Israel’s military said it attacked the southern outskirts of Beirut, the Lebanese capital, after accusing Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, of violating a cease-fire. Share full articleImagePeople walking past a mural in Tehran last week.Credit...Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Latest PinnedUpdated June 14, 2026, 9:25 a.m. ETAurelien BreedenLeo Sands and Isabel Kershner Here’s the latest.Israel struck the outskirts of Beirut on Sunday, heightening uncertainty around the prospects for a potential peace agreement after President Trump and Iranian officials offered conflicting timelines for when it might be signed. The Israeli military launched the strikes on the Dahiya neighborhood of Beirut, where Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, has long held sway. Earlier on Sunday, Israel accused the group of violating a cease-fire by firing toward northern Israel and warned residents of nearly 30 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate. The attack came as the world waited nervously to see whether a cease-fire agreement between the United States and Iran was within reach after months of fighting across the Middle East that have killed thousands and roiled the global economy. On Sunday, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator with Washington, condemned Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, suggesting that they undermined U.S. credibility. “If you neither have the will nor the ability to execute your commitments, talking about the continuation of the path is not possible,” he said on social media, referring to the peace negotiations. Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that a deal was “scheduled to get signed” on Sunday, and that it would immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that Iran has tried to control during the war. But Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said a deal would not be signed on Sunday, though he left open the possibility that one could be agreed upon in the coming days, according to Iranian state media. Neither the United States nor Iran has shared the text of the deal being considered, and it could still be derailed. Lebanon has emerged as a critical stumbling block. Iran wants any broader peace settlement to end the fighting there and has called for the Israeli military to withdraw from Lebanese territory. But Israel, which is not directly involved in the U.S.-Iran negotiations, has said it would launch strikes in Lebanon if Hezbollah attacked its territory. American and Iranian officials have said that under a “memorandum of understanding,” Iran would reopen the strait, the United States would lift its blockade on Iranian ports, and the cease-fire that the two sides agreed to in April would be extended for 60 days. During that period, both sides would commit to holding detailed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, and over the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Mr. Trump, who is expected to remain in Washington to celebrate his 80th birthday on Sunday, had previously said he would send Vice President JD Vance to attend the signing if a deal was finalized. Diplomacy: A Qatari delegation visited Tehran on Sunday as part of the negotiations between Iran and the United States, according to Iranian news media and an official with knowledge of the situation. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the Qataris, who have been acting as mediators, were helping to finalize the agreement in coordination with Washington. Opposition in Iran: There were signs on Saturday that some conservative factions in the Iranian government and the military were opposed to the peace agreement being negotiated, including criticism from two conservative lawmakers. Strait of Hormuz: Mr. Trump said in recent days that the U.S. military had been helping ships and oil move through the crucial waterway. But the number of ships passing through the strait is still far lower than it was before the war. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator with Washington, condemned Israel’s strikes on Sunday in Dahiya, a suburb of Beirut, suggesting that they undermined the credibility of the United States. “If you neither have the will nor the ability to execute your commitments, talking about the continuation of the path is not possible,” Ghalibaf said on X, referring to the negotiations between Iran and the United States to end the war. Israel strikes the outskirts of Beirut, after accusing Hezbollah of launching attacks.ImageThe site of an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday.Credit...Ibrahim Amro/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe Israeli military said Sunday that it had struck a Hezbollah target on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in retaliation for the Iran-backed group launching drones and rockets toward northern Israel. The escalation on Sunday complicated an already delicate moment as President Trump and Iran appeared to be edging toward signing a framework peace agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a joint statement that they had ordered the strike on the Dahiya neighborhood, a bastion of Hezbollah support on the fringes of Beirut. The military said the target was a Hezbollah command center. “Israel will not tolerate firing at its territory,” they said in the statement. Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon in a series of statements on Sunday. The statements did not specifically refer to Israel’s accusation that the group had fired across the border into Israeli territory. Late Saturday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a rocket launched by Hezbollah at Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon and had identified several additional launches from Lebanon toward northern Israel. Israel and the United States jointly launched a war against Iran in late February. Soon after, Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with its patron, Tehran, igniting a new war in Lebanon. Iran insisted that any peace agreement with the United States extend to the conflict in Lebanon. Hezbollah rejected a U.S.-brokered cease-fire proposal earlier this month. Hezbollah’s leader said the group, which was not included in U.S.-brokered talks, said a truce worked out between Israel and the Lebanese government amounted to surrender for his group. Israel’s military said it bombed a Hezbollah site on the southern outskirts of Beirut last Sunday, and Iran responded by firing ballistic missiles at northern Israel. Israel counterattacked, striking sites in Iran in the first clashes between the countries since a cease-fire paused the war with Iran in April. Lebanon’s health ministry did not immediately report casualties from the Israeli strike. There were no initial reports of casualties in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and the country’s defense minister, Israel Katz, issued a joint statement saying they had ordered the strike in the Dahiya neighborhood of Beirut. “Israel will not tolerate fire into its territory,” they said. The strike against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that dominates Lebanon, comes at a delicate moment, as President Trump and Iran give mixed signals on a timeline for a possible peace agreement. The Israeli military said it struck what it described as a Hezbollah infrastructure site in Dahiya, a neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Beirut that has long been dominated by Hezbollah. The strike came soon after the military accused Hezbollah of a “blatant cease-fire violation.” The military said earlier that Hezbollah had fired drones and rockets across the border toward communities in northern Israel. A Qatari delegation visited Tehran as part of ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States, Iranian news media and an official with knowledge of the situation said on Sunday. The Iranian Students News Agency, a semi-official outlet, said the delegation arrived to advance negotiations between the two countries. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the Qatari negotiators flew to Tehran on Sunday morning in coordination with the United States to help facilitate the finalization of the agreement. There were signs in Iran on Saturday that some conservative factions in the government and the military were opposed to the peace agreement being negotiated. FARS, a semiofficial news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that dozens of people protested against the deal outside the foreign ministry office in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city, chanting slogans against Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi. Two conservative members of Parliament also criticized the potential deal and the figures who supported it. One of them, Amirhossein Sabeti, called on social media for Araghchi to be impeached. A second, Mahmoud Nabivian, said in a television interview that under the agreement, “Iran will become a colony of America.” Prime Minister, Keir Starmer of Britain spoke by telephone with President Trump on Saturday about the war with Iran, his office said. Starmer, who is facing political problems at home, welcomed the progress made toward a deal that would end the fighting and underlined “the importance of ensuring any deal delivers a durable and lasting peace,” his office said. Trump has promised the initial deal with Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allowing oil tankers to pass again. The closing of the strait by Iran has damaged the world economy. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said on Saturday that there were no plans for an Iranian negotiating team to travel to Geneva or elsewhere in the next day or two, according to IRIB, Iran’s state broadcaster. The remarks appeared to push back on reports that Iranian officials could soon travel abroad to finalize or sign a memorandum of understanding with the United States, as the two sides try to move toward an agreement to end the recent hostilities. The signing of the Iran agreement — if it happens — is likely to be done electronically rather than in person. We don’t yet have insight into the reasoning behind that anticipated arrangement. Typically, a diplomatic agreement like this would be signed at an in-person ceremony between the parties. Trump is expected to remain in Washington on Sunday, which is his 80th birthday, to attend the U.F.C. fight at the White House. Adam Rasgon reported from Tel Aviv, and Farnaz Fassihi reported from New York. As speculation swirls about the emerging Iran deal, here’s what we know.President Trump and Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, have reportedly agreed to a preliminary deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and a plan for later talks on Iran’s nuclear program.Eric Lee/The New York Times ; Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York TimesWith a draft deal between the United States and Iran now on the table, speculation has been swirling about exactly what is in the agreement.
Original Source: NYTimes
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