LiveLive Updates May 27, 2026Share to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeMay 27, 2026UpdatesIran state media says it has draft of initial U.S. deal frameworkIran's state ‌TV said Tehran had ⁠obtained a draft ⁠of an initial, unofficial framework for a memorandum of understanding ‌with the ‌United States.Under the framework, Iran would restore commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to ⁠pre-war levels within a month, while ‌the United ⁠States ‌would withdraw military forces from Iran's vicinity ⁠and lift a naval blockade.Military vessels are not included in the draft, state TV said, adding that if a final deal is reached within 60 days, the agreement will be approved in the form of a binding UN Security Council resolution.Israeli strikes reported in northern LebanonIsrael struck the Hermel mountains in northern Lebanon and the town of Bodai in the country's eastern Baalbek District, local media reported.Strikes were also reported in southern Lebanon's Nabatieh area.RECAP: Hezbollah says it launched an early morning raid against IDF troopsHere are Wednesday's latest updates from Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and the Middle East:■ Hezbollah said it launched an early morning rocket and artillery attack against Israeli forces advancing toward the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiya in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon.■ The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of five southern Lebanese towns and villages, including Aaramta in the Jezzine District, which received its first such notice.■ Mohammed Odeh, head of Hamas' armed wing, was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed.■ The Board of Peace's official World Bank financial fund has not received any of the $17 billion pledged by the U.S. and member nations for Gaza reconstruction efforts, the Financial Times reported, citing four people familiar with the matter.■ The Israeli military enlisted 433 ultra-Orthodox men into designated tracks in the April-May intake, an increase of about 24 percent compared with the same intake last year, according to data released by the IDF.■ Iranian hackers were responsible for a disruptive computer breach in March that forced Los Angeles' transit system to shut down parts of its network, Israeli researchers said.Israel's military chief says Iran’s nuclear program has been set back yearsIsrael's military chief Eyal Zamir said Wednesday that Iran's nuclear program has been set back by years. IDF chief Eyal Zamir. Credit: IDF Spokesperson's UnitIDF chief Eyal Zamir.Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit"The edifice of evil of the ayatollah regime has been significantly cracked, and its future and stability are shrouded in uncertainty," Zamir said at a ceremony inaugurating the Israeli military's new aerial refueling squadron. According to Zamir, Iran's military capabilities have been destroyed, and the Iranian economy is collapsing. The Chief of Staff added that the country's citizens "have yet to understand the scale of the disaster their extremist leaders have led them into."IDF orders residents evacuate five southern Lebanese locales The Israeli military on Wednesday ordered the evacuation of five southern Lebanese towns and villages, including Aaramta in the Jezzine District, which received its first such notice.Three of the locations ordered to evacuate were in the Jezzine District. One of the villages, Kfar Hounah, is north of the Litani River. Evacuation notices were also issued to two locations in the Nabatieh District.According to the statement, residents were ordered to leave their homes and move at least 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) away from their residences.Hezbollah says it forced back Israeli troops in southern Lebanon following direct clashHezbollah said Wednesday it launched an early morning rocket and artillery attack against Israeli forces advancing toward the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiya in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon. Smoke rises from Beaufort Castle following strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, Wednesday. Credit: Stringer/ReutersSmoke rises from Beaufort Castle following strikes, as seen from Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, Wednesday. Credit: Stringer/ReutersAccording to the militant group, the strikes were followed by direct clashes with Israeli forces later in the morning, forcing Israeli troops to withdraw. Israel later struck the area by air, reports said, with additional airstrikes reported across southern Lebanon. In the afternoon, Hezbollah said it had struck a gathering of Israeli troops outside Zawtar al-Sharqiya. The Israeli military renewed evacuation warnings for the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, urging residents to leave the area amid continuing operations. Al-Modon, a Beirut-based, Qatari-owned outlet, later reported artillery strikes near the city hospital. According to the IDF, several explosive drones detonated along the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon; no injuries were reported. The Israeli Air Force intercepted a drone approaching Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, the statement added. The Israeli military said it had conducted 150 strikes in the Tyre and Nabatieh governates and in the Bekaa Valley. A pre-dawn strike killed two people in the town of Deir Ames and wounded another, Lebanese officials said. In addition, a Civil Defense official was killed on duty during a strike on Tuesday, the Lebanese Civil Defense confirmed Wednesday. According to local reports, one medic was wounded in a drone strike while attempting to treat the official. Recovery operations continued at several sites struck Tuesday. Lebanese responders said the body of a woman was recovered from beneath the rubble of a destroyed home. The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen reported the Lebanese Armed Forces recovered the body of a soldier killed Tuesday in Israeli strikes on the Qaraoun dam after Israeli forces restricted access to the area. Thirty-one people were killed and 40 were wounded in strikes across Lebanon Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The deadliest strike was reported in the town of Burj ⁠al-Shamali, where 14 people were killed, including two children and three women. IDF says ultra-Orthodox enrollment increased 24 percent in latest draft intakeSoldiers attend a swearing-in ceremony for the Israeli military's ultra-Orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade at Jerusalem's Western Wall, 2025. Credit: Olivier FitoussiSoldiers attend a swearing-in ceremony for the Israeli military's ultra-Orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade at Jerusalem's Western Wall, 2025. Credit: Olivier FitoussiThe Israeli military enlisted 433 ultra-Orthodox men into designated tracks in the April-May intake, an increase of about 24 percent compared with the same intake last year, according to data released Wednesday by the IDF. A majority of the service members enlisted for combat roles, including 96 men who joined the Hashmonaim Brigade, which adheres to ultra-Orthodox rules, including complete gender segregation.Brig. Gen. Shai Tayeb, the director of the IDF's Human Resources Planning and Management Division, said that despite the increase in ultra-Orthodox enrolment, "the IDF needs to expand the ranks of those enlisting and serving from across Israeli society."On Monday, Haaretz reported that the IDF has avoided deploying a key combat support system at a southern Lebanon outpost manned by Hashmonaim Brigade soldiers because the unit operating the system includes female troops.German police arrest Syrian suspected of helping attack at Holocaust memorialGerman police ⁠arrested a Syrian ‌citizen on Wednesday suspected of ‌aiding and abetting attempted murder and grievous bodily ⁠harm in an attack on a tourist ⁠at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin last year, prosecutors said. Emergency services attend the scene at the Holocaust memorial after a man was attacked at the memorial site in Berlin, Germany, 2025. Credit: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Emergency services attend the scene at the Holocaust memorial after a man was attacked at the memorial site in Berlin, Germany, 2025. Credit: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP The arrest of the suspect, identified as Khalaf A. in line with German ‌privacy laws, follows the sentencing of a ‌Syrian refugee, Wassim Al M., in March to 13 years behind bars for attempted murder.The court found that Wassim Al M. was a radical Islamist with antisemitic views who had used a knife to stab a Spanish tourist in the neck at the ⁠memorial in February 2025. The tourist sustained life-threatening injuries.Prosecutors said they suspected that ‌Khalaf A. had ⁠spent the afternoon before the attack ‌with Wassim Al M. and encouraged him to go ahead with his plan.Reuters was ⁠not immediately able to contact the suspect's lawyer.The Holocaust memorial, a maze of concrete slabs in the heart of the ‌German capital, commemorates the murder of 6 million Jews by Adolf Hitler's Nazis.Iran set to reopen international airport damaged during war, local media reports The entrance to Tabriz International Airport's Terminal 4 as seen in this file photo from 2010. Credit: Nshervsampad/Wikimedia The entrance to Tabriz International Airport's Terminal 4 as seen in this file photo from 2010. Credit: Nshervsampad/Wikimedia Operations at Shahid Madani International Airport in Tabriz are set to resume Wednesday following "extensive repairs" due to damage sustained during the 2026 Iran war, Iran's West Asian News Agency reported, citing aviation officials. According to the report, the airport was subject to "frequent targeting" during the war, with strikes causing "heavy damage" to the runway and air traffic control tower. The airport is Iran's third-busiest international gateway, WANA said, and counts Istanbul, Dubai and Hamburg among its destinations. The northwestern city is home to an underground missile complex, which was struck as part of the joint U.S. Israeli campaign. Satellite imagery analyzed by Haaretz shows a series of strikes caused the collapse of part of the base, which is dug into the mountainous area and is used for storing missiles while allowing their launch from within the mountain.In the NewsSaudi Arabia, Qatar Hesitant About Joining Abraham Accords, Gulf Sources SayBen-Gvir Blocking State Inspectors From Israeli Prisons, Preventing OversightWhy Israeli Roads Are Becoming Death Traps for Owls and Other Night HuntersIn Tel Aviv, an Exhibition Turns Israel's 'Enemies of the State' Into ArtIsrael 2026 Election Poll Tracker: The Latest ProjectionsRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIFreed Gaza Flotilla Activists Report Sexual Abuse, Rape in Israeli CustodyFormer Israeli Soldier Dies by Suicide in Miami at Age 23'It Was Okay to Be Crazy': IDF Soldiers Discuss Moral Decay in LebanonNetanyahu's Promises of Victory in Iran End in a Glorious U.S. CapitulationWill Trump Forgive Netanyahu Over Iran? 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