Lebanon: Israel’s military said Friday, June 19, its forces struck targets throughout southern Lebanon overnight as Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.
Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon and its continued attacks on the Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah has been a key issue in the talks.
Israel maintains it must continue to hold the territory and have a free hand to battle Hezbollah as it has been launching attacks into northern Israel.
The talks being postponed trip comes after Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with Hezbollah, reported that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over ongoing Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei endorsed direct negotiations with the United States late Thursday, June 18, in a statement carried by state media.
“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” he said.
It was Khamenei’s first public reaction to the agreement recently reached between Iran and the US to end hostilities. The supreme leader has not appeared in public since reportedly being wounded in a strike at the start of the war.
Meanwhile, the US military has formally lifted its blockade of Iranian shipping, according to a social media post by US Central Command on Thursday.
The announcement came hours after Vice President JD Vance told reporters that 12.5 million barrels of oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday and that the military had allowed “north of a dozen ships to go through our naval blockade.”
However, US Central Command said US Navy vessels would remain in the area to ensure that all aspects of the agreement are followed and remain in effect.
The US Navy currently has more than a dozen ships deployed in the region.
