Israel to hold talks with Lebanon, as Trump warns Iran against charging oil tankers
The ceasefire agreed earlier this week has so far not applied to Lebanon, as ITV News' Leyla Hayes reports
Israel and Lebanon will begin direct negotiations, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told ITV News that Israeli strikes on Lebanon during the US-Iran ceasefire were "wrong"
US President Donald Trump warned Iran "better not be" charging ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz
Negotiations are set to take place between Iran and the US in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Friday as part of the two-week ceasefire
Trump said he was "very disappointed" with allies in talks with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte
Israel says it killed Ali Yusuf Harshi, the personal secretary to Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Israel's strikes on Lebanon pose “a grave risk to the ceasefire"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his cabinet to open direct negotiations with Lebanon, in a potential boost to a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran.
In a post on his social media, Netanyahu said "the negotiations will focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah and the establishing of peaceful relations" between Israel and Lebanon.
Reports suggest the two countries, which have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, could meet in Washington next week.
The announcement of negotiations comes as US President Donald Trump warned Iran against charging ships going through the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier on Thursday, Israel published evacuation orders for Lebanon's southern suburbs putting further pressure on the ceasefire that was confirmed on Tuesday night.
Netanyahu had insisted that Lebanon was not part of the deal, and the country has since been targeted with the "largest coordinated strike" in the current conflict.
IDF official Avichay Adraee wrote on X: "The Defense Army does not intend to harm you and is moving only against Hezbollah elements and military targets. Therefore, and out of concern for your safety, you must evacuate immediately."
Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told ITV News that Israel's strikes against Lebanon were "wrong", adding they "should stop" as a "matter of principle".
The prime minister spoke exclusively to ITV News' Political Editor Robert Peston, as part of the Talking Politics podcast.
Starmer also said that the Strait of Hormuz should open "toll-free" and that he was "fed up" with the actions of Putin and Trump affecting energy prices for UK residents.
Trump warns Iran against charging tolls on Strait of Hormuz ships
US President Donald Trump responded to reports that Iran was considering charging tolls on tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, telling them "they better not".
"There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait — They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!", wrote the President on his Truth Social platform.
The opening of the Strait of Hormuz was the main condition required for the ceasefire to come into effect.
Reports have suggested that tolls on ships travelling through the opened Strait could be part of the ceasefire conditions, but Trump's latest post appears to contradict this.
US President Donald Trump has said all US ships, aircraft and military personnel will "remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with".
Writing on Truth Social overnight, Trump said the military will stay in place with additional ammunition, weaponry, "and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded enemy".
The statement comes a day after Trump and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, with negotiations based on a 10-point plan proposed by Iran.
Trump had described the plan as "a workable basis on which to negotiate", but it did include the withdrawal of US "combat forces" from the region and Iran being allowed to continue its uranium enrichment programmes – both likely sticking points in the negotiations.
"Our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!", his post concluded.
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Any security settlement in Middle East "must include Lebanon", says Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper
In a speech on Thursday evening, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the escalation of airstrikes in Lebanon by Israel was "deeply damaging".
She defended the UK Government's restraint in becoming embroiled in the Iran war, while warning that the war will not end with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
"We took a very different view to the US and Israel at the start of this conflict. When their action got underway, we faced a choice", said Cooper.
She warned that instability and volatility are becoming "increasingly chronic" and turbulence "is the new normal".
"The new reality we face did not begin with the war in Iran, nor will it end with a reopened strait."
'Nonsense' that UK isn't involved in Iran war, Iranian deputy foreign minister says
"It is nonsense that in a war a country says that I'm not party to this war, but I provide the infrastructurefor you to start offensive operation against another country," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Thursday.
He was responding to ITV News International Editor Emma Murphy, who had asked about Iranian-UK relations going forward.
"Thousands of Iranian civilians and also civilian infrastructures have been ruined and destroyed by these B2 bombers."
In 2024 the UK government suspended some licenses for British arms exports to Israel due to a "clear risk" they could be used to "commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law".
However, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data for 2024, the US is the UK's second biggest arms importer.
The deputy foreign minister also said that the Strait of Hormuz is open, but with "technical restrictions".
He did not give a definitive answer as to whether that was a reference to possible sea mines in the Strait.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as part of his trip to the Gulf for talks on the Iran war.
Starmer is visiting allies in the region for talks on upholding the pause in fighting and what the next steps are to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
He spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and on Thursday met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Starmer has welcomed the two-week pause in Trump’s bombing campaign, but said it is “early days” and that more work needs to be done to restore shipping through the key route.
Iran publishes chart showing possible sea mines
One of Iran's semi-official news agencies has published a chart suggesting the country's Revolutionary Guard has placed sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the latest conflict.
The reports from the ISNA news agency and Tasnim, which is believed to be close to the force, show a "danger zone" over the Traffic Separation Scheme, the two, two-mile wide shipping lanes for incoming and outgoing traffic.
The dates on the chart ran from February 28 to Thursday, April 9. It’s unclear if the Guard has cleared the mines.
The message may have been published as a pressure tactic during the two-week ceasefire and negotiations.
Trump's 'frank' meeting with Nato chief
The US president met with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday in what the Dutch politician described as a "frank and open discussion".
Rutte highlighted efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, and the role UK prime minister was playing, but he acknowledged the US president was "clearly disappointed" with how European allies had responded to his actions in Iran.
The talks did not appear to calm the president's frustrations.
“NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!", Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after the meeting.
Earlier the White House said Britain and other Nato allies had “turned their backs” on the American people during the war.
He has previously raised the possibility of the US quitting Nato, branding it a “paper tiger”.
The UK's refusal to be drawn into the offensive against Iran, dubbed Operation Epic Fury by the US, and to restrict the use of its bases by American forces has put a severe strain on relations between Starmer and Trump.
Trump has repeatedly criticised and mocked the prime minister and the British military, including describing the UK's aircraft carriers as "toys" that "aren't the best".
Israel targets Hezbollah official
Early on Thursday the Israeli military claimed to have killed Ali Yusuf Harshi, the personal secretary to Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem in Beirut.
"A close associate and personal advisor, Harshi played a key role in managing and securing Qassem’s office," the IDF wrote on X.
Israeli strikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut on Wednesday afternoon without warning.
Lebanon’s health ministry said over 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the strikes, marking the highest death toll in a single day in the more than five weeks of renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military called it the "largest coordinated strike" in the current conflict, striking more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa valley.
In unusually strong language, UN Secretary-General António Guterres “unequivocally” condemned the strikes, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric.
He said they pose “a grave risk to the ceasefire and the efforts toward a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region”.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on Wednesday in response to the attacks against the militant group.
In its 10-point plan, Iran said the US must agree to "cessation of the war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic resistance in Lebanon".
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to say in a speech on Thursday evening that Lebanon must be included in the Iran ceasefire agreement and that there “must be no return to conflict”.
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