June 19, 2026
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on June 7, 2026. Israel and Hezbollah regularly exchange fire but the south of the capital — including districts seen as bastions of the Iran-backed group — has been relatively spared, having been struck only twice since mid-April. Israel later issued an evacuation warning for most of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and its surroundings, a more frequent site of strikes. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
Israel and Hezbollah agreed a ceasefire on Friday, a US official said, after deadly exchanges between the two sides in Lebanon put a deal to end the Middle East war under strain less than two days after it was signed.
Talks that were scheduled for Friday between the US and Iran in Switzerland to take the deal to the next stage were postponed amid the fighting, with no new date announced.
Tehran’s top negotiator warned it would not bend on its red lines and that its finger was still “on the trigger”, even as shipping appeared to pick up in the Strait of Hormuz, which had essentially been closed during the war.
