LiveLive Updates June 20, 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 formatSubscribeJune 20, 2026UpdatesIranian, U.S. envoys heading to Switzerland for nuclear talks, Axios reportsSteve Witkoff with IDF Chief Eyal Zamir in Gaza, October. Credit: IDF Spokesperson's unitSteve Witkoff with IDF Chief Eyal Zamir in Gaza, October. Credit: IDF Spokesperson's unitU.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were both headed to Switzerland for talks, Axios said on Friday, as a cease-fire in Lebanon appeared to revive efforts to turn an interim Iran war pact into a lasting regional deal.The start of the negotiations on the agreement, which was scheduled to take place on Friday in Switzerland, was postponed. The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen network reported that the Iranian negotiating delegation delayed its arrival due to Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.See full story.Israeli envoy and UN official clash at hearing on children in conflictDiplomatic niceties broke down at the United Nations on Friday when Israel's ambassador and the UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict became embroiled in a furious shouting match at a public hearing.At a meeting in New York to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Israeli envoy, Danny Danon, demanded the resignation of Pramila Patten, who produced a report that blacklisted Israel for such alleged abuses for the first time, accusing her of bias."You caved to the secretary-general's obsession with targeting Israel," Danon said, referring to UN chief Antonio Guterres.Another UN official, Vanessa Frazier, Guterres' representative for children and armed conflict and compiler of a separate report that also blacklists Israel, interjected by shouting a point of order. She demanded that Danon refrain from "personal attacks" and added that she had "verified evidence."Danon said Frazier should be quiet. "We are a member state, and you work for the UN, and you will be quiet now. You will be quiet ... you and your shameful report," he said.Frazier, Malta's former UN ambassador, issued her report this week on behalf of Guterres warning that Israeli settler groups could be added to a global blacklist for violations against children as the UN chief voiced alarm at what he called a "staggering" rise in violations against Palestinian children.Israel itself already features in that report's so-called list of shame annexes for alleged violations. When Patten's report was issued last month, Danon called it "a new low" and Israel's foreign ministry vowed to sever all ties with Guterres, who leaves office after 10 years at the year-end. Both reports also blacklist Hamas.Rubio plans Middle East trip next week, Axios reportsU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is planning a trip to the Middle East next week and is expected to visit Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain, Axios reported on Friday, citing two sources.Rubio is expected to hold a summit with foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Bahrain, Axios reported later, citing a third unidentified source. The State Department did not immediately respond to an emailed request for confirmation.RECAP: IDF strike kills two in southern Lebanon after truce took effect, medics sayHere are Friday's latest updates from the U.S.-Iran peace process and Israel's war with Hezbollah:■ Four IDF soldiers were killed in a strike on a tank in southern Lebanon overnight, including Lt. Col. Dor Gedalia Ben Simhona, a battalion commander, the army reported.■ The Trump administration has been warned by U.S. intelligence agencies that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is "likely to take steps" that will sabotage the efforts to reach a lasting peace agreement with Iran, U.S. officials told The Washington Post.■ U.S. President Donald Trump asked Israel earlier on Friday to agree to a cease-fire with Hezbollah, NBC News reports. An Israeli senior official confirmed to Haaretz that a truce was reached. ■ Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, took to X in a first comment by an Israeli government official to the truce in Lebanon, saying that "Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate cease-fire" with Hezbollah, as local media in Lebanon reported that the IDF struck the southern city of Nabatieh al-Fawqa.■ Talks ⁠that ‌had been planned ‌for Friday between the U.S. and Iran in Switzerland will not take place, according to ‌a Swiss foreign ‌ministry statement.■ Two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon after the cease-fire agreement came into effect, state media and medical sources report.■ Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said in a conversation with the Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar that "Any violation of the commitments outlined in the understanding [toward a peace agreement] will be the responsibility of the United States."■ Iran's ‌Strait of Hormuz body ‌said it would ⁠waive planned fees to ⁠use the strait during a 60-day negotiation period under the newly emerging agreement signed with ‌the United States ‌this week.■ Iran has requested guarantees that hostilities in Lebanon will end before resuming talks with the United States in Switzerland, a diplomat familiar with the matter told CNN.■ Israeli opposition MK Naama Lazimi said on X that the government must "end the war in Lebanon" and withdraw troops from what she called the "Strip of Sacrifice" in order to reach an agreement with the Lebanese government.In the NewsAfter Being Shot by a Settler, a Disabled Palestinian Is Labelled a 'Terrorist'At Least Five Killed in IDF Strikes on S. Lebanon Overnight Despite Cease-fireThey're Living the American Dream. So What's Missing for Israelis in Boston?At Least Five Killed in IDF Strikes in Southern Lebanon Despite Cease-fireIranian, U.S. Envoys Heading to Switzerland for Nuclear Talks, Axios ReportsRemembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIHumiliated by Trump on the Iran Front, Netanyahu May Set the Middle East Ablaze'Once-in-a-lifetime Discovery': 1,700-year-old Roman Busts Found in IsraelIsrael Is Conducting a Systematic Campaign of Ethnic Cleansing in the West BankTrump and Netanyahu Hurtling Toward a Rupture That Could Shock U.S.-Israel TiesNetanyahu's Mouthpieces Turn on Trump, Revealing a Deeper Israeli IngratitudeIsrael Is Bleeding Support in U.S. and Pouring Tens of Millions to Change That