Israeli army steps up strikes in southern Lebanon, Israel accepts American plan for Gaza cease-fire | LIVE

We are closing our live coverage of events in the region for tonight. We will be back tomorrow with more news updates.

The Israeli army announced that it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen after anti-aircraft sirens sounded in the center of the country, according to a statement. “After sirens sounded a short while ago in several parts of Israel, a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted,” the army said in a statement. Several explosions were heard in the distant sky over Jerusalem.

Ten flare bombs were dropped by the Israeli army over the plain of Maroun al-Ras, in the Nabatieh district.

Al-Rissala [Scouts of the Islamic Mission], Amal movement's first-aid association, announced the death of one of its first-aid workers, Khoder Fakih, killed by Israeli army fire while inspecting his home near the border wall in the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun).

With no news of him, his family alerted the Lebanese Army, who found his body this morning in his house, near the wall.

The funeral will take place on Friday at 10 a.m. in Nabatieh, before his burial in Kfar Kila at 11 a.m.

An Israeli strike targeted the wooded area around Yater, in the Bint Jbeil district.

An Israeli strike targeted Iqlim al-Tuffahh (Nabatieh), according to our correspondent. The explosions were heard as far away as Saida. The correspondent also reports that Israeli aircraft are flying at low altitude over Nabatieh.

Our correspondent in the Bekaa, Sarah Abdallah, reports that Israeli aircraft have broken the sound barrier over the region.

The Israeli air force carried out a strike at Tebna, near Baisarieh, in the Saida district.

In the last few minutes, Israeli aircraft have carried out seven strikes targeting the area around the Berghoz Valley (Hasbaya district), as well as Qatrani and Rihan (Jezzine). An Israeli drone also carried out a strike in the Salhani region, on the outskirts of Ramaya (Bint Jbeil).

Israel has accepted the American plan for a cease-fire in Gaza, announces the White House.

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon

Israeli military aircraft have carried out several raids, targeting the Berghoz valley (Hasbaya district) and Mahmoudieh (Jezzine), reports our correspondent in southern Lebanon. He also points out that Israeli overflights persist in the region.

Sit-in in Kfar Kila to denounce Israeli gunfire

Residents of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district) staged a sit-in at the Deir Mimas-Kfar Kila crossroads to protest the Israeli army's firing on anyone passing through the village. They called on the Lebanese state to guarantee their safety and threatened to block the Marjayoun-Nabatieh road if no concrete measures were taken. They also met with a representative of the Lebanese Army to discuss ways of reducing the risks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel has accepted a new cease-fire proposal presented by U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, Reuters reported, citing Israeli media.

Lebanese Army clears roads blocked by Israel in Adaisseh

The Lebanese Army announced in a press release that, in coordination with UNIFIL, it had “removed several earth embankments and reopened roads on the outskirts of the village of Adaisseh [Marjayoun district].” These obstacles had been installed by the Israeli army.

“During the unit's intervention, enemy soldiers, accompanied by a tank, tried to prevent the army from continuing its work, but were unable to do so,” said the Lebanese Army.

Hamas says studying American envoy Steve Witkoff's new Gaza cease-fire proposal

"We are studying it responsibly in order to achieve the interests of our people and a permanent cease-fire," the group said.

An Israeli official told Haaretz earlier today that the latest Gaza cease-fire proposal from Witkoff includes the release of nine living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the return of the bodies of 18 deceased hostages, in exchange for a 60-day cease-fire.

South Lebanon

Two explosions were heard in and around the Wazzani area (Marjayoun district), residents told our correspondent in the South. The nature of the explosions remains unknown.

Civil Defense worker killed in Kfar Kila

Khoder Fakih, a member of the Civil Defense Forces, was shot dead by the Israeli army while inspecting his home near the border wall in the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district), reports our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

According to his information, Fakih was shot dead this morning. With no news of him, his family alerted the Lebanese Army, who found him dead in his house near the wall.

Shin Bet claims to have thwarted 85 cyberattacks attributed to Iran in 2025

Israel's internal security agency, the Shin Bet, has announced that it has foiled 85 cyberattacks attributed to Iran since the beginning of 2025, targeting high-ranking Israeli civilians, including security officials, politicians, academics and journalists, Israeli media reports.

According to the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel, these campaigns, mainly consisting of phishing attempts, “aimed to gain access to the victims' digital devices and accounts in order to collect sensitive personal information.”

The daily adds that, according to the Shin Bet, Iran would seek to exploit this intelligence to carry out targeted attacks inside Israeli territory, probably through locally recruited agents. Phishing attempts were often “in the form of emails, WhatsApp or Telegram messages, using fake Google Meet links or disguised applications, to steal credentials and install spyware,” adds The Times of Israel.

Israeli drones swarming in south Lebanon skies

A small Israeli drone dropped a stun grenade in the village of Beit Lif (Bint Jbeil district) injuring one person, according to our correspondent in the South, while Israeli drones fly over the villages of Srifa, Mahrouna, Maarakeh, Maaroub and the surrounding areas in Sour district. An Israeli drone has also been flying over Qaaqaaiyet al-Jisr, in Nabatieh district, for hours.

US calls for 'non-aggression agreement' between Syria and Israel

U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack called for a non-aggression agreement between Syria and Israel as a first step towards building relations between the two countries, AFP reports.

Speaking to Saudi channel Al Arabiya in Damascus, Barrack described the long-standing conflict between Syria and Israel, who have technically been at war since 1948, as a "solvable problem" through dialogue, proposing a "non-aggression agreement" between them.

Nabatieh Fawqa municipal council chairman says Israel of targeted a civilian facility and killed a city official

The Israeli drone strike on the Nabatieh district village of Nabatieh Fawqa targeted the town's artesian water well, which supplies several of the town's neighborhoods with drinking water, the municipal council chairman explained.

Zein Ghandour released a statement condemning the Israeli strike, which killed a municipal employee and targeted civilian infrastructure and which Israel claimed was an attack against Hezbollah and its infrastructure.

"The attack targeted a civilian facility belonging to the municipality, Ghandour explained. "It happened while municipal employee Mahmoud Hassan Atwi was on site during his working hours to operate the well and pump water to homes and residential areas, which led to his martyrdom," Ghandour said.

"From our official position, we condemn in the strongest possible terms this flagrant aggression against civilians, civilian installations, and an official institution of the Lebanese state, preventing it from fulfilling its duty and providing services to the inhabitants and civilians."

Ghandour called on all parties concerned, both within Lebanon and abroad,  "to follow this case and put an end to these repeated and totally unacceptable [Israeli] violations."

Israeli army claims it killed Hezbollah operative in Nabatieh strike

The Israeli army has taken responsibility for a drone strike that targeted a municipality official in Nabatieh Fawqa earlier this afternoon, saying it attacked a Hezbollah "operative" in the "area of Mount Shaqif." Israel claims the victim, Mohammad Atwi, was "attempting to reconstruct a site used for Hezbollah's offense and defense management."

According to reporting from our correspondent in the South, Atwi was entering the wooded area on the outskirts of his village in order to restart the town's water pumping system.

"The activity inside the site is considered a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and has been targeted several times in recent weeks," the Israeli army statement, published on Telegram, reads. Israel has now killed at least 167 people in Lebanon since agreeing to a truce with Hezbollah in November, according to L'Orient Today's count.

Israeli gunfire on outskirts of Kfar Shuba

The Israeli army, positioned at the Israeli Ruwaisat al-Alam site, one of five it occupies on Lebanese territory, is sweeping the outskirts of Kfar Shuba, in Hasbaya district, with machine gun fire, according to our correspondent in the South.

UNIFIL chief says situation at Blue Line is tense

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Commander-in-Chief General Aroldo Lazaro warned that the situation on the Blue Line was "tense" and deplored the ongoing cease-fire violations. Israel continues near-daily attacks against people in southern Lebanon, claiming to be targeting Hezbollah fighters or weapon stockpiles, while the Lebanese government undertakes to disarm the party in the South and UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army expand their deployment.

"We welcome the calm that has prevailed since November," Lazaro said, after Israel's intense and widespread bombing campaign was brought to a near-end by a truce. "But the guns are still ringing and the challenges are immense."

Israeli strike on south Lebanon's Nabatieh Fawqa kills municipal employee

An Israeli drone strike has killed a municipal employee in Nabatieh Fawqa, a village in the Nabatieh district, according to our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah.

The attack targeted the victim, a man named Mohammad Atwi, at the edge of Ali al-Taher Woods. Atwi was on his way to start up the village's water pumping station, located within the forested area on the village's outskirts.

Displaced Palestinians carrying relief supplies return from an aid distribution center in the central Gaza Strip on May 29, 2025. (Credit: Eyad Baba/AFP)

Gaza aid organization uses US charity logo without permission

A U.S. charity has accused the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the controversial U.S. and Israeli-backed group that began food deliveries to Gaza this week, of distributing photographs with its logo on deliveries without permission, according to a Guardian report.

Images sent out by GHF this week showed shipments bearing a label from Rahma Worldwide, a U.S. charity based in Michigan, as part of its first distribution of food to sites inside Gaza.

The rollout was marred by scenes of chaos after crowds overran one distribution center managed by American mercenaries who fled their posts under the protection of Israeli gunfire. Nearly 50 people were wounded, mostly by Israeli fire, and three people were killed, according to Gaza health officials.

The aid bearing the Rahma logo, which was prominently displayed in a press packet distributed by GHF, suggested to some media outlets that the groups were officially partnered. That would be an important endorsement as questions have grown over GHF’s funding and lack of partners or experience in distributing aid.

Israeli foreign minister says arms embargo would end Israel

Arms embargos on Israel would result in the collapse of the Israeli state and a "second Holocaust," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told an international conference on antisemitism in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Middle East Eye reports.

Referring to mounting pressure from the international community and vague commitments from various western nations that there would be "consequences" should Israel not end its deadly onslaught against Gaza, Saar said: "If, God forbid, the calls and actions of countries and politicians for an arms embargo on Israel succeed, the result will be the destruction of Israel and a second Holocaust," he said.

Opting for more specificity, Spain called on European countries earlier this week to suspend arms shipments amid Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza. At a meeting of the “Madrid Group,” Spain’s foreign minister called for an immediate suspension of Europe’s cooperation deal with Israel and an embargo on arms shipments. Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco and Brazil were among those present at the meeting.

Israel has killed at least 67 Palestinians in the last 24 hours

At least 54,249 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza and 123,492 wounded, according to the latest update by Gaza’s Health Ministry, cited by Al Jazeera.

The Israeli army has killed 3,986 Palestinians and wounded 11,451 others since resuming hostilities in Gaza on March 18. The ministry added that 67 bodies and 184 injured people arrived at Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours.

Israeli opposition leader offers Netanyahu support if he accepts cease-fire deal

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a cease-fire framework presented by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, saying he will give Netanyahu his political support if he does so, even if hardliners in the Israeli cabinet reject it.

"Israel must publicly and immediately accept the outline published this morning by American mediator Steve Witkoff," Lapid wrote on X. "I remind Netanyahu: He has a full safety net from me to accept the outline even if Ben-Gvir and Smotrich try to torpedo it."

Hamas said it had reached an agreement with Witkoff on a "general framework" that includes a permanent cease-fire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the unhindered entry of humanitarian aid, but the details of the proposal currently on the table and reports on whether everyone is on the same page appear to be in constant flux in recent days.

Yesterday, Witkoff made an appearance alongside Trump in the Oval Office and announced he had drafted “a new term sheet” for the president’s approval, as per the Axios report mentioned earlier.

The new U.S. envoy to Syria, Thomas Barrack, shakes hands with interim Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa during a meeting in Istanbul on May 24, 2025. (Credit: Turkish Foreign Ministry/AFP)

First official visit of US envoy to Syria since 2012

The U.S. envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, arrived at the ambassador's residence in the Syrian capital, in the first official visit since the U.S. embassy there closed in 2012, a year after Syria's conflict broke out, Reuters reports.

Barrack, accompanied by the Syrian foreign minister, was appointed to the Syria role on May 23. He is also the U.S. ambassador to Turkey,

Palestinians throw objects toward Israeli army vehicles as occupying Israeli forces carry about a raid in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on May 27, 2025. (Credit: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)

Updates from the occupied West Bank

According to reporting from Al Jazeera, Israeli forces and Israeli settlers alike are currently attacking Palestinians in several areas across the occupied West Bank, in the wake of the government's announcement that 22 new illegal Israeli settlements would be built on Palestinian land.

Israeli forces are currently storming the village of al-Mughair, northeast of Ramallah, to carry out home demolitions, while in Nablus, a raid has been underway voer the last few hours, with the intense deployment of soldiers and military vehicles.

Troops have reportedly forced dozens of residents living near the home of slain Palestinian Jafar Muna to vacate their own homes. Muna’s house is being demolished by Israeli forces, as authorities claim he was responsible for a failed suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in 2024.

Israeli settlers destroyed Palestinian agricultural land east of Yatta, south of Hebron, sources told Al Jazeera, and Israeli forces stormed the town of Ceres, south of Jenin, and surrounded a house, alongside an intense army deployment in the town's vicinity.

Israeli troops carried out a 24-hour assault against the town of Zeita, north of Tulkarem, arresting five Palestinians, raiding and searching homes, interrogating residents and setting up military checkpoints.

WSJ: Israeli intel being used to help Lebanon disarm Hezbollah in the South

Israeli intelligence passed along to Lebanon by the U.S. has helped the Lebanese Army locate and dismantle Hezbollah’s remaining weapons stockpiles and military posts in the South, senior Arab officials told the Wall Street Journal in a report published yesterday.

Some of the confiscated weapons are destroyed, according to the army, but whatever is usable is absorbed into the state's historically understocked arsenal.

The report, which includes an interview with Prime Minsiter Nawaf Salam, cites him as saying that 80 percent of the government's objectives in disarming militias in the South have been accomplished. The government's progress is apparently surprising to U.S. and Israeli officials, with WSJ citing one Israeli military official as saying that he sees areas where the Lebanese Army is "way more effective than expected."

This is despite several statements from Israel since the cease-fire was put in place last November claiming that the Lebanese Army's failure to assuage Israel's concerns about potential Hezbollah attacks is why Israel is still occupying five points on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line.

Read more here.  👈

An Israeli official told Haaretz earlier today that the latest Gaza cease-fire proposal from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff includes the release of nine living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the return of the bodies of 18 deceased hostages, in exchange for a 60-day cease-fire. Recent reports have suggested the release of 10 hostages (half of all remaining living hostages) either all at once or in two phases.

According to Axios, Israel wants all ten live hostages released on the first day of the cease-fire, fearing Hamas might not uphold its commitments later on, while Hamas wants to release the hostages in stages to ensure Israel does not break the agreement and resume fighting before the 60-day period ends.

Witkoff has a 'very good feeling' about Gaza cease-fire negotiations

The White House is reportedly optimistic about a potential cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, with one U.S. official telling Axios that "If each side moves just a bit, we could have a deal within days."

The United States' head negotiator, envoy Steve Witkoff, appeared in the Oval office yesterday alongside Trump to say he had a "very good feeling about getting to a temporary cease-fire and a long-term resolution, a peaceful resolution of that conflict."

A senior Israeli official told Axios that their understanding is the new White House cease-fire proposal does not differ dramatically from previous versions, but includes some "wordsmithing" in an attempt to gain both Israel's and Hamas' agreement.

The key changes focus on the guarantees Hamas wants in order to ensure that a serious negotiation on a permanent cease-fire will take place during the 60-day temporary cease-fire, and that as long as such talks are ongoing Israel won't unilaterally break the cease-fire, as it did in March.

Last civilian airplane destroyed in Israeli strike on Sanaa airport

Israeli air strikes blew up the last remaining plane at Yemen's international airport, Israel and a Yemeni official said yesterday, according to a report from The New Arab. Yesterday's attack came weeks after an earlier attack inflicted major damage.

An air raid involving multiple strikes hit the Yemenia Airways plane and the runway at Sanaa airport, the Houthi rebels' Al-Masirah TV channel posted on X, decrying "Israeli aggression."

Thick black smoke was seen billowing from a stricken plane on the tarmac, in a video posted on X by Sanaa airport director Khaled al-Shaief who said it was Yemenia's last operational aircraft. The airport had only resumed limited commercial services on May 17, according to Houthi authorities, after it was closed by a heavy Israeli attack that destroyed six planes 11 days earlier.

The Houthis, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians, have been firing on Israel and Red Sea shipping throughout the Gaza war, prompting reprisal strikes from Israel as well as the United States and Britain.

Smotrich officially announces 22 new Israeli settlements on Palestinian land

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the creation in the occupied West Bank of 22 new illegal (under international law) Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, which would displace yet another wave of Palestinians from their homes.

"We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel," the minister said on X, using the Israeli term for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967. "Next step: sovereignty!" he added.

Israeli settlers have increased their violent attacks against Palestinians, their homes, livestock and orchards in the West Bank since the war in Gaza started. One Palestinian family returned from iftar during Ramadan to find an Israeli family had occupied their home, under the protection of the Israeli army. Israeli forces often order Palestinians to demolish their own homes in order to make way for Israeli settlements.

Palestinians desperate for food break into WFP warehouse

A United Nations warehouse in Gaza was broken into by "hordes of hungry people" yesterday, Reuters reports, as aid trickles into the Palestinian enclave on the brink of famine, and attempts at distributing aid through a U.S.-backed organization overseen by American mercenaries failed after the first day.

The World Food Program said initial reports were that two people had died and several more were injured at the U.N. agency's central Gaza warehouse. It appealed for an immediate scale-up of food aid "to reassure people that they will not starve."

Eyewitness video independently verified by Reuters shows large crowds of people pushing into the warehouse and removing bags and boxes as gunfire can be heard. Under growing international pressure, Israel ended an 11-week long aid blockade on Gaza 10 days ago. It has allowed an extremely limited amount of relief to be delivered via two avenues: the United Nations or the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Read the full report here. 👈

Good morning and welcome to today's live coverage of regional events, focusing especially on the increasingly catastrophic situation in Gaza, where Palestinians deprived off all supplies for nearly three months are faced with an aid distribution process that humanitarian organizations say falls drastically short of sufficient.

In southern Lebanon, border villages still aren't safe and tensions with UNIFIL continue amid further statements from authorities regarding the dismantling of Hezbollah's military posts.

In Syria, U.S. sanctions are gradually lifting and Sharaa announced yesterday that reconstruction had begun, as a delegation from his interim government holds face-to-face talks with Israeli negotiators in an attempt to broker a cessation of hostilities in southern Syria where Israel advanced into and occupied Syrian territory following the fall of Assad.

🔴 Catch up on yesterday's live news here.  👈

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