Israel launches fresh strikes on Lebanon after huge attacks jeopardise truce

Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon on Thursday, putting the Middle East ceasefire in further jeopardy after its biggest attacks of the war on its neighbour killed more than 250 people and threatened to torpedo Donald Trump’s truce from the outset.

Iranian negotiators were expected to set off later on Thursday for Pakistan for the first peace talks of the war, where they are due to meet a delegation led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Saturday.

But there was no sign Iran had lifted its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history, and Tehran said there would be no deal as long as Israel was striking Lebanon.

The supply shortage drove the price that European and Asian refineries were paying for a physical barrel of oil to record levels near $150 a barrel, with even higher prices for some products such as jet fuel.

Israel, which invaded Lebanon last month in parallel with the war on Iran to root out the armed group Hezbollah, Tehran’s ally, says its actions there are not covered by the ceasefire announced late on Tuesday by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Washington has also said Lebanon is not covered by the truce, but Iran and Pakistan, which acted as mediator, say it was explicitly part of the deal.

A host of countries, including prominent U.S. allies Britain and France, said the truce should extend to Lebanon and condemned Israel’s attacks on the country.

ISRAEL SAYS IT KILLS HEZBOLLAH CHIEF’S NEPHEW

The Israeli military said on Thursday it had killed the nephew of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who had served as his personal secretary, and had struck river crossings used by the group overnight.

Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs just before midnight and at dawn, and hit towns across the south on Thursday morning, Lebanese state media said.

For its part, Hezbollah, which had initially said it would pause attacks on Israel in line with the ceasefire, said it was resuming them on Thursday morning and had fired once across the border into Israel and twice at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Rescuers across Lebanon were working through the night to try to save wounded people trapped under rubble of destroyed buildings after the Israeli attacks, which hit heavily populated areas without customary warnings for civilians to flee.

“This is my place, this is my house, I’ve been living here like more than 51 years. So, everything destroyed. See?” said Naim Chebbo, sweeping shattered glass and debris from his home in Beirut after strikes destroyed the building next door.

MOURNING FOR KHAMENEI

“What happened yesterday was grave violation,” Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told BBC Radio of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

“It was a catastrophe, could actually end in more catastrophe, and this is the nature of this rogue behaviour that we are seeing from Israel in the whole Middle East.”

Inside Iran, where the halt to six weeks of U.S. and Iranian airstrikes has been portrayed as victory for the clerical rulers, huge crowds turned out for a commemoration to mark 40 days of mourning for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed on the war’s first day.

State TV showed crowds in Tehran, Kermanshah, Yazd and Zahedan, with mourners in black carrying Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei and his son and successor Mojtaba.

In Tehran, officials including atomic chief Mohammad Eslami and roads minister Farzaneh Sadeq attended. Large commemorative billboards were displayed and a large Lebanese Hezbollah flag was visible on one building, while crowds moved toward the compound where Khamenei was killed.

In Shiraz, a funeral procession was held for Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence chief Majid Khademi, killed earlier this week in an Israeli strike in his home province of Fars.

PHYSICAL OIL PRICES SPIKE

The futures contracts for delivery of oil in May or June, typically used as benchmarks for global oil prices, have eased since Trump announced the ceasefire this week on expectations that deliveries of blocked Gulf oil would quickly resume.

But the price of physical oil for delivery now has shot up to record levels as refiners struggle to meet demand with a fifth of the global supply knocked out for a month and a half.

Trump, who announced the truce on Tuesday night just before a deadline he had set to destroy Iran’s “whole civilisation” unless it unblocked the strait, threatened more attacks.

If Iran did not comply, then “the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before,” he posted on social media. “In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!”

Though Trump has declared victory, Washington did not achieve the aims he had announced to justify the war at its outset: to eliminate Iran’s ability to attack its neighbours, destroy its nuclear programme and create conditions that would make it easier for Iranians to topple their government.

Iran still possesses missiles and drones capable of targeting its neighbours and a stockpile of more than 400 kg (900 pounds) of highly enriched uranium. Its rulers, who had faced a mass uprising just months ago, survived the superpower onslaught with no sign of organised opposition.

And they have demonstrated their ability to exert control of the strait, despite a massive U.S. military presence in the region built up over decades to protect Washington’s allies and safeguard shipping.

The core disputes remain unresolved, with each side sticking to competing demands for a deal that could shape the Middle East for generations.