Middle East war, latest news. Nyt: 'Israel used white phosphorus on populated areas of Lebanon'

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has condemned the Israeli attack in which three Lebanese soldiers were killed. For the head of state, it was "a brutal Israeli air raid" that "targeted a military vehicle on the road" between Khardali and Nabatiyeh, "resulting in the death of two officers, a brigadier general and a captain, and a soldier". The attack, Aoun stressed, is a 'flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and international law'. According to the latest official figures, Israeli raids on Lebanon have killed more than 3,560 people since the beginning of the war.

At least five people died in Gaza City while attending a wedding after Israeli forces shelled the marquee set up for the ceremony. This was reported by Al Jazeera, according to which the attack was carried out with two missiles and the number of victims could rise further. According to a source at Al-Shifa hospital, more than a dozen people were injured in the attack.

Last month, more than 100 merchant ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz in and out of the Persian Gulf with the support of US forces. This was stated by a US official on condition of anonymity to the New York Times. The newspaper emphasised that the passage through Hormuz remains dangerous because of the stalemate in the negotiations between Iran and the US on ending the war.

Dozens of masked Israeli settlers raided four Palestinian villages near Yitzhar. The attackers threw stones, vandalised houses and other property, set fires and stole livestock. This was reported by the Israeli daily Haaretz by Palestinian residents. In the village of Huwara, residents reported that a Palestinian man was shot in the head and hospitalised, while pictures taken in the village showed him bleeding in the head.

Residents of the nearby village of Einabus reported settlers raiding a home, while in nearby Asira al-Qibliya some settlers were seen wandering around the village. Palestinians also reported another incursion into the quarry between Asira al-Qibliya and the village of Urif.

Iran condemned the overnight US attack on coastal radar installations in the Gulf, calling it a 'flagrant' violation of the ceasefire in force since April. The Foreign Ministry said it was an attack on 'the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic', denouncing Washington's 'hostile and provocative behaviour'.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is expected to travel to Tehran today to continue mediation efforts in the US-Iran peace talks. The semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr writes this, citing an 'informed source'.

The exact status of talks between Tehran and Washington is unclear, but it is likely that sticking points remain on key issues such as Iran's nuclear programme and assets frozen abroad.

Overall, Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon today killed nine people, including three members of the Lebanese army. This was reported by the Associated Press on its website citing the Lebanese army and state media. An air raid on a vehicle on the road connecting the town of Nabatieh with the town of Marjayoun killed a brigadier general, a captain and another soldier, the army said. Another air raid on the southern village of Saksakiyah killed six people and wounded four, the state-run National News Agency reported.

- "I think it has already been stated very clearly: there is no just war there, the problem is that the theory of just war comes from centuries past, when people did not imagine the weapons and the capacity for destruction that man has today. And everything as I say in the encyclical...'. This was said by Pope Leo on board the papal plane bound for Madrid in response to a journalist's question on whether Iran is a just war. The Pope speaks of the just war in his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.

Further reading

the Pope in Spain: 'Europe a gift against polarisation, in Iran an unjust war'. And on Ukraine: "Push for negotiations"

06 June 2026

US President Donald Trump has informed the mediators that negotiations with Iran must not last longer than the agreed 60 days and that Tehran must respond quickly. This was reported by Al Arabiya, citing its own well-informed sources, as the 60-day deadline is about to expire. According to Al Arabiya, progress has also been made on the issue of frozen Iranian assets, but disagreements remain over how much money should be released and when.

- Iran strongly criticised the US for what it called 'discriminatory treatment' for not granting visas to some members of the Iranian delegation to attend the tournament. "Why don't you say that visas were denied to most of the management and executive staff, technical advisers and others who are an integral part of any national football team?" the Iranian embassy in Turkey said. "You have now taken the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against the Iranian national football team to its highest level," the embassy added.

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry 'strongly condemns Iran's attack' on both Bahrain and Kuwait this morning, denouncing it as a 'blatant violation of the sovereignty of both countries'.

"If Donald Trump wants to reach an agreement with Iran, the return of $24 billion frozen abroad is a test of trust," the Iranian Supreme Leader's military adviser, Mohsen Rezaei, was quoted as saying by CNN.

Iranian leaders have not yet closed the deal with the US because they are 'strong and proud'. US President Donald Trump said this in an interview with Nbc News. "They have no choice," he added, "it takes some time.

The Pentagon has raised the counterintelligence threat level attributed to Israel to the highest level due to the Jewish state's intensified espionage activities against the United States. This was reported to Nbc by two US officials and a former US official. The Pentagon's Defense intelligence agency published its new counterintelligence threat assessment in recent weeks amid growing tensions between Israel and the United States over the way forward in the war with Iran, the officials said, explaining that Dia published an internal message, viewed by one of the current officials, that raised the threat level for Israel to 'critical'. The choice stems from concerns within the Pentagon that Israel is making a special effort to surveil senior US officials in order to obtain information on the Trump administration's internal deliberations and decision-making process regarding conflicts in the Middle East, the officials said.

Further reading

Oil, so after 100 days of war the help of the stocks is no longer enough

06 June 2026

The Lebanese army said several soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack against a vehicle in the south of the country. "Several soldiers, including an officer, fell martyrs in a barbaric Israeli raid against a military vehicle on the road between Khardali and Nabatieh," the army said on X.

The Pentagon has raised the counterintelligence threat level attributed to Israel to the highest level due to the Jewish state's intensified espionage activities against the US. This was reported to Nbc by two US officials and a former US official. The Pentagon's Defense intelligence agency published its new counterintelligence threat assessment in recent weeks amid growing tensions between Israel and the United States over the way forward in the war with Iran, the officials said, explaining that Dia published an internal message, viewed by one of the current officials, that raised the threat level for Israel to 'critical'. The choice stems from concerns within the Pentagon that Israel is making a special effort to surveil senior US officials in order to obtain information on the Trump administration's internal deliberations and decision-making process regarding conflicts in the Middle East, the officials said.

Further reading

Trump threatens Oman over Hormuz putting a historic alliance at risk

04 June 2026

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Lebanese President Joseph Aoun - who in an interview broadcast on Friday had called on Tehran not to "interfere" in the country's internal affairs - to "save" Lebanon from its "real enemy", Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who had denounced Iranian interference in his country, to save Lebanon "from the real enemy", namely, Israel. "To listen to Aoun, one would tend to think that it is Iran that has occupied a fifth of Lebanon's territory, forced a quarter of its population to displace, and bombs the country on a daily basis...President, save the enemy from its real enemy," Araghchi wrote in X.

The US-Iran peace deal depends on the Trump administration's agreement to unfreeze $24 billion of frozen Iranian assets. This was explained to CNN by Mohsen Rezaei, a military advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. The official added that "the ball is in Trump's court" warning that the US would find itself in a "dark corridor" should fighting resume. "If he (President Donald Trump) wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that we want to have," he said, "this is our money, not America's money.

Further reading

Hormuz effect on Italian ports, containers drop by 4.6%

06 June 2026

In Iran, 'most of the drone factories have been destroyed, most of the launch pads have been destroyed and most of the missile production areas have been destroyed. But they still have production capacity. They have some missiles. I would say in percentage terms, maybe 21-22 per cent'. This was stated by the US president, Donald Trump, in an interview with Nbc News.

"Save your country from your real enemy". Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a message posted on his X account. "If Lebanon had been a bargaining chip for Iran (in talks with the US), we would have reached an agreement long ago. You had better save your country from its real enemy, Mr. President!".

The Kuwaiti Armed Forces General Staff announced that air defences are currently repelling hostile drone and missile attacks, according to Afp. In a message on X, the army writes that 'Kuwaiti air defences are currently facing hostile drone and missile attacks'. The Kuwaiti Armed Forces General Staff announced that 'air defences are repelling hostile drone and missile attacks' and specified that 'the sounds of explosions heard are the normal result of interception of attacks by national air defence systems', as reported by Afp. Kuwait's air defences were hit by missiles and drones, the Gulf country's army added, three days after the attack on its airport attributed to Iran. (ANSA-AFP).

The US struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar stations in Goruk and on the island of Qeshm as a defensive measure against further attacks. This was announced by the US Central Command on X and confirmed that it had shot down four Iranian attack drones launched towards the Strait of Hormuz.

The US destroyed at least four of a series of drones launched from Iran into the Strait of Hormuz. A US official told CNN that he believed these one-way drones were targeting commercial vessels transiting the waters of the region or US forces operating in the vicinity.

Hamas condemns the killing of a seven-month-old Palestinian infant in the West Bank, branding it as a representation of the 'true face' of Israel's 'brutality' against Palestinians. "We affirm that this crime reflects the criminal mentality that governs the behaviour of the occupation forces and their settlers, and the extent of their contempt for Palestinian blood and their disregard for the lives of our people," the group said in a statement, reported by Al Jazeera. Hamas called on the international community to immediately put pressure on Israel to 'cease its ongoing crimes' against the Palestinians.

Middle East war news of 5 June