebanon on Sunday, bringing dozens of mostly abandoned Lebanese villages under its control, ​days after a ceasefire with Lebanon took effect. There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials or ‌from Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to a US-backed ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The deal, which followed the first direct talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon on April 14, is meant to enable broader US-Iran negotiations, ​but with Israeli forces maintaining positions deep inside southern Lebanon. Stretching east to west, the deployment line ​on the map runs 5-10 kilometres deep from the border into Lebanese territory, ⁠where Israel has said that it plans to create a so-called buffer zone. Israeli forces have destroyed Lebanese ​villages in the area, claiming their aim is to protect northern Israeli towns from Hezbollah attacks. It has ​created buffer zones in Syria and in Gaza...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz, vital for the global trade in oil and other commodities, was open following a ceasefire accord agreed in Lebanon. Araqchi said in a post on X that the Strait was open for all commercial vessels for the “remaining period of ceasefire”. It was not immediately clear whether he was speaking of the 10-day truce agreed by Lebanon and Israel that went into effect at midnight or an earlier two-week truce between Iran and the United States that began on April 8. He said the passage of ships would need to be along the route that Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation had announced. US President Donald Trump welcomed Iran’s announcement. “THANK YOU!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, before going on a posting spree. In a separate post, he said that the US military blockade of ships sailing through the Strait to Iranian ports — announced after talks with Iran last weekend in Islamabad ended without a breakthrough — remained in place. “T...

Alongside hundreds of others forced to flee south Lebanon, Amani Atrash and her family waited eagerly on Friday morning for bulldozers to reopen the Qasmiyeh bridge, which Israel bombed just hours before a ceasefire began. Her family was among the tens of thousands of people hoping to go home after being displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war — despite warnings against returning to the south from the Iran-backed militant group, Lebanese officials and the Israeli army, which continues to occupy parts of the area. “We set off an hour before the ceasefire took effect so we could reach the bridge once it opens, allowing us to return to our town,” said Atrash, 37, who fled north at the start of the war. “The wait is very difficult because we want to get there as quickly as possible,” she told AFP as she sat in her car in a line stretching for kilometres northeast of the coastal city of Tyre. The 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into force at midnight, hours after it was announced by US President Don...

President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon, terming it an “important step” towards reducing tensions and restoring calm in the region, according to a statement issued by the President’s Secretariat.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying it was the result of diplomatic efforts led by former United States president Donald Trump.

A 10-day ceasefire deal agreed between Lebanon and Israel took effect on Friday while US President Donald Trump said he was trying to set up the first-ever meeting between the leaders of the two countries. The ceasefire was announced by Trump on Thursday. Israel has been carrying out deadly attacks in Lebanon against the backdrop of a now-paused US-Israeli war on Iran. The war spilled into Lebanon on March 2, with an attack by Hezbollah against Israel. Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,100 people in Lebanon since and forced more than 1.2 million ​to flee, Lebanese authorities say. Israel says Hezbollah attacks have killed two Israeli civilians, while 13 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since March ​2. Trump announced the agreement between the two sides on a ceasefire in a Truth Social post, saying that he had “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countri...

ISLAMABAD - Pressure on Israel over its military campaign in Lebanon intensified on Tuesday, as Italy suspended defense ties, Spain issued a blunt legal rebuke, and China called for respect for Lebanese sovereignty.

An international media association on Wednesday accused the Israeli military of discrediting a Lebanese journalist it killed last month by circulating an AI-generated image of him in Hezbollah fatigues. Three Lebanese journalists, including Ali Shoeib — a prominent correspondent for the Al-Manar channel — were killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon on March 28. The Israeli military claimed responsibility for Shoeib’s killing, saying he “operated within the Hezbollah terrorist organisation under the guise of a journalist”. It provided no evidence to support the allegation, but posted an image on X of Shoeib wearing a press vest, which is partially overlayed with a photoshopped version of the same picture in which he is wearing a Hezbollah uniform. It captioned the image: “Turns out the ‘press vest’ was just a cover for terror.” A day later, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani posted another grainy image on X purporting to show Shoeib in fatigues standing by a tank, writing: “We post this unedi...

Israel and Lebanon agreed to direct negotiations following talks in Washington on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had hailed as a “historic opportunity” for peace. The two countries have technically been at war for decades, and Tuesday’s talks have been vehemently opposed by Hezbollah, which announced that it had fired rockets at more than a dozen northern Israeli towns just as the meeting was getting under way. The United States is pressing for a halt to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, fearing it could derail the two-week ceasefire in Washington’s war with Iran after talks with Tehran in Pakistan failed to achieve a breakthrough. Tuesday’s meeting in Washington, the first high-level direct talks since 1993, was mediated by Rubio and involved the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States. “This is a historic opportunity,” Rubio said as he welcomed the ambassadors, acknowledging the “decades of history” complicating the process. “The hope today is that we can outline a fra...

BEIRUT: Israeli strikes killed more than a dozen people in Lebanon and Gaza on Saturday, while an Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, according to officials. The widespread violence came a day after plans were announced for potential ceasefire talks between Lebanon, Israel and the United States. Israeli strikes on a village near Sidon in south Lebanon on Saturday killed eight people and wounded nine others, five of them seriously, the Lebanese health ministry said. Lebanon’s health ministry also said a total of 10 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the country’s south on Saturday, with state media reporting Israeli raids on more than a dozen locations. Earlier in the day, officials said strikes killed 10 people in the Nabatiyeh district. The ministry said the dead included a member of the Lebanese civil defence and two paramedics from the Islamic Health Committee, decrying Israel’s “systematic” targeting of emergency workers. Hezbollah slams planned negotiations with I...

• Ceasefire talks loom as Lebanese death toll in war nears 1,900 • Air raid sirens wail across northern Israel amid fresh rocket barrage • UN warns of looming food crisis as conflict sends prices soaring BEIRUT: An Israeli stri­ke on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh killed at least 13 State Security personnel on Friday, a source from the government agency said, as fierce cross-border fighting raged despite plans for ceasefire talks between the two countries. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “enemy warplanes laun­ched a series of heavy strikes” on Nabatiyeh. One of the strikes hit the State Security office in the vicinity of the government complex. An AFP photographer at the site saw extensive damage and a fire still burning hours later. The attack comes as the Lebanese government prepares for negotiations with Israel next week to end a war that has killed nearly 1,900 people in Lebanon since it began in early March. Lebanon’s presidency said on Friday that a meeting would be held with Isra...

• Vows to support US, Iran in reaching a peaceful settlement • PM, army chief review mediation efforts, arrangements for talks • Israeli strikes in Lebanon threaten to derail negotiations • Iran says it was ready to retaliate before Pakistan intervened • Warns continued attacks could make talks ‘meaningless’ ISLAMABAD: Field Marshal Asim Munir calls on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.—APP ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday vowed to support Iran and the United States in reaching a peaceful settlement as Israeli strikes in Lebanon continued to weigh on the prospects of the upcoming dialogue, with Islamabad stepping up diplomatic engagement to keep a two-week ceasefire between Tehran and Washington from collapsing. The commitment came during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, where they reviewed the progress of Pakistan’s mediatory efforts and finalised arrangements for the talks. “They expressed satisfaction over the de-escala...

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had ordered his ministers to begin direct talks with Lebanon, pushing for Hezbollah’s disarmament amid mounting concern that its ongoing strikes could cause the fragile US-Iran truce to unravel. A Lebanese government official told AFP shortly after Netanyahu’s announcement that Beirut “wants a ceasefire” declared before starting any negotiations with Israel, a day after deadly strikes across the country. At least 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the bombardment on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, while Hezbollah said it was engaged in close-quarters combat against Israeli forces on the ground on Thursday in the south Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil. Netanyahu’s order for direct negotiations with Lebanon’s government was focused on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peace, according to a statement from his office, but he offered no immediate respite from the bombardment. “Lebanon wants a ceasefire before starting nego...

The world was relieved on Wednesday when Pakistan mounted an overnight diplomatic push to secure a temporary ceasefire and bring Washington and Tehran into direct negotiations. Things, however, were different for Lebanon. Israel launched its heaviest and most coordinated air assault on Lebanon since its conflict with Hezbollah began on March 2 amid the Middle East war hours after the US-Iran truce, killing more than 250 people. The assault proceeded even as the Hezbollah paused its own attacks, abiding by what sources close to the group said it understood to be an inclusive truce. On the other hand, Israel and the US insisted that Lebanon was not part of the temporary ceasefire. But Iranian officials rejected that interpretation, saying partial ceasefires were unacceptable and warning of a “decisive response” if violations continued. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now said he has instructed Israel to begin peace talks with Lebanon that would also include the disarmament of Hezbollah. Lebanese P...

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held a phone call with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, in which he sought Pakistan’s support for bringing an immediate end to Israeli attacks on his country, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The statement said that during the call, PM Shehbaz strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing aggression against Lebanon and expressed condolences over the loss of thousands of precious lives in these hostilities. “The prime minister said that Pakistan was engaged in sincere efforts for regional peace and it was in this spirit that the peace talks between Iran and the US were being convened,” it said. “While thanking PM Shehbaz for his peace efforts, the prime minister of Lebanon sought Pakistan’s support for bringing an immediate end to the attacks targeting Lebanon and its people,” the statement said, adding that both leaders agreed to remain in contact. PM Shehbaz also posted on X about the phone call, saying, “Grateful to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam who expressed...

Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, even as the Iran-aligned group paused attacks on northern Israel and Israeli troops in Lebanon under a two-week US-Iran ceasefire. Consecutive explosions shook Beirut, sending smoke billowing across the capital, as Israel’s military said it had launched the largest coordinated strike of the war. More than 100 Hezbollah command centres and military sites were targeted in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon, it said. The strikes killed 182 people and wounded 890 across the country, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has declared Thursday a national day of mourning after Israeli strikes shook the country. In Beirut, Reuters reporters saw people on motorcycles picking up wounded and transporting them to hospitals because there were not enough ambulances to get them in time. A group of firefighters worked to put out flames in a car park after one strike left more tha...

• UN official says Israeli forces destroy 17 surveillance cameras linked agency’s office in Naqura • Indonesia receives bodies of three peacekeepers slain by Israel BEIRUT: Israel’s military renewed its strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Saturday, severely damaging buildings and a major hospital, as international tensions escalated over the safety of United Nations peacekeepers caught in the crossfire. As Indonesia received the bodies of three of its UN peacekeepers killed while deployed in Lebanon, a UN security official told AFP that Israeli forces destroyed 17 surveillance cameras linked to the UNIFIL main headquarters in Naqura. The bodies of the three Indonesian men arrived in Jakarta on Saturday. Their flag-draped coffins were carried into an airport hall on the shoulders of uniformed comrades for a ceremony attended by President Prabowo Subianto. Family members wept over the coffins, each fronted by a photograph of the dead soldier in a gold frame. The fatalities occurred in two separate ...

An Israeli strike killed three journalists on Saturday in south Lebanon, with authorities denouncing the attack as a “war crime”. Lebanese television news channel Al Manar said its reporter Ali Shoaib and reporter Fatima Ftouni, from Lebanese pan-Arab broadcaster Al Mayadeen, were killed when their vehicle was hit. Lebanon’s information minister, Paul Morcis, later said Ftouni’s brother, Mohammed, a cameraman, had also been killed. Al Mayadeen said that the Israeli airstrike “directly struck a vehicle clearly marked as a press car in which she and fellow journalists were travelling”. It added that Shoaib and Ftouni’s brother were also in the vehicle. “According to Al Mayadeen’s correspondent Jamal Ghourabi, Israel targeted Fatima’s vehicle with four precision missiles. After that, when ambulances arrived on the scene, paramedics were then targeted, leading to the martyrdom of one paramedic, reflecting an obvious attempt to assassinate press crews and even paramedics attempting to reach them,” the report said....

Israel should extend its border with Lebanon up to the Litani River deep inside the country’s south, Israel’s finance minister said ​on Monday as Israeli troops bombed bridges and destroyed homes in the area in an escalating military assault. The comments by Finance Minister ‌Bezalel Smotrich were the most explicit yet by a senior Israeli official on seizing Lebanese territory in a fight that Israel claims targets Hezbollah. Lebanon was pulled into the regional war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel. Since then, Israel has ordered all residents to leave the area south of the Litani River as it pummels the area with air strikes, ​terming it a Hezbollah stronghold. Lebanese authorities say the Israeli air and ground assault has killed more than 1,000 people, and more than a ​million have been driven from their homes, with Israel having ordered residents to flee swathes of the country. ‘The new Israeli border must be the Litani’ Smotrich told an Israeli radio programme that the military campaig...

• IDF ordered to destroy all bridges over Litani River • Key Qasmiyeh bridge near Tyre damaged in strikes • Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemns attacks, calling them a ‘prelude to a ground invasion’ BEIRUT: The Israeli military on Sunday announced it was expanding its ground campaign in Lebanon, warning of a lengthy operation, after Beirut condemned what it called Israel’s flagrant violations of Lebanese sovereignty. Israel struck a main bridge linking Lebanon’s south to the rest of the country on Sunday after ordering its military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and to step up the demolition of homes near the southern border. The destruction of bridges and homes marks a significant escalation in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon. International law generally prohibits militaries from attacking civilian infrastructure, and the United Nations human rights chief has criticised Israel’s actions in Lebanon, particularly its use of widespread evacuation orders that have displaced more than a ...