Middle East

As of mid-April, at least 3,468 Iranians, including 499 women, had been killed since US and Israeli strikes began, according to official Iranian government figures. This is made up of 1,460 civilians and 2,008 military personnel, state news agency IRNA reported on 26 April. But the US-based Human Rights Activists …

Lebanon says Israeli strikes kill 18 as Israel says four soldiers killed by Hezbollah BBC News

At least 47 people have been killed in Lebanon following a series of Israeli air strikes, the country’s health ministry has said – while the Israeli military says four of its soldiers were also killed. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck 80 targets linked to the Iran-backed …

A new round of direct talks between the US and Iran have been postponed after Vice-President JD Vance delayed a planned trip to Switzerland. The White House announced late on Thursday that Vance would not be travelling to the talks and said the logistics had not been “simple or predictable”. …

Israel and Hezbollah have agreed a ceasefire, a US official says, following intense Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon that killed 47 people. The latest agreement followed concerns that continued clashes, which also saw Hezbollah kill four Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, would undermine the deal to end the war between …

At least 13 people have been killed and 66 injured after an explosion at Qatar’s largest gas facility. The city’s main liquified natural gas (LNG) processing site suffered a “technical accident” in Ras Laffan industrial zone on Sunday night, the interior ministry said, with the city’s skyline turning orange because …

A UN commission of inquiry says Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, as well as war crimes in the occupied West Bank. A new report alleges that Israeli authorities and security forces have “deliberately carried out acts …

The BBC has been given rare access to the part of southern Lebanon that is under Israeli occupation, as part of a humanitarian convoy of the Order of Malta distributing aid to Christian villages that have been isolated because of the war. The mission happened on Thursday, a day before …

Lebanese environmental activist Mona Khalil, whose work helped turn a stretch of coastline in southern Lebanon into one of the eastern Mediterranean’s most important nesting sites for endangered sea turtles, has died after being wounded in an Israeli strike. Khalil, 76, was injured when her house on Mansouri beach, near …

At least 20 people have reportedly been killed by Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, less than 24 hours after a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was announced. Local officials said 16 people had been killed in the Nabatieh district and seven in neighbouring Saida, with others injured, after Israeli …

Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed at least six people, including an Al Jazeera cameraman and at least one child, according to health officials and rescuers. Al Jazeera said it “strongly condemns the heinous crime of targeting and killing” of its correspondent Ahmed Wishah, who was killed in a strike …

Under the initial deal signed last week, Iran was to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel through which 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas travels. The US also agreed to lift a military blockade on ships going to and from Iranian ports. The deal also …

The face-to-face meeting follows ongoing fighting in Lebanon and Iran’s claim to have shut the Strait of Hormuz. BBC News

The Israeli military accused Ahmed Wishah of being a “Hamas sniper operative”, without providing evidence. BBC News

Mona Khalil, who had refused to leave the beach she had spent years protecting, died from her injuries after the Israeli strike. BBC News

The agreement followed concerns that continued clashes would undermine the deal to end the war between the US and Iran. BBC News

Senior US officials have shared the details of the deal with Iran in a briefing call with journalists. The full text of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries was read aloud, verbatim, on the call. The 14-paragraph document covers a range of subjects, from reopening the Strait of …

Three Iranian tankers loaded with crude oil have passed the US blockade line in the Gulf of Oman, ship-tracking data shows. BBC News

Israeli nationalists are increasingly flouting a convention on how faiths share the al-Aqsa mosque compound. BBC News

Many Lebanese remain doubtful that the agreement could finally mean the end of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. BBC News