Iran war updates: Lebanon ‘ceasefire’ extended, Israel launches new attacks

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• Israel says its military assassinated Hamas’s top military commander in Gaza, Izz al-Din al-Haddad. There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian group.
• At least seven people have been killed and dozens wounded in Israel’s bombardment of a residential building and a civilian car west of Gaza City.
• The US State Department says the “ceasefire” between Israel and Lebanon will be extended by 45 days, with more US-brokered talks expected later this month and in early June.
• At least six people were killed and 22 were wounded in an Israeli attack on an ambulance centre in the Lebanese town of Harouf.
• The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah says its fighters launched 33 attacks on Israeli soldiers inside southern Lebanon on Friday.

New York Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has posted a video marking the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” the displacement of an estimated 750,000 Palestinians during the establishment of the state of Israel.

The video features Inea, a New Yorker, who says she lived through the events from 1948 onwards in Palestine.

Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed.

Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us… pic.twitter.com/z2PBOaJq5Z

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) May 15, 2026

President Trump, up until now, insisted the Iranians deny weaponised nuclear capability in perpetuity. He’s now putting a 20-year timeline on it, which is a shift in what had been a hardline policy.

But what assistance is he getting from China regarding Iran? It’s not very clear. It appears China is trying to keep its hands clean on the issue, in particular, staying away from the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, although President Trump says China agrees that the strait should reopen and the war should end.

That is a point of agreement, according to the president.

But in terms of tangible efforts from China to bring pressure to bear on Iran to negotiate with the United States, there is no public sign there’s been any success on that front.

The United Arab Emirates has released a statement emphasising its “firm approach based on supporting the security and stability of the region”.

The Foreign Ministry “condemned in the strongest terms the Iranian attacks and threats that targeted the state and the countries of the region”.

This included “the launching of approximately 3,000 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones toward the United Arab Emirates”. The statement said the strikes “resulted in deaths and injuries among civilians in addition to damage caused to civil infrastructure”.

The government described the incidents as a “clear violation of the sovereignty of states and a direct threat to the security and stability of the region”. All defensive measures are “aimed at protecting its sovereignty, civilians, and critical infrastructure”.

The UAE “retains its full sovereign, legal, diplomatic, and military rights in confronting any threat or hostile act”, it added.

Any “attempts at pressure or promoting malicious allegations will not affect its firm positions”, the ministry said, and such efforts “will not deter it from protecting its supreme national interests and preserving its sovereignty and independence of decision”.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the American people will bear rising economic costs from what he described as a “war of choice” on Iran, pointing to higher US Treasury yields and warning of pressure on debt, mortgages and consumer loans.

Araghchi highlighted rising 2-, 10- and 30-year yields as evidence of tightening financial conditions.

He also argued energy prices and household credit stress would worsen, calling the situation entirely “avoidable” after the US and Israel launched the war on his country.

Americans are told that they must absorb rocketing costs of war of choice on Iran.

Put aside gas price hike and stock market bubble. Real pain begins when U.S. debt and mortgage rates start to jump. Auto loan delinquencies are already at 30+-year high.

This was all avoidable. pic.twitter.com/dhjcdzTOHc

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 15, 2026

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah says its fighters launched 33 attacks on Israeli soldiers inside southern Lebanon on Friday.

The group outlined its use of rockets, drones, roadside bombs and artillery in a statement.

The attacks focused on Israeli troop clusters and armoured vehicles located throughout various frontier villages and ravines in southern Lebanon, the group said.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations says the United States is trying to “manufacture a false image” of broad international backing by highlighting the number of co-sponsors of a Bahrain-backed UN draft resolution on the Strait of Hormuz.

It warned any states backing the text could share “international responsibility” if escalation follows, adding there is “no political excuse or diplomatic cover” for what it described as enabling US “aggression”.

The resolution – supported by the US and Bahrain with backing from Gulf states – calls for freedom of navigation and an end to Iranian attacks in the Gulf.

It is now crystal clear that the U.S. is seeking to exploit the number of the so-called co-sponsors of its politically motivated and one-sided draft resolution to manufacture a false image of “broad international support” for its ongoing unlawful actions and to pave the way for…

— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) May 15, 2026

Democrats have continued to criticise the domestic impact of President Trump’s war on Iran.

Senator Tammy Baldwin said in a post on X: “President Trump’s war of choice in Iran has sent the cost of fertilizer and gas through the roof for our farmers.”

A large share of the world’s fertiliser supply is exported by Gulf states and moves through the Strait of Hormuz.

Mark Warner, chair of the Senate intelligence committee, said: “From gas prices to home costs, Trump’s war of choice is making it harder and harder to afford the life you want.”

Senator Mark Kelly said Trump’s war had “no goal in mind”, and Americans are already paying through higher energy costs.

“We need leaders who are laser focused on lowering costs because this administration is making life more expensive,” Kelly wrote.

President Donald Trump called New York Times journalist David Sanger’s reporting on the US-Israel war on Iran “treasonous” while claiming a “total military victory”.

Watch the report below:

An Iraqi national accused of plotting at least 18 terror attacks in Europe in retaliation for the US and Israel’s war with Iran – including firebombing a bank in Amsterdam and stabbing Jewish men in London – has been arrested and charged with supporting Iran-backed terrorist organisations.

According to court documents, the man sought to attack a New York City synagogue last month and provided an undercover law enforcement officer with photos and maps of Jewish centres in Los Angeles, California, and Scottsdale, Arizona, that he planned to target.

He is also accused of involvement in two recent attacks in Canada: an attack on a synagogue and a shooting at the US consulate in Toronto in March.

US prosecutors said he directed and urged other people to attack US and Israeli interests, including by killing Americans and Jews.

He posted about the attacks on Snapchat and Telegram and spoke about them in phone calls recorded by an FBI informant whose help he solicited in planning attacks in the US.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the case “puts into stark relief the global threats posed by the Iranian regime and its proxies like Kataib Hezbollah“.

Lebanon has welcomed a 45-day ceasefire extension, as Israel continues to attack, killing at least 11 people today.

Lebanon is calling for an independent monitoring mechanism and firm US guarantees, following two days of talks in Washington with Israeli negotiators.

In a statement shared by the presidency, the Lebanese delegation said the renewed ceasefire could ease pressure on civilians and support stability.

Officials stressed that “to avoid the failures of previous agreements”, a “step-by-step and verifiable process” must be implemented, supported by the United States.

The Wafa news agency reports several Israeli settler attacks across the occupied West Bank:

• A Palestinian man was injured after being shot in the leg by a settler in ad-Dhahiriya, a town near the southern city of Hebron, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.
• Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian shepherds and tried to steal livestock in the towns of Beit Inan and Beit Duqqu, northwest of Jerusalem.
• A photographer for the Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli settlers set fire to two vehicles and vandalised four others near the village of Shuqba, west of Ramallah.

The Lebanese and Israeli delegations have issued statements after agreeing to a 45-day ceasefire extension.

Following two days of talks in Washington, Lebanon’s delegation said in a statement that it wanted to turn the momentum from the ceasefire into a lasting peace agreement.

“The extension of the ceasefire and the establishment of a US-facilitated ‌security track provide critical breathing space for our citizens, reinforce state institutions, and advance a political pathway toward lasting stability.”

Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, said the talks were “frank and constructive”.

“There will be ups and downs, ‌but ‌the potential for success is great. What will be paramount throughout negotiations is the security of our citizens and our soldiers,” Leiter said on X.

People here are going to receive news of this “ceasefire” extension with a grain of salt.

As we speak, there is an Israeli drone above the city of Tyre. About two hours ago, Israel issued evacuation orders for two buildings in the city, ordering people to leave areas within 300 metres of them.

Cars are lined up very close to the coastline. People are here because they left their neighbourhoods after Israel warned it was going strike these specific buildings. We’ve seen at least two attacks on the city.

People here are extremely frustrated.

Even though this statement released by the US State Department says there’s going to be an extension of the cessation of hostilities for 45 days, that doesn’t mean people are going to be safe, or that they’re going to be able to go about their daily lives and return to any sense of normalcy.

In fact, what we’re seeing as this news comes out is what Israel has been doing for the past two months: threatening to attack and then following that up with more strikes.