Netanayahu’s been ‘a great partner’, says Trump – as it happened

Key events

Closing summary

We’re about to shut this live page but will continue our round-the-clock coverage of the Middle East crisis. You can read our new full report here: Israel and Lebanon agree to renew ceasefire as Trump seeks to overcome barriers to Iran deal. And here’s a recap of the day’s key news lines – thanks for joining us.

• Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their fragile ceasefire and create a number of “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon from which Hezbollah militants would be banned. In a joint statement released after a fourth round of US-mediated talks at the state department in Washington DC, the US, Israel and Lebanon said the ceasefire “is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River.

• The agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those areas. The Iran-backed Hezbollah isn’t part of the negotiations, which it firmly opposes, and has said it won’t abide by agreements that result from them.

• The US House of Representatives passed a war powers resolution curbing Donald Trump’s authority on the war in Iran. The House’s three top Democrats urged the Senate’s Republican leadership to pass the resolution, which directs the president “to remove United States armed forces from hostilities with Iran”.

• Iran’s foreign minister said “no tangible progress” had been made in negotiations on ending the war. Abbas Araghchi’s comments came as the US and Iran exchanged fresh missile and drone strikes, further jeopardising efforts to secure agreement. He also warned that any Israeli attack on Beirut “will lead to a full-scale resumption of the war”.

• Trump said he wanted to separate Lebanon from the Iran peace talks because “it’s a very different kind of thing”. He also told reporters that an Iran agreement peace negotiations could be reached within days and “could happen over the weekend”.

• Iranian state media said on Wednesday that Iran had targeted a US military ship approaching Iranian waters in the Gulf of Oman – a claim that US Central Command disputed within minutes, saying on X: “Iran is lying. US military assets at sea continue to fly, sail, and operate safely and unimpeded.”

• One person was killed and dozens injured in an Iranian drone attack that targeted Kuwait’s airport, according to authorities and state media. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it did not fire at the airport and blamed the destruction on US interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets. The US military rejected that and said Iranian drones targeted the airport deliberately. The Kuwait defence ministry said it had intercepted 13 ballistic missiles and 17 drones launched by Iran on Wednesday.

• Lebanon’s health ministry said three paramedics were killed on Wednesday in Israeli strikes on the country’s south, and that at least 130 emergency and health workers had now been killed since the Israel-Hezbollah war began in March.

More now what Kuwait’s military said were Iranian strikes that hit a terminal at its international airport, killing at least one person and wounded 63 in the first deadly attack in the Gulf since a ceasefire on 8 April came into effect.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it didn’t fire at the airport, instead claiming without providing evidence that the terminal was damaged by a US-made interceptor that failed to hit Iranian missiles. US Central Command called the claim false and said on X that Iranian drones deliberately attacked the airport.

Surveillance footage later released by Kuwait’s directorate general of civil aviation showed the moment of impact from several angles. In the footage, what appears to be a triangle-shaped, delta-wing drone slams directly into the terminal. Iran long has used such drones in combat, particularly its Shahed drones, which are also used by Russia in its war on Ukraine, the Associated Press is reporting.

Another photo from the scene showed a Kuwaiti soldier carrying what appeared to be a small aircraft engine consistent with those used by Iranian drones.

Kuwait’s defence ministry said it destroyed more than a dozen missiles and a similar number of drones from Iran.

Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways later resumed flights, after taking safety measures, the civil aviation authority said.

The foreign ministry said Kuwait would not tolerate the attacks and was expelling two Iranian diplomats.

Israeli strike kills third paramedic in a day, says Lebanon

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a paramedic, official media reported late on Wednesday, citing Lebanon’s health ministry.

The state-run National News Agency was quoted as saying:

double quotation markThe 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 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.

At least 130 emergency and health workers had now been killed since the Israel-Hezbollah war began in March, the ministry said.

As reported earlier, Donald Trump is saying he wants to separate the Lebanon conflict from the US peace negotiations with Iran because they’re “very different” matters.

Tehran insists that any agreement to end the wider Middle East war must also stop the fighting in Lebanon – where Israel is targeting Iran ally Hezbollah – and that the conflicts are linked.

But the US president said on Wednesday:

double quotation markWe’re trying to separate it. It’s a very different kind of a thing. We actually spoke to Hezbollah for the first time ever. We didn’t know they spoke.

They agreed yesterday that they’re not going to shoot, Israel isn’t going to shoot. We’re just going to see. But I’d like to separate it – I’d like to have a separate thing. Because it is separate.”

Before today’s announcement of a renewed Israel-Lebanon truce, Israel’s military said it intercepted a hostile aircraft and two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon on Wednesday.

Hezbollah said that in response to an Israeli “violation of the ceasefire” it targeted soldiers in northern Israel with rockets.

Iran says 'no tangible progress' in talks with US

Iran’s foreign minister has said “no tangible progress” has been made in negotiations to end the war on Iran.

Abbas Araghchi’s comments come as the US and Iran have exchanged fresh missile and drone strikes, further jeopardising efforts to secure a new agreement to end the war.

“Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted Araghchi as telling Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen television.

He continued:

double quotation markAny attack on Beirut will have grave consequences and will lead to a full-scale resumption of the war. Our armed forces are ready to strike Israel if it attacks Beirut.”

In contrast, Donald Trump again voiced optimism on securing a deal, telling reporters at the White House: “It could happen ... over the weekend.”

“I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually,” he said, quoted by AFP.

Whether the renewed Israel-Lebanon ceasefire holds and for how long will be in sharp focus over coming days.

The two sides agreed last month to a truce but hostilities have continued, with Israeli strikes killing more than 800 people in Lebanon since its announcement, and a dramatic intensification in fighting and bombardments over recent days.

Israel has attacked three hospitals in southern Lebanon in under a week, wounding more than 150 people and killing nine, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, has been targeting Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and launching rockets towards northern Israel.

Earlier this week Donald Trump announced Hezbollah and Israel had agreed to scale back fighting in a mutual de-escalation, seemingly averting an Israeli strike on Beirut. But attacks from both sides were reported later and statements from both cast doubt on the agreement’s durability.

At the weekend Israeli troops raised their flag over the ancient Beaufort Castle, marking their deepest incursion into southern Lebanon in about 25 years, and Hezbollah responded with even deeper rocket attacks into northern Israel.

The joint statement on the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire also says the two sides agreed to reconvene for more talks on “political and security tracks” in the week starting 22 June – about two-and-a-half weeks away – with a “view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement”.

Israel and Lebanon agree to renew ceasefire

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew their shaky ceasefire and create a number of “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon from which Hezbollah militants would be banned.

In a joint statement released after a fourth round of US-mediated talks at the state department in Washington DC, Israel and Lebanon said the ceasefire “is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River.

It was not immediately clear how the security zones would be established but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those areas, the Associated Press is reporting.

The statement – released by the state department – said:

double quotation markThese steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement. All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments. They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.”

The last reference is to Iran, which supports Hezbollah and insists Israeli attacks on Lebanon be halted as part of a framework agreement with the US to end the war on Iran.

Hezbollah isn’t part of the Israel-Lebanon talks and firmly opposes the negotiations, saying it won’t abide by any agreements that may result from them.

The US is saying Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a fresh ceasefire.

The news is according to a joint statement with the US released by the State Department on Wednesday after talks in Washington DC.

More on this soon.

The three top Democrats in the US House of Representatives have called for the Senate’s Republican leadership to pass the war powers resolution adopted by the House, which directs the president “to remove United States armed forces from hostilities with Iran”.

After the House voted 215 to 208 to approve the resolution, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, whip Katherine Clark and caucus chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement:

double quotation markMore than three months ago, Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth plunged America into a reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East without clear objectives, an exit strategy, public support or the authorization required by the United States Congress.

Republicans have since spent billions in taxpayer dollars and carelessly put our brave men and women in uniform into harm’s way while causing gas prices at home to skyrocket out of control … It is now time for Senate Republicans to do the right thing.”

Today so far

• Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that Iran peace negotiations could be reached within days “ and that Iran is “pretty close” to signing an agreement with the US. “It could happen over the weekend,” he said.

• Trump also said that he wanted to separate Lebanon from the Iran peace talks because “it’s a very different kind of thing”. This came within hours after the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned that any attack on Beirut would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of the Middle East war.

• The US House of Representatives voted on Wednesday on a war powers resolution curbing Trump’s authority on the war in Iran. The vote came nearly two weeks after House Republicans cancelled an earlier scheduled vote, on the grounds that they lacked the votes to defeat it.

• Iranian state media reported on Wednesday that Iran had targeted a US military ship approaching Iranian waters in the Gulf of Oman – a claim that US Central Command disputed within minutes in a post on X. “Iran is lying,” the post reads. “US military assets at sea continue to fly, sail, and operate safely and unimpeded.”

• One person was killed and several people were injured in an Iranian drone attack that targeted Kuwait’s airport, according to authorities and state media. Kuwaiti authorities have denied Iranian claims that the US used Kuwaiti territory and airpace launch strikes and have summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires over the matter. The Kuwait defence ministry said it had intercepted 13 ballistic missiles and 17 drones launched by Iran on Wednesday.

• The Israeli military said it intercepted two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon on Wednesday, after earlier announcing the interception of a “hostile aircraft” that had also crossed into Israel. “Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the area of Misgav Am, the Israeli Air Force intercepted two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the military said, referring to a community on the northern border.

• Lebanon’s health ministry said two paramedics were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on the country’s south, with at least 130 emergency and health workers now killed since the Israel-Hezbollah war began in March. A ministry statement said that “the Israeli enemy directly targeted an ambulance belonging to the Risala Scouts Association”, which is affiliated with Hezbollah ally the Amal movement, adding that “this resulted in the martyrdom of two paramedics and left a third with highly critical injuries.

• The Lebanese armed forces said a soldier was killed “as a result of being targeted by an Israeli raid” while he was travelling between the towns of Nabatieh and Kfar Tebnit in southern Lebanon. The state-run National News Agency reported at least six people in southern Lebanon were killed by Israeli drone strikes, while Israel said it intercepted a hostile aircraft likely fired by Hezbollah.

House passes war powers resolution to curb Trump’s authority in Iran

The US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump over his war on Iran on Wednesday, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces.

The House voted 215 to 208 in favor of the war powers resolution, as four Republicans voted with Democrats.

Wednesday’s vote came nearly two weeks after House Republicans cancelled an earlier scheduled vote, on the grounds that they lacked the votes to defeat it.

The Senate voted last month to advance a resolution forcing Trump to seek congressional approval after four Republican senators rebelled and voted with the Democrats.

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