31 Killed in Southern Lebanon Amid Israeli-Hezbollah Clashes as US-Iran Ceasefire Frays in Persian Gulf

The group said its operations included a missile strike on an Israeli tank outside the Lebanese town of Deir Siryan, shelling of an Israeli advance on the town of Haddatha, and a strike on Israeli soldiers gathered in the village of Labbouneh. Israel’s invasion and attacks are responsible for more than 2,700 dead in Lebanon and at least 8,500 injured.

Smoke rose from strikes in Nabatieh on Thursday, while photographs from Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday showed residents cleaning damaged houses and workers clearing rubble from destroyed buildings.

US President Donald Trump told reporters that the ceasefire with Iran was still in effect. Tehran accused Washington of violating the truce by carrying out attacks. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei mocked Donald Trump’s recent threat of a nuclear strike on Iran.

“It is a grotesque absurdity that they claim to seek peace and prevent a nuclear crisis, yet their proposed solution is ‘one big glow’,” Esmaeil Baghaei said. Donald Trump said that if the ceasefire with Iran fails “you’re just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran”. Trump has made ending Tehran’s nuclear programme one of the conditions for ending his war with Iran.

The US Defense Department is declining to comment on a possible recent strike on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export terminal. Satellite imagery from earlier in the week shows an oil spill before the most recent round of US strikes on Iranian vessels and coastal locations on Thursday and early Friday. The oil slick was first spotted in waters off Kharg Island on Tuesday.

Images from Friday show the slick covering some 71 square kilometres. The US military released footage of strikes on two Iranian oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said the vessels were disabled following overnight exchanges of fire with Iranian forces, preventing them from reaching ports in the Gulf of Oman.

The US military said that its forces disabled two Iranian tankers that were trying to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports. US Central Command says US forces have redirected a total of 57 commercial vessels and disabled three vessels since it began its siege of Iranian ports.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani said unlawful US actions constitute a grave and dangerous escalation that further destabilises an already fragile region and poses a serious threat to international peace and security.

Amir Saeid Iravani warned that the consequences of US military actions in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz could be catastrophic and extend far beyond the Middle East. Amir Saeid Iravani said the US would bear full responsibility. He called on the UN to urge Washington to comply with international law.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says its food price index rose 2 percent in April year-on-year. The FAO food price index climbed to the highest level since 2023. 8 percent.

Higher crude oil prices driven by the conflict are increasing demand for seed oils from the biofuel industry, while concerns over lower seed oil production in Southeast Asia are also raising prices, the FAO said. @AJEnglish reported that the higher fertiliser prices linked to the war may push wheat farmers to switch to less fertiliser-intensive crops, which would squeeze wheat supplies and raise prices for the grain further.