Middle East: Netanyahu vows to increase Lebanon strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to increase the strikes against Islamist militia Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

“We’re not going to slow down,” Netanyahu said in a video in Hebrew.

“The situation obliges us to increase the hits, increase their power,” the Israeli leader said, also promising to hit Hezbollah “hip and thigh.”

This comes as both far-right politicians and large parts of the Israeli public put pressure on Netanyahu’s government to find a solution to the Iran-backed militia’s drone attacks aimed at Israel’s north.

With Israel being in an election year, Netanyahu’s far-right, religious bloc are currently trailing in the opinion polls.

Israel and Hezbollah have carried out mutual strikes with very little pause, despite a ceasefire officially coming into effect on April 17.

It’s yet unclear whether the negotiations between Iran and the US and Iran overthe end of the war would include Lebanon, with Israel vowing to keep its freedom to act against the Shiite militia at any time and Iran looking to secure a ceasefire for the Islamist organization it supports.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the reopening of international internet access in the country, Iranian state media reported, citing the head of public relations at Iran’s Communications Ministry.

Internet access in Iran has been virtually blacked out for 87 days, according to internet observatory NetBlocks, with only a chosen group of people close to the regime having full access, resulting in only regime-approved information being released by officials and the media.

The general public has only had access to domestic platforms and websites.

Despite an official ceasefire, both the Israeli army and Lebanon-based Islamist militia Hezbollahcontinued to exchange blows.

Hezbollah launched drone attacks towards Israel’s north, hitting a home and a bus stop, with the Israeli army striking what it says are infrastructure targets of the Iran-backed group in the Tyre area. The strikes came after Israel warned residents of ten villages to evacuate their homes.

The Lebanese authorities say more than 3,100 have been killed since Israel renewed its strikes on the southern parts of the country on March 3. 23 Israeli soldiers and one army contractors have been killed on the Israeli side.

While negotiations between the US and Iran over ending the war between them reportedly include the cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon, far-right Israeli ministers publicly urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to return to “forceful fighting against Hezbollah in the region.

Despite reports of an impending deal between the US and Iran, both sides emphasized such a deal is far from being within reach.

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Beijing, calling him an “old friend.”

Pakistan is one the countries regarded by China as an “all-weather partnership,” which Xi reiterated during Sharif’s visit.

“No matter how the international situation changes, China always prioritizes the development of China-Pakistan relations in its neighborhood diplomacy,” Xi said.

Xi also commended Pakistan for its efforts to mediate between the US and Iran in a bid to end the war between the two countries, a role Xi called “constructive,” also adding China appreciates Islamabad’s efforts.

In turn, Sharif praised the cooperation with China, saying the two are “brother countries.”
 

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government will allow the Iranian national team to enter the country to play in the men’s 2026 World Cup.

This comes after the war between the US and Iran cast shadows on whether Washington would allow Iran’s players, staff and officials to enter the country, despite the country having to allow all qualified teams to enter its territory as per FIFA’s conditions of bidding to host the world’s biggest football tournament.

Sheinbaum said that the US had decided against hosting the Iranian team.

On Saturday, the head of Iran’s football federation announced that Iran is moving its World Cup training base to Mexico after FIFA approved the request to transfer it from Tucson, Arizona.

The World Cup starts on June 11, and apart from the US and Mexico, it will also be hosted by Canada.

The annual hajjpilgrimage brought more than one million Muslimsthe holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, as the negotiations over the end of the war in the Middle East continue.

Temperatures around Mecca’s Grand Mosque reached 45 degrees centigrade, with the authorities asking pilgrims to use umbrellas to reduce sun exposure. 

US PresidentDonald Trump linked the negotiations over ending the war with Iran to more countries joining the Abraham Accords.

According to Trump, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries should join the normalization agreement with Israel “after all the work done by the US” to secure a deal to end the war with Iran.

“It may be possible that one or two have a reason for not doing so, and that will be accepted,” Trump posted on his Trish Social account.

“But most should be ready, willing, and able to make this settlement with Iran,” he added.

Many countries with predominantly Muslim or Arab populations do not have diplomatic relations with Israel due to the country’s long-year conflict with the Palestinians.

However, several such countries do engage in diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, with others reportedly being in contact with Israel through unofficial channels.

 Iran on Monday executed a man convicted of carrying out armed attacks during the nationwide anti-government protests at the start of the year, the judiciary said, with the hanging the latest in a series carried out since war broke out on February 28.

 “Abbas Akbari … was hanged this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported.

It called Akbari “one of the armed leaders” amid protests in the central province of Isfahan, saying he “opened fire in the street at security forces” and carried out other attacks in the town of Nain.

Charges against him included “moharebeh” — waging war against God — the judiciary said.

On Sunday, another man was hanged after being convicted of espionage. It was the first reported execution linked to spying accusations during the war.

Iran is second only to China in the number of executions it carries out, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday the US and Iran had “a pretty solid thing” with regards to a deal to end the conflict, warning, however, that “alternatives” would be explored if no diplomatic solution was reached.

There is “a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open, enter into ​a very ‌real, significant, time-limited negotiation on ​the nuclear â matter, and hopefully we can â pull ​it off,” Rubio told reporters in the Indian capital, New Delhi, where he has been on an official visit.

The remarks come after US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had told his negotiators not to “rush” the deal, which he said on Saturday had been “largely negotiated.”

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, however, said on Sunday that as far as it knew, key clauses of a possible deal remained “unresolved at this time,” including the issue of frozen Iranian assets.

Oil prices fell to their lowest point in two weeks amid reports that the US and Iran are approaching a peace deal.

Brent crude futures fell $4.71 (€4.05), or 4.55%, ​to $98.83 (€84.88) a barrel ‌by 2234 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate was at $92.03 a barrel, down $4.57, or 4.73%.

Both contracts reached their lowest level since ‌May 7 earlier in the session.

Oil prices have spiralled since the war in Iran broke out, largely because the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut off a vital transport chokepoint.

The current war in Iran and the Middle East, triggered by a US-Israeli offensive that began on February 28, is still ongoing, though mitigated by a ceasefire that went into effect on April 8.

The US and Iran have issued conflicting statements on how close they are to reaching a deal on ending the conflict, with each side voicing demands that the other will so far not accept.

DW will be looking at those faltering steps toward peace, the economic turmoil unleashed by the war and events connected with the simmering conflict.

 Iran said Monday that Tehran and Washington had come to an understanding over many issues pertaining to a possible peace deal but contradicted US statements suggesting a complete agreement was likely to be reached very soon.

“It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said during a weekly news briefing. 

“But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent — no one can make such a claim,” he said, saying Washington had been contradictory and inconsistent in its statements.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said a deal to end the war could be concluded on Monday.

 Baqaei also said that a 14-point framework plancurrently  being drafted by Iran “is focused on ending the war” across the region, including in Lebanon and repeated that details regarding Iran’s nuclear program would be discussed only after both sides agreed on that framework.

He said the Iranian plan contained clauses on ending the US naval blockade on Iranian ports and arrangements for safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global chokepoint for oil and gas transport that has been virtually closed amid the conflict