Israel, Hezbollah agree to ceasefire after morning flareup

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Switzerland for the first round of talks with Iran on a possible nuclear deal, the Axios digital news outlet reported, citing a US official.

The outlet also reported that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was already in Switzerland.

Talks scheduled for Friday between US and Iranian officials were "postponed" amid fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, who have since agreed to a ceasefire starting Friday.

It is not yet clear whether a new time for talks has been set.

Watch here to see how DW's correspondent in Israel and experts view ceasefire agreements between Israel and Hezbollah as well as the United States and Iran. 

Deadly fighting in Lebanon was likely part of why planned US-Iran talks in Switzerland were suddenly scrapped on Friday.

An agreement signed by the US and Iran earlier this week was supposed to halt hostilities in Lebanon — but Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah had continued attacks early Friday. 

A reported Israel-Hezbollah truce — if it delivers — could shift the dynamic and reopen the path for postponed US-Iran talks.

So far, Switzerland hasn't announced any new plans for negotiations here. 

Mediating state Pakistan, meanwhile, is planning a separate meeting in Cairo on Sunday with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. 

The agenda makes no mention of the US or Iran. It only references "issues related to peace, security and stability."

But it may be one to watch as efforts to get the US and Iran to the table intensify. 

In a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that a comprehensive ceasefire must be secured for talks with Israel to progress.

According to the Lebanese presidency's post on X, Aoun thanked Rubio for US support, but stressed "the need for Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory to cease through the achievement of a comprehensive ceasefire."

Lebanon considers this a fundamental basis for advancing the Lebanese-US-Israeli negotiations scheduled to take place in Washington next week, Aoun said.

According to a statement from the US State Department, Rubio "reiterated the need to disarm Hezbollah" and reaffirmed the US's support for the government of Lebanon's efforts to create "a fully sovereign Lebanese state that is at peace with all its neighbors."

The State Department also announced that the next round of Lebanese-Israeli talks will be held from June 23 to 25 in Washington. 

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 47 people, including seven women and two children, and wounded 97 others in Lebanon since midnight.

Shortly after a US official announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's official National News Agency reported a new Israeli attack on Jezzine in southern Lebanon.

An earlier truce, which was supposed to take effect in mid April, did little to stop attacks from either side, with Israeli forces refusing to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon.

Earlier on Friday, before the latest ceasefire was announced, Israel reported that four of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon in one of the deadliest Hezbollah attacks of the war.

The announced Israel–Lebanon ceasefire comes as Lebanon's health minister reports at least 47 fatalities following a series of Israeli airstrikes. 

The fighting of the two sides had cast doubt on the newly signed US–Iran peace framework. Initial talks under the memorandum of understanding, scheduled to take place in Switzerland on Friday, have now been postponed. 

Can the Israel–Lebanon ceasefire hold, and why were the talks in Switzerland called off? DW has the latest.

"A great victory" and a "pivotal point for Lebanon" — that was how Naim Kassem, the leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah, described on Wednesday the memorandum of understanding that stopped fighting between Iran and the US this week.

Kassem also thanked the Iranians for "linking the Lebanese arena" to the deal and "forcing Israel to stop its aggression."

Hezbollah was founded in 1982 with support from Iran, and one of its primary aims then was to end Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. It has both a military and political wing and the support of much of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim community. Today it plays a major part in Lebanese society and politics, has often been described as a "state within a state," and remains opposed to Israel.

Since Kassem's comments, fighting has continued in southern Lebanon, with Hezbollah targeting Israeli soldiers and Israel continuing to destroy southern villages and use bombs and drones. Sixty days of talks between the US and Iran, during which details would be hammered out, were due to start in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed in the morning because of Iran's opposition to the fighting in Lebanon.

Yet, despite it's troubled start, analysts say that the deal on the table favors Hezbollah's allies in Tehran. 

DW looks at what the deal means for the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke about the tentative ceasefire efforts in the Middle East as the EU leaders' summit wrapped up in Brussels on Friday. 

He did not speak to the reports of the latest deal between Israel and Hezbollah, still developing as he took the podium, but nevertheless laid emphasis on the need for fighting to stop in Lebanon.

He said European heads of state and government were "unanimous in the view that it is now of crucial importance that the ceasefire negotiated between the US and Iran also holds in the south of Lebanon."

"We call on the Israeli government to refrain from a further escalation via continued settlement building in the West Bank," Merz said, adding that he had "made this clear" in recent talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

He also said that European leaders had discussed the possibility of "trade measures" against Israel — seemingly a soft reference to some form of potential sanctions — and concluded "I rejected this proposal on behalf of the [German] federal government." 

There is relief in the Gulf as the conflict between the US and Iran has entered a negotiation phase following nearly four months of fighting.

Up until a ceasefire in April, Iran repeatedly fired on US military installations along with civilian and energy infrastructure in Gulf states.

In the aftermath of the conflict, Gulf states are looking at Iran in a new light, while at the same time, confidence in the US security umbrella in the region is waning.

DW looks at how the Iran war has changed relations between the Gulf neighbors and Tehran.

Diplomats from other countries in the region are also reporting the new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, albeit also on the condition of anonymity. 

Reuters cited a "senior Israeli official" as saying that the two sides were in a state of ceasefire, until and unless Hezbollah fired on Israel. 

"Then we are in war time," the official was quoted as saying. 

The official said Israel would keep its forces in the self-declared "security zone" in southern Lebanon near the de facto border. 

Reuters also cited two unnamed Hezbollah sources as saying: "As soon as we got word of the ceasefire, we applied it from our end."

The Associated Press, meanwhile, cited "two regional officials" as confirming the accord, as well as their US government source. 

And AFP cited a "Gulf diplomat" with similar comments, on condition of anonymity. 

"Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to halt hostilities in a deal mediated by Qatar, the US, and Iran," the diplomat was quoted as saying. 

Based on these unnamed comments, the truce is already in effect, and has been for almost an hour now.

Israel and the Lebanese, Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group have reportedly agreed to a ceasefire starting at 4 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Friday, after fighting that has shaken the deal between Iran and the US to end the war.

"Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to ‌a ceasefire," Reuters news agency cited what it called a "senior US official" as saying, without naming them. It reported that US and Qatari negotiations worked out the deal with help from Iran.

"We understand ​that after ‌the exchange of fire ​earlier ⁠today, Israel and Hezbollah are ⁠now ​in a ceasefire," the offical was quoted as saying, with AFP reporting similar off-the-record comments.

Iranian officials have announced that vessels will be granted passage through the Strait of Hormuz if they submit requests in accordance with newly released procedures.

The ships would be required to file transit requests at least 48 hours before entry. They would need to coordinate routes and transit time in advance due to mines and other safety risks.

The government body in charge of the strait said it would waive fees for the next 60 days, the negotiation period following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the US. The fees, according to the agency, would be compensation for security, safety, ​environmental services and ‌related insurance.

With Iranian footballers taking part in the ongoing 2026 World Cup in North America, the Iranian football federation said they will file a complaint with FIFA over strict travel restrictions imposed on their team in the US.

Iran had already switched its base from the US state of Arizona to Tijuana, a Mexican city bordering the US, in hopes of circumventing travel restrictions and potential security issues amid the war in the Middle East.

Even so, the US authorities only allow the team to enter US soil a day before a match and the players are expected to leave again after the match wraps up. Iran's request to fly to Los Angeles two days before their game against Belgium on Sunday was turned down.

Iranian football officials now argue these restrictions are unfair to their team, as they are not providing them with an equal playing field as other teams. They also said the goal of their request was "to adapt to the match conditions, complete their final training session, and finalize preparations."

"Despite having submitted its preparation schedule for the tournament well in advance, Iran's national football team has once again encountered restrictions imposed by the organizers," the spokesman said.

Iranian officials have said that 15 of their football officials have been denied visas to the US.

Following reports of several Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would exact "a very heavy price" from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah.

"Following the heinous attack by Hezbollah, which is a flagrant violation of the ceasefire, I instructed the IDF last night to strike Hezbollah with force," he said.

Netanyahu also restated his previous claims about Israel's occupation of parts of southern Lebanon, saying that the IDF will stay in the neighboring country "as long as necessary."

The Israeli military said Israel lost four soldiers and Lebanese media reported a total of 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes amid heavy fighting.

Netanyahu claimed Israel "struck over 80 terror targets and eliminated dozens of terrorists." That figure from Netanyahu could not be independently verified.

"I think it's regrettable. But, given the nature of this scenario, it’s not entirely unexpected,” Ireland’s Prime Minister Michael Martin said upon arriving for the second day of the EU summit in Brussels. “I would urge continued dialogue and adherence to the agreement because the world needs stability and peace.”

Martin's comments come after news broke that the United States and Iran postponed their planned negotiations in Switzerland. 

It’s somewhat dulled the general optimism here at the EU summit in Brussels, after the successful G7 summit in Evian. There, they had seized the moment: US President Donald Trump was promised European political support for the newly negotiated Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, whilst they were also able to convince him to increase pressure on Russian President Putin so that peace talks could potentially finally begin over ending the war in Ukraine.

Strategic Stakes for Europe and Ukraine

For the European Union, the stakes go beyond the immediate question of nuclear safeguards and the security of critical shipping routes, such as the Strait of Hormuz.

The G7 summit in Evian showed how closely the conflicts in Iran and in Ukraine are interconnected.

With a solution to the Iran war and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz on the horizon, the tense situation for the global economy could also ease, particularly when it comes to oil prices. This easing, in turn, would allow US President Trump to reinstate oil sanctions against Russia. As he promised in Evian.

The key question for Europe remains: When might a diplomatic window for peace talks with Russia open, and just how might it take shape?