Israel’s war with Hezbollah is intensifying in Lebanon as talks on the next phase are delayed

Twenty-five commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, the highest number seen on any day since mid-April, according to data from marine monitoring company AXSMarine.

The increase came after President Trump and his Iranian counterpart signed a preliminary agreement that calls for the reopening of a key shipping lane amid a temporary truce between the US and Iran – and an end to hostilities in Lebanon.

The memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday also calls for 60 days of direct bilateral talks aimed at starting a peace deal, but that next step – which was expected to start on Friday in Switzerland – has been delayed amid escalating fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

On June 18 “we saw 25 confirmed commercial vessel crossings in the Strait of Hormuz — the highest one-day number since April 18 and five times the daily average recorded in the first ten days of June,” AXSMarine said in a statement.

Israel’s military said on Friday it had struck at least 80 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as fighting between the two sides began in a major test of the fragile US-Iran deal aimed at ending the war.

“In an instant, the IDF struck more than 80 facilities, terrorists, launch sites and additional terrorist infrastructure,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The statement said “dozens” of Hezbollah fighters were killed in the strikes, which the IDF called a response to “repeated, continuous, and indiscriminate violations of the ceasefire” by the US-designated and Israel-based Lebanon-based terror group.

The National News Agency under the government of Lebanon said at least 18 people died during the attack in the country.

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Friday that direct talks with the United States, provided for by the cooperation agreement signed on Wednesday but currently delayed, would be bound by Tehran’s “red lines”.

“As we have shown in the course of previous negotiations, we are firm in fulfilling the conditions and red lines set, and in fulfilling the interests of the Iranian nation,” Ghalibaf said in remarks published by Iran’s official news agency IRNA. “If the enemy wants to go to extremes, we have shown that our fingers are on the gun and we have no hesitation in giving a sharp response to the enemy.”

A statement by Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, sent to the country’s media on Thursday evening, says that President Trump, “out of desperation, used all forms of leverage” to reach an agreement with Tehran.

“On reaching this stage, the ruling officials, out of sincere concern and interest, made great efforts – and, of course, it was the American president who, out of desperation, used all kinds of power to do this,” Khamenei said in a statement.

Khamenei – who has not been seen or heard from directly since taking over from his father, who was killed on the first day of the joint US-Israeli strikes, said Iran accepted the terms of the deal and that there would be “in-person talks in the future,” but Tehran would not accept the Trump administration’s demands for a comprehensive peace deal.

Two regional officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said negotiators were focused Friday on easing Lebanon’s renewed fighting.

One of the officials said that Iran has suspended plans to start direct talks with American officials in Switzerland on Friday, especially regarding the fight against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments, which he described as violating the interim agreement between Iran and the US.

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday stopped his trip to Switzerland, where he was to lead the next phase of negotiations with Iran provided for in the cooperation agreement signed by both countries on Wednesday. The White House blamed operational problems for the delay in the start of the talks, which are expected to last 60 days.

President Trump said Thursday night that he expects Hezbollah and Israel to stop fighting under the agreement between the US and Iran.

“The United States is committed to PEACE, and we encourage everyone in the Middle East region to maintain their commitment to allow our negotiations to go smoothly,” said Mr. Trump in the book Truth Social. “We expect a complete freeze on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel.”

Israel said it attacked Hezbollah in the early hours of Friday in response to “repeated violations of the ceasefire.”

In a brief statement the Israel Defense Forces said it “attacked overnight and continues to strike Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure sites in many areas in southern Lebanon.”

Lebanese officials said at least 18 civilians were killed, making it the deadliest attack since the US and Iran reached an agreement earlier this week on a cooperation agreement signed Wednesday by Mr. Trump and Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian.

The Israeli army said on Friday that its forces had raided positions across southern Lebanon overnight as Hezbollah reported heavy fighting in the area.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that at least 18 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, which the Israeli military said were still ongoing. Meanwhile, Israel said four of its soldiers were killed in the fighting in southern Lebanon, including a lieutenant colonel. The drone strike that erupted wounded five others, it added.

The continuation of the war in Lebanon could derail the recently signed agreement, which calls for an immediate halt to military operations “in all sectors, including in Lebanon,” where Israel has been fighting the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group, and to guarantee Lebanon’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Vice President JD Vance no longer plans to travel to Switzerland late Thursday to help start negotiations with Iran, a White House spokesperson told reporters.

“As the Vice-President said in his press conference, the plans for future technical talks have not been finalized, and the US delegation is ready to leave at the first available time. But the things of these talks have never been easy or predictable,” said the spokesperson in a statement from the White House press pool. “Currently the Vice President is not leaving tonight. We will let you know as soon as we have a concrete update on next steps.”

The spokesman added: “We look forward to starting technical discussions as soon as possible.”

Under the cooperation agreement signed by Iran and the US this week, the two sides plan to hold 60 days of technical talks on the fate of Iran’s nuclear program.

Earlier in the day, Vance told reporters that the plan was for those talks to begin this weekend, and that he intended to go to Switzerland to start the talks, but “that could change” because Iran “is not an easy country …

“It depends on when the Iranians can get there,” he said. “We’re trying to figure that out as we speak, but again, I suspect it will happen this weekend.”