The United States is "committed to PEACE," and we "encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold," U.S. President Donald Trump said overnight. "The Markets are loving what is happening with Oil Prices way down, and Stock»»»

NEW YORK CITY: Seven months after the Security Council adopted Resolution 2803 in support of the US peace plan for Gaza, the ceasefire in the territory remains fragile and the humanitarian recovery is dangerously incomplete, the UN’s aid chief warned council members on Thursday. Palestinians are st»»»

The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, said on Thursday that Israel's war in Lebanon had "failed" to eliminate the Iran-backed group. Raad said in a statement that "the enemy's war aimed at crushing the resistance in Lebanon has failed and will not achieve its objectives". He al»»»

Lebanese authorities have arrested a citizen suspected of having imported parts used to manufacture Hezbollah drones, a judicial source told AFP on Thursday. Hezbollah has been using fiber optic drones, which are resistant to jamming, in their fight against Israel since early March. The judicial so»»»

Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in fresh clashes with the Israeli military on Thursday, hours after Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes in the south killed three people. The fighting came a day after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war o»»»

Share: File- Smoke billows from southern Lebanon, following Israeli strikes, as seen from Nabatieh, Lebanon, June 4, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer The United States and Iran inked a long-awaited provisional ceasefire deal on June 17, 2026. After months of uncertainty, the people of the Gulf region can, po»»»

The US-Iran war appears to have ended after 108 days, costing American taxpayers over $100 billion, according to estimates gathered by the independent Iran War Cost Tracker. On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, with Tehran also confirming the electro»»»

Israel is reacting in disbelief after Washington and Tehran inked an agreement meant to end the war. The initial deal re-opens the Strait of Hormuz - but only starts a 60-day negotiating clock to address Iran's nuclear program. Israelis across the political spectrum have called the deal a disaster»»»

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Vali Nasr, professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University and former adviser to the US State Department, explained that "the war is ending in Iran's favour" and that "the outcome is definitely not favourable to Israel". "It's very difficult not to »»»

Surprise! A stroke of a pen over dinner at Versailles pre-empting plans for that big Friday signing in Switzerland of an interim agreement between the United States and Iran. Coming off the G-Seven in France, we’ll ask why Donald Trump suddenly decided to get it over with and whether the regio»»»

CAIRO: Three Palestinians were killed and several others injured on Thursday after an Israeli drone strike targeted a civilian vehicle in the Al-Rimal neighborhood west of Gaza City, according to medical sources. The sources said the attack struck a civilian car near Abu Khadra Mosque in western Ga»»»

Share: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was silent on Wednesday as President Trump released and signed a deal that Israeli officials see as a strategic and political disaster. Why it matters: Netanyahu promised the Israeli public “total victory” in Iran. He had to settle for Trump’s memora»»»

NEW YORK CITY: For the first time since the UN’s mandate on children and armed conflict was established three decades ago, government forces, rather than nonstate armed groups, are responsible for the majority of grave violations against children, the latest report from the UN secretary-general rev»»»

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas is accused of comparing Israel to South African apartheid. File Photo by Thomas Traasdahl/EPA June 18 (UPI) -- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced Thursday that he is cutting all contact with Kaja Kal»»»

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei confirmed on Thursday that he has given permission to sign a memorandum with the United States. "I, as a matter of principle, held a different view; however, out of the commitment that the esteemed president — as the head of the Supreme Nati»»»

Draft EU summit conclusions undergo changes by nature. Some are more significant than others. The version dated 16 June has removed a line on the Gaza and West Bank, suggesting Germany still won’t budge on trade bans against Israeli settlers, let alone on Israel more broadly. Although later tweaked»»»

Washington, United States: The US on Thursday lifted a blockade of Iranian ports imposed during the Middle East war after President Donald Trump signed a deal to end the conflict, as uncertainty surrounded planned talks in Switzerland aiming to take the accord further. The signing of the deal by Tr»»»

WASHINGTON: US Vice President JD Vance lashed out at Israeli critics of the Iran deal on Thursday, saying President Donald Trump is Israel’s only ally in a sharp rebuke that referenced the billions in US defense aid the country receives. As the Trump administration defended its deal to end the war »»»

BEIRUT: The Palestine Football Association denied on Thursday issuing any statements or commentaries regarding the Football Association of Ireland’s decision to move its UEFA Nations League match against Israel to a neutral venue. A PFA statement on X said: “First and foremost, the PFA have not iss»»»

Doha The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Türkiye have strongly condemned the continued and escalating violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the»»»

LONDON: Britain on Thursday said it was no longer advising against non-essential travel to some Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, after the United States and Iran reached an interim agreement this week to end their ‌war. In late ‌February and early March ​Britain ‌ha»»»

TYRE, Lebanon: Adnan Kaour returned on Thursday to check on his home in southern Lebanon ‘s coastal city of Tyre — once known as an idyllic summer getaway spot — just a week after Israel issued warnings for all of its residents to evacuate. The warnings were followed by sweeping airstrikes on the c»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Foreign Ministers of the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Republic of Turkiye condemned in the strongest term the »»»

Israeli leaders are privately fuming about the US-Iran deal, seeing the initial agreement as a form of capitulation. This comes as a final blow to the increasingly fraying relationship between Netanyahu and Trump, previously thought thought to be iron-clad. FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky tells us mor»»»

RIYADH: The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and other Muslim and Arab countries condemned continued and escalating settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. The foreign ministers of the Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Turkiye, Indonesia,»»»

BEIRUT: Lebanon has received assurances from Syria that it will not interfere in Lebanese affairs, Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri told Arab News on Thursday, rejecting suggestions that Damascus could play a role in confronting Hezbollah as fighting between Israel and the group continues. Mitri’s»»»

LONDON: Israeli authorities issued demolition notices on Thursday for nine Palestinian homes in the town of Ash-Shuyukh, northeast of Hebron in the West Bank, that they said were built without permits. The houses, in the Qanan Nias area of the town, belong to the Abu Eid, Ayaydeh and Jabarin famili»»»

Dubai: Iran has announced plans to impose charges on ships transiting the strategically important Strait of Hormuz after the expiry of a 60-day fee-free period outlined in a memorandum of understanding with the United States. Speaking in an interview aired on Iranian state television, Iran's chief »»»

The average price of a gallon of regular gas in the United States dropped below $4 Thursday, marking the first time prices have been this low since March 30. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo June 18 (UPI) -- The average price of a gallon of regular gas in the United States dropped below »»»

The newly signed memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran is a diplomatic victory for Tehran secured through strength and is evidence that Washington failed to achieve any of its military objectives, Iranian officials have said. The 14-point document was signed remotely by President Dona»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that Israel's "struggle" is not over yet, and that more challenges lie ahead, after the U.S. and Iran signed an MoU to end the war between them, which also inlcudes a clause about stopping the conflict in Lebanon and respecting its sovere»»»

The US-Iran agreement to be signed in Geneva on 19 June cannot really be compared to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that former US President Barack Obama’s team negotiated with European, Russian, and Chinese help from 2013-15 to restrain Iran’s nuclear programme. The most obvious di»»»

With the quiet force of history turning a page, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared that the United States and Iran—adversaries locked in decades of hostility—had reached an agreement that promises not just a cessation of hostilities but a redefinition of the strategic landscape of th»»»

Adnan Kaour returned on Thursday to check on his home in southern Lebanon's coastal city of Tyre — once known as an idyllic summer getaway spot — just a week after Israel issued warnings for all of its residents to evacuate. The warnings were followed by sweeping airstrikes on the city. What Kaour »»»

The Israeli military said on Thursday it will continue operating in southern Lebanon and "remove threats" beyond its so-called security zone, after the U.S. and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon. The military published a map of its declared "security zone" --»»»

LONDON: A new report from the World Economic Forum says that “geopolitical tensions, supply disruptions and rising demand” are slowing global progress toward more secure, sustainable and affordable energy systems. According to the 16th WEF annual Energy Transition Index, overall progress “has flatl»»»

Israeli commanders and soldiers currently involved in the fighting in Lebanon say the Israeli army has changed its open-fire rules in recent days, reducing troops' ability to "prevent and respond to Hezbollah attacks" and leaving soldiers vulnerable. "The open-fire rules right now are only to remov»»»

CAIRO: The number of Palestinians ‌killed by Israeli fire in Gaza has reached more than 1,000 since a US-brokered ceasefire last October, the enclave’s health ministry said ​on Thursday, as at least three people were reported killed in the latest strike. Medics said an Israeli strike hit a vehicle »»»

Adnan Kaour returned on Thursday to check on his home in southern Lebanon's coastal city of Tyre — once known as an idyllic summer getaway spot — just a week after Israel issued warnings for all of its residents to evacuate. The warnings were followed by sweeping airstrikes on the city. What Kaour »»»

Over the past two and a half years, Israel has taken control of swaths of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria that amount to its biggest expansion of militarily occupied lands in decades. It is an area larger than many major cities — roughly 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) — and Israel has said it p»»»

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Thursday it will continue operating in southern Lebanon and “remove threats” beyond its so-called security zone, after the US and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon. The military published a map of its declared “security»»»

JERUSALEM: Over the past two and a half years, Israel has taken control of swaths of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria that amount to its biggest expansion of militarily occupied lands in decades. It is an area larger than many major cities — roughly 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) — and Israel ha»»»

According to Israel's Channel 14, the next steps in south Lebanon will be discussed during next week's negotiations with Lebanese representatives in Washington. Israeli security sources said the current agreement does not include an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and that Israel will retain "full »»»

Israeli officials have described the emerging Washington-Tehran deal as a deeply disappointing and problematic development that falls far short of Israel’s strategic goals. "This is not what we hoped for," defense officials told Israeli Ynetnews. According to these sources, the Israeli military is »»»

DUBAI: On March 6, at the height of the US-Iran war, President Donald Trump delivered an ultimatum to Tehran. “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” he declared, signalling confidence that overwhelming military pressure would force Iran to capitulate. More than three mont»»»

Israeli police have clashed with Haredi Jews who blocked a major highway near Tel Aviv in protest over the arrest of a draft dodger from the ultra-Orthodox community. Dozens of protesters blocked traffic in both directions on Route 4 east of Tel Aviv early on Wednesday, sitting on the road and craw»»»

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, June 18: An Israeli paper slams the US's deal with Iran as a "catastrophic capitulation". While Trump sees the US as the big winner, the press says Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz shows that it has set a new status quo. Also, EU leaders scramble to find anti-C»»»

An Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon killed two people on Thursday, hours after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon. The strike targeted a car in Kfartebnit, near the Israeli-declared 'yellow line'. "An enemy drone targeted a car" in t»»»

Israel is holding negotiations with the United States as it seeks to maintain its troop deployment in southern Lebanon, media reports said, as the U.S. and Iran signed a deal to end the war including in Lebanon, although Israel and Hezbollah aren't parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must»»»

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Thursday that he expects fuel prices to decrease as soon as possible, reflecting the recent decline in global crude oil prices. Speaking to journalists after attending the opening of a National Meeting of Local and Central Executive Authorities in Sofia, Radev not»»»