Iran war live: Israel kills 31 in Lebanon; Tehran blasts US truce violation

Here’s what you need to know:

• Trump is set to convene an unscheduled cabinet session at the White House later today amid diplomatic efforts to end the war on Iran.
• The Israeli military issued forced displacement orders for close to 50 Lebanese towns, villages, and a city on Tuesday, the same day that Israeli forces killed 31 people in attacks across the south and east of the country.
• The death toll from an Israeli air strike west of Gaza City on Tuesday has now risen to six, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.
• Palestinian Columbia University graduate and former campus activist Mahmoud Khalil said that an appeals court has blocked his deportation from the US as he seeks to have his case heard at the Supreme Court.
• Israeli forces reportedly shot dead a 45-year-old Palestinian man during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Oil futures have fallen as international benchmark prices continue to be buffeted by complex ⁠negotiations between Iran and the US on ending the war and opening the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures fell $1.42, or 1.43 percent, to $98.16 per barrel as of 02:53 GMT on Wednesday, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost $1.66, or 1.77 percent, to $92.23 per barrel.

Oil ‌prices had surged on Tuesday after the US military carried out strikes on southern Iran, denting optimism that emerged over the weekend that Washington and Tehran were close to reaching an agreement.

Despite the hazy outlook on a deal, Reuters said reports that some LNG tankers had passed through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days lifted ‌expectations ‌that the waterway might reopen soon, which would add to global supply.

Israeli forces continued their military incursions across the occupied West Bank, killing a 45-year-old Palestinian man in Jenin, injuring a child in Hebron, and blocking key transit routes, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reports.

Here are some of the reported incidents:

• During a military operation in the Jenin refugee camp, Israeli forces shot dead Nasser Ali Kamel Al-Saadi, 45. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society confirmed that it received the victim’s body from inside the camp and transported it to the Jenin Government Hospital.
• A 13-year-old child was injured by rubber-coated metal bullets when Israeli troops entered the town of Bani Naim, east of Hebron. The teenager required transport to a hospital by emergency crews.
• In the northern Jordan Valley, Israeli forces raided residents’ tents in the Naba’ Ghazal al-Farisiya community, following an incident two days before when Israeli authorities confiscated all agricultural machinery in the area.
• Near Bethlehem, Israeli military personnel used earth mounds to seal off the primary road linking the al-Bawaba district to the Old City in al-Khader, a measure local sources said completely halts transit between the western countryside and Bethlehem’s city centre.

This Lebanese city has resisted Israeli occupation for decades.

Israel has bombed it countless times.

As Israel’s latest wave of destruction across Lebanon continues, here’s what you should know about Nabatieh, its people, and its centuries-long history of resistance and resilience.

Israel’s Netanyahu has announced that large numbers of Israeli troops are on the ground in Lebanon, pushing forward and seizing control of key positions throughout the southern region.

Israeli air attacks have devastated southern Lebanese communities—leaving residential areas and vital infrastructure severely damaged—and in eastern Lebanon, Machgharah in the Bekaa region has been targeted, as well as the strategic Qaraoun Dam further north.

Watch the report below:

Play Video

2:01

Iran and the US continue negotiations through intermediaries to reach an understanding, but no deal appears imminent after another exchange of fire between forces amid an air of distrust.

The markets in Tehran appear to be expecting an understanding taking shape with Washington, with Iran’s national currency gaining more than 5 percent this week.

The overall Iranian economy is under immense pressure as a result of local mismanagement and intensifying pressure from the US, including a naval blockade of Iran’s southern ports.

“Supply is in question at least for a few more months, so there’s no telling what will happen in the market,” said a vendor at a shop in downtown Tehran selling mobile phones and other digital products, mostly imported from the UAE before the war.

“We see how the prices make customers change their minds, but it’s not just the prices; you might not find the laptop you saw available a week ago with the same specs today,” he told Al Jazeera.

Read more here.

The UAE has welcomed a statement from the UN Security Council expressing “grave concern” about a May 17 drone attack on its Barakah nuclear power plant.

“The Council has spoken in unity: there must be an immediate and permanent cessation of all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in the UAE, including attacks and threats of attack against peaceful nuclear facilities,” the UAE’s mission to the UN said in a post on X.

The mission also called for those responsible for the “act of aggression – including those acting through proxy networks” to be held accountable.

The UAE’s Foreign Ministry previously called on Iraq to prevent hostile acts originating from its territory after the drone attack took place.

Over a period of some 10 hours on Tuesday, the Israeli military issued forced displacement orders for dozens of Lebanese towns and villages in the south and east of the country, as well as the entire city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.

The orders to flee in advance of Israeli attacks also warned residents of the targeted areas to “move north of the Zahrani River”, which is located some 40km (25 miles) from Lebanon’s border with Israel.

Here are the towns and villages, as named by Israel’s military, from which people were ordered to abandon due to planned attacks.

Cities:

• Nabatieh

Towns and village:

• Machgharah and Sohmor (Bekaa Valley)
• Sidon (Tyre)
• Borj Qalaouiye
• Jebchit, Al-Qusaibah (Nabatieh)
• Froun
• ‘Aba
• Deir Kifa
• Kfar Sir
• Safra
• Ghandouriyeh
• Nafakhiyeh
• Qaaqaaiyet el-Jisr
• Adshit al-Shaqif
• Khirbet Selm
• Bir el-Sanasel
• Qabrikha
• Majdal Selem
• Qlayaa
• Kfar Dounine
• Touline
• as-Sawana
• Bafliyeh
• Derdghaiya
• Chehour
• Hlousieh
• Barich
• Upper Hlousieh
• Tayr Felsay
• Bestiyat
• Arzoun
• Jabal al-Zuhrur
• Zahar Barieh Jaber
• Maaroub
• Debaal
• Houmayri
• Majdel
• Mahrouna
• Jouaiyya
• Chehabiyeh (Tayr Zibin)
• Deyrintar
• Toura
• Deir Qanoun en-Nahr
• Bedias
• Borj Rahhal
• Maarakeh
• Aabbasiyyeh
• Tayr Debba

Video footage has emerged showing Israeli settlers setting fire to Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

The recording obtained by Al Jazeera captures the targeted destruction of local property, highlighting the ongoing tensions and violence involving settlers in the occupied Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned of “ethnic cleansing”.

Translation: Settlers set fire to Palestinian properties, west of Jenin in the West Bank.

Pro-Israel US Democratic Senator Cory Booker says that Trump’s approach to negotiations has significantly strengthened Tehran’s position.

In a US media interview, Booker said that the current strategy has completely backfired.

“That’s why this war is wrong. He’s got us in a situation that’s worse than it was before. A more extreme regime, Strait of Hormuz now is a leveraging point for them,” he said.

“This weak nation has put America in a stalemate, and Donald Trump is being played as the fool that he is for getting us into this in the first place.”

We reported earlier on the activation of air sirens in several areas in northern Israel.

The Israeli military now says that it identified “a launch” that crossed from Lebanon into Israel “and fell in an open area, with no casualties”.

It did not specify if the projectile was a drone or a rocket.

As we reported earlier, Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on Tuesday that hit tanks, armoured vehicles, communication systems, and a platform hosting the Iron Dome missile defence system, as well as the downing of two Israeli quadcopters.

Israel is intensifying its strikes on Lebanon despite agreeing to a US-brokered “ceasefire”.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said his military is now operating with “large forces on the ground and taking control of strategic areas”.

Listen to the full report:

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster says it has documented an “unprecedented” deployment of US fighter jets and refuelling planes at airports in Israel to the extent that their presence is affecting civil aviation and airport capacity.

This includes dozens of US military aircraft stationed at Israel’s Ben Gurion and Ramon airports.

Kan reports that the planes have remained in Israel during the ceasefire with Iran and are not expected to leave Israel “at this stage”.

The International Monetary Fund is in talks on a new financial aid package for Bangladesh at Dhaka’s request, as the South Asian nation grapples with economic shockwaves due to the US-Israel war on Iran, the AFP news agency reports.

In March, officials in Dhaka said they were pursuing approximately $2bn in credit from global lenders to cope with energy vulnerabilities arising from increasing fuel costs linked to the war on Iran.

Ivo Krznar, the IMF’s representative in Bangladesh, said the organisation is in “discussions with the authorities on their reform agenda and policy priorities”.

The Palestinian graduate of Columbia University has said that an appeals court has granted a “stay request”, meaning he can’t be detained or deported from the US while he seeks a review of his case by the Supreme Court.

In a brief post on X, Khalil described the court’s decision as “good news” but noted that the “fight is far from over”.

Khalil has been targeted for deportation by the Trump administration following his role as a mediator between Columbia University administrators and students during the Gaza encampment protests in 2024.

Massive Israeli strikes have pounded eastern Lebanon, hitting Mashghara in the Bekaa region, and another strike further north, targeting the strategic Qaraoun Dam.

More deadly strikes followed a [forced displacement] order covering Nabatieh city.

Israel announced forced [displacement] orders for dozens of towns and villages on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the goal is to secure communities in northern Israel.

The rapid acceleration of attacks has taken an immediate toll on civilians. Residential buildings continue to take the brunt of Israeli strikes, leaving homes and lives in ruin.

In several locations targeted by Israel, rescue workers are being blocked from approaching collapsed buildings.

The scope of this war has fundamentally widened.

The diplomatic safeguards designed to prevent this exact scenario have lost their grip.

For the millions caught in the crossfire, the illusion of a ceasefire is entirely gone, replaced by a devastatingly familiar reality of past occupation and endless wars.

• Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that the latest Israeli strikes have killed 31 people, including several women and children, and left 40 others wounded, as Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Lebanese territory on Tuesday.
• Hezbollah said it launched 32 attacks on Israeli forces deployed in southern Lebanon.
• Trump is set to convene an unscheduled cabinet session at the White House later today amid diplomatic efforts to end the war on Iran.
• US Secretary of State Rubio said earlier that “specific language” on a deal to end the war was being negotiated in Qatar and would likely “take a few days”.
• Iran is beginning to see the gradual restoration of internet access nationwide after web monitors reported a near-total blackout during the war.
  

  

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, as efforts to reach a deal to end the conflict continue.

Stay with us for the latest news, analyses and reactions from across the Middle East and beyond.

You can find our updates from Tuesday, May 26, here.