Middle East: Israel, Lebanon agree to extend truce, US says

The extension of a ceasefire in Lebanon paves the way for "lasting stability," Lebanon's negotiating delegation in Washington said on Friday.

"The Lebanese delegation welcomes today's outcome," it said, in a statement shared by the Lebanese presidency. 

"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."

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter described the talks as "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.

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed at least six people including three paramedics, Lebanon's Health Ministry said on Friday, just as a shaky ceasefire in the country was extended for 45 days.

The paramedics were from the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee, the French AFP news agency reported.

The Health Ministry said the Israeli strike "directly targeted" the health center in Haruf in southern Lebanon. A fourth paramedic was critically wounded, and the center was "completely destroyed."

Israel carried out airstrikes on the Palestinian Gaza Strip on Friday, saying it was targeting Ezzedine Al-Haddad, the chief of the Hamas militant group's armed wing.

The Israeli military in a statement announcing the strike targeting Haddad said he was one of the "principle masterminds" of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which triggered its two-year war on Gaza.

Israel did not say whether he was killed in the Friday strike.

Medics in the devastated enclave were cited by the Reuters news agency as saying Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least seven people in Gaza including three women and a child. At least 50 were injured in the strikes, which targeted an apartment and a vehicle.

An October ceasefire agreement brokered by the US has significantly slowed Israeli attacks in Gaza and fighting with Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization in Israel, the US, Germany and other countries.

However, Israeli strikes on the strip have continued, and intensified since a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran and Israel's war on Lebanon. Both Israel and Hamas regularly accuse one another of violating the ceasefire.

Israeli forces still occupy more than half of the Palestinian enclave, amid a deadlock over the next step in US President Donald Trump's post war plans for Gaza.

Since the ceasefire in October, at least 856 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities, while the Israeli military puts the death toll among its soldiers within the same period at five.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and US President Donald Trump have called on Iran to enter negotiations and keep key shipping routes open.

Merz said after a phone call with Trump that both leaders agreed on key points surrounding the war in Iran.

The chancellor wrote on X that he and the US president had had "a good phone call," adding that they agreed "the US and Germany are strong partners in a strong NATO".

"We agree," he wrote: "Iran must come to the negotiating table now. It must open the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons."

The call follows a rift that saw Trump announce the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany.

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to another extension of their shaky truce, the US State Department announced on Friday amid talks in Washington DC.

"The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress," State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott said.

The State Department described the talks on Thursday and Friday as "highly productive" and said the countries would reconvene in early June for more negotiations. 

However, the meetings also coincided with Israeli military strikes on southern Lebanon and drones crashing in northern Israel. 

The truce struck on April 16 and extended twice has considerably reduced the volume of strikes, particularly in more northern parts of Lebanon and the capital Beirut, but violations have taken place more or less daily. 

Iran-backed Hezbollah first fired missiles at Israel on March 2, in response to the strikes on Iran that killed much of the leadership in Tehran, with Israel soon launching a ground invasion into what it's declared a "buffer zone" in southern Lebanon near the de facto border. 

The United Arab Emirates has moved to speed up construction of an oil pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ordered state oil giant ADNOC to accelerate the project, according to official media.

The pipeline is expected to be completed by 2027 and is aimed at securing export routes amid ongoing instability in the region.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key global energy corridor, and disruptions there have raised concerns about oil supply and prices.

The UAE's decision last month ‌to leave the OPEC and OPEC+ groups of oil-producing countries is expected to boost its output. 

Iran has said it is open to support from China to help resolve the Middle East conflict.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would welcome any diplomatic assistance.

"We appreciate any country who has the ability to help, particularly China," he told reporters as he attended a meeting of the BRICS group of countries in India.

"We have very good relations with China, we are strategic partners to each other, and we know that [the] Chinese have a good intention, so anything that can be done by them to help diplomacy would be welcomed by the Islamic Republic," Araghchi added.

The comments came after talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Orphaned children in Gaza have taken part in a run held as part of Nakba commemorations.

Aid group The Zaynab Project said the run was intended to honor the memory of displacement while giving children a chance to run, laugh and experience a moment of normality.

"For one day, orphaned children in Gaza will have the chance to run, laugh, celebrate, and simply feel like children again," the group posted on Instagram ahead of the run.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has launched strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as tensions escalate despite a ceasefire.

"The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement, hours after issuing evacuation warnings for five towns and villages.

The strikes came as Israel and Lebanon entered a second day of US-brokered talks in Washington aimed at easing hostilities.

In a separate statement, the military said several explosive drones had fallen in northern Israel, with no injuries reported.

The exchange of fire underscores the fragility of the truce, with violence continuing even as diplomatic efforts are underway.

China has stressed the need to restore stability in the Gulf and has renewed calls for a lasting ceasefire in the Iran conflict, after talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said a comprehensive and permanent truce was essential and urged the reopening of key shipping routes, including the Strait of Hormuz.

"This conflict, which should never have happened, has no reason to continue. Finding a solution sooner is beneficial to both the US and Iran, as well as to countries in the region and the world as a whole," the ministry said.

Trump said Xi supported a negotiated settlement and had offered to help broker a deal.

He also said the Chinese leader agreed Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons and should reopen the waterway. However, Xi did not comment on his discussions with Trump about Iran, while China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement outlining Beijing's frustration with the Iran war.

Take a look at our blog on the aftermath of Trump's whirlwind China visit here.

Israel's military has ordered residents of five villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of expected strikes against Hezbollah.

The warning was issued Friday despite an existing ceasefire with Lebanon, with the army citing alleged violations by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

"In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Defense Army is compelled to act against it forcefully," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X.

He listed five villages near the city of Tyre, on the south Lebanon coast.

"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and stay away from the villages and towns by a distance of no less than 1,000 metres [0.62 miles]," he added.

Millions of Palestinians have been marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, as a ceasefire in Gaza remains in place.

The term, meaning "catastrophe," refers to the mass displacement of around 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.

This is the third Nakba commemoration since the Gaza war began in October 2023. The current ceasefire is doing little to ease the humanitarian strain on the territory's more than 2 million people, with many still confined to a reduced coastal area.

Survivors of the 1948 events have drawn comparisons between past and present. One 78-year-old witness described the current conditions as "indescribable" and "unbearable," despite the pause in fighting.

Historically, about 80% of Palestinians living in what became Israel were displaced during the war, and around 530 villages were destroyed, according to Palestinian statistics. Many refugees and their descendants — now numbering around 6 million — remain across the region, including in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Gaza.

Hello and welcome to DW's coverage of developments across the wider Middle East, including the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran, on Friday, 15 May, 2026.

Millions of Palestinians are marking the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, with a fragile ceasefire in Gaza shaping this year's remembrance.

The Nakba refers to the displacement of around 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.

You can catch up on Middle East developments earlier this week here.