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Trump said he has a “great relationship” with Netanyahu but in the same breath added that he should be “more responsible” with Lebanon
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Israel reportedly struck targets in southern Lebanon again on Wednesday, brushing off warnings from Donald Trump and threatening to derail the US peace process with Iran.
Israeli forces were said to have carried out an airstrike in the Nabatieh district and raids on the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, according to Lebanese media and Al Jazeera Arabic.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. Iran has warned of a “hard response” if Israel does not stop its attacks on Lebanon, and Hezbollah says Tehran promised it would not sign the final nuclear deal with the US unless Israel stops.
The issue has forced a rift between Donald Trump and Israel in recent days, with the US president on Tuesday saying that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.
Trump said Israel has been fighting with Hezbollah for “too long” and issued rare rebuke of its military tactics, saying it was unnecessary to bomb entire apartment blocks to hunt militants.
Eight people were killed when a B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The fiery incident occurred Monday, with the Boeing B-52 slamming into the ground about halfway down the runway, just a very short time after becoming airborne.
The bomber, which was participating in a test mission as part of a program to keep the oldest aircraft in the U.S. fleet flying for decades to come, took off shortly before noon on a clear day. It flew straight before crashing on the same 15,000-foot runway.
The compact wreckage indicated the plane dropped sharply, with aerial footage showing virtually nothing left of the aircraft. Officials determined no one could have survived.
Nato chief Mark Rutte says that a potential deal with Iran creates an opportunity to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting of defence ministers, the secretary general also says that the US has made clear it is committed to Nato, and that its nuclear deterrent is solid.
He says Europe and Canada are more capable and will take more responsibility for security.
Shortly after the US and Israel attacked Iran, Donald Trump laid out a host of objectives, from destroying Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities to ensuring Tehran can never have a nuclear weapon.
With a preliminary peace deal now in place, what has Trump achieved?
Missiles and drones
Before the war, Iran held the largest ballistic stockpile in the Middle East, with between 2,500 and 6,000 missiles of different types.
Roughly one month into the war, U.S. sources told Reuters that one-third of that arsenal was destroyed, with another third likely damaged, destroyed or buried.
It is unclear how many missiles Iran has left, but the country still has the ability to reach US allies – most recently on June 6, when it launched salvos at Kuwait and Bahrain, and June 7, when it fired missiles at Israel.
Military capabilities
The US says it has degraded Iran’s conventional military ability to project power in the region or threaten US operations.
It claims to have destroyed at least 161 Iranian naval ships and 82 per cent of its air defence systems. But Iran was still able to shut the Strait of Hormuz for the duration of the conflict.
Nuclear programme
Trump has repeatedly said that his main goal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Tehran has consistently said it has no intention of building a bomb and its program is for peaceful purposes.
But the war has not significantly changed Iran’s nuclear capability. US intelligence last month estimated that Iran would need less than a year to produce a nuclear weapon – the same timeline it laid out following the June 2025 strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iranian proxies
Trump said on March 2 at the White House that Tehran cannot be allowed to continue to arm and fund the armed proxy groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen that Iran has relied on for decades to project power and harass enemies.
US Admiral Brad Cooper said in May that Iran no longer has the ability to reliably supply those groups with advanced weapons, though he did not specify what that meant.
Regime change
Trump encouraged Iranian protesters to overthrow their rulers before the war began and said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death on February 28 was their “single greatest chance” to seize the government.
The war has failed to dislodge Iran’s government, but supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed and replaced by his son at the start of the conflict.
Trump in recent weeks has refrained from repeating his calls for the toppling of Iranian leaders.
Trump’s biggest backers on the neoconservative right were thrilled by his decision to go to war. But now they’re coming to terms with just how far short of their goals he’s come, writes John Bowden:
Al Jazeera Arabic is now corroborating reports carried by Lebanese media of strikes in southern Lebanon.
Israeli forces are claimed to have carried out an air strike on the outskirts of Kfar Tebnit in the Nabatieh district.
Israeli forces also reportedly launched raids on the town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and hit the Ali al-Taher heights.
Israel is yet to comment on the reported strikes, amid growing pressure from Donald Trump and Iran to end the parallel war with Hezbollah.
Israel’s request to access the text of the interim Iran agreement was rejected by the U.S., according to reports, as tensions between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump have become more prominent since the ceasefire in hostilities with Iran.
The original text of the memorandum of understanding reached between the U.S. and Iran to end the war in the Middle East has remained elusive, as Trump said the final version would be made public in a formal setting in a few days.
The interim deal reached Sunday would extend a tenuous ceasefire announced in April by another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked since the U.S. and Israel attacked the country in February.
The Israeli military reportedly struck targets in southern Lebanon again on Wednesday morning, despite warnings from Donald Trump and Iran over the parallel war with Hezbollah.
Israeli fighter jets struck Nabatieh al-Fawqa, while a drone strike hit Ansariyeh on the coast, the National News Agency reported.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on the report.
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