Iran war day 72: Tehran yet to reply to US plan; Israel bombs Lebanon

Israel kills at least 24 people in Lebanon in one day as Tehran’s response to US proposal to end the war is awaited.

Israeli jets have targeted more than 10 towns in southern Lebanon as the ceasefire between Iran and the United States appears to be holding despite naval skirmishes near the Strait of Hormuz.

Israel on Saturday killed at least 24 people in a wave of attacks despite a ceasefire that took effect last month.

Meanwhile, Washington is awaiting Tehran’s response to its latest proposal to end the US-Israel war on Iran, which entered day 72 on Sunday.

In Iran

• The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday threatened to target US sites in the Middle East and “enemy ships” if its tankers come under fire, Iranian media reported.
• The Football Federation of Iran said its men’s national team would take part in the 2026 World Cup this summer but demanded that joint hosts the US, Mexico and Canada agree to its conditions.
• A spokesperson for Iran’s military warned that any country enforcing US sanctions against Tehran will “definitely face difficulties passing through the Strait of Hormuz”, according to the Tasnim News Agency.

War diplomacy

• Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, said Islamabad will continue its mediation efforts between the US and Iran. “We will do all our efforts to succeed in the mediation, and we will continue to do so,” Munir said in a public address on Sunday.
• Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday in Miami to discuss the importance of “security across the Middle East”, the US Department of State said.
• The Qatari prime minister met US Vice President JD Vance on Friday. The two sides discussed “the Pakistani mediation efforts aimed at de-escalating tensions in a way that contributes to enhancing security and stability in the region”, according to a statement posted by Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs.
• Iran has yet to reply to the US proposal to end the war despite US President Donald Trump saying late on Friday that he expected to receive it that night.
• A reporter for the French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said on Saturday that Trump told her in a brief interview that he still expected to find out Iran’s answer “very soon”.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed Moscow’s willingness to oversee the transfer and storage of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.

In the Gulf

• Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, expressed his country’s “full solidarity with the Kingdom of Bahrain and its support for all measures taken by the Bahraini security authorities” to uncover a cell linked to the IRGC and “espionage activities”.
• Bahrain said on Saturday that it arrested 41 people who are part of a group affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. The Ministry of Interior said investigations confirmed they were in contact with the IRGC and collected funds “with the aim of sending them to Iran” to support its “terrorist operations”.

In Israel

• The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, two activists whom Israel abducted from the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, were deported on Sunday.
• The Israeli military said it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” that was detected in the area where its invading troops are operating in southern Lebanon.
• Dozens of Israelis have rallied in Tel Aviv to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the military operations in southern Lebanon.

In Lebanon

• Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group, said its fighters hit an Israeli D9 bulldozer in the Khallat Raj area of the town of Deir Siryan in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
• The Israeli military said it struck more than 40 infrastructure sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon over the weekend.
• European Union crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib urged increased humanitarian access to southern Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah have continued to engage in hostilities despite a ceasefire. “Humanitarian aid is ready, but too often it cannot reach those who need it most,” Lahbib told journalists on the second day of a visit to Lebanon and before an expected EU aid delivery.

Strait of Hormuz

• A ⁠bulk ⁠carrier reported being struck by an unknown ⁠projectile while sailing 23 nautical miles (43km) northeast ⁠of Doha, Qatar, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Sunday.
• A Qatari tanker carrying liquefied natural gas has sailed through the strait en route to Pakistan and was in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday, according to MarineTraffic shipping data. Its voyage marks the first transit of a Qatari LNG vessel through the strait since the US and Israel launched their war on February 28.
• The UK said it would send a destroyer to the Middle East before any international mission to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The mission is to be led by Britain and France, which have previously emphasised it would be separate from the US war deployment in the region.
• The US military’s Central Command said on Saturday that it has “disabled” four ships and prevented 58 commercial vessels from entering or exiting Iranian ports since April 13.