20\/04\/2026 – 18:25France ‘not specifically targeted’, Macron says of soldier’s Lebanon killing<\/p>\n
President Emmanuel Macron said France was not specifically targeted in the killing of a French UN soldier in Lebanon, while blaming pro-Iranian group Hezbollah for the attack.<\/p>\n
“It was Hezbollah, in fact, that targeted our soldiers,” Macron said of Saturday’s attack.<\/p>\n
“They didn’t target them because they were French. They targeted them because they were on a mission to stand alongside the civilian population,” Macron told journalists in Gdansk, Poland.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 18:24EU to gauge member states’ willingness to take measures against Israel<\/p>\n
The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said the bloc will gauge the willingness of member states to take measures against Israel, after Spain re-upped demands to suspend a cooperation deal.<\/p>\n
Foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc are expected to discuss the matter at a meeting in Luxembourg Tuesday after a call from Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Attitudes towards Israel among key EU member states, hardened over its conduct in the war in Gaza, stiffened further after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and a new law on the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 18:01’Hierarchy of sovereignty’: Israel claims authority over ‘which Lebanese areas are inhabitable’<\/p>\n
FRANCE 24\u2019s Carys Garland welcomed Nadim Houry, Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI).<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0Houry, the \u201cYellow Line doctrine\u201d is not a security measure, but rather a military tool for territorial control. Drawing on recent developments in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon, he argues that this doctrine operates as a legal fa\u00e7ade for expanding occupation under the language of self-defence.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:58Lebanon state media reports Israeli drone strike in south<\/p>\n
Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike hit a town in the country’s south despite a 10-day ceasefire in force between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
The state-run National News Agency said that “an enemy drone targeted the vicinity of the Litani River in the town of Qaqaiyat al-Jisr”, without immediately reporting casualties. Under the ceasefire, Israel reserves the right to act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:58Russia’s Lavrov spoke with Iran’s Araghchi, Moscow FM says<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign \u200bMinister Sergei Lavrov \u200bheld a phone conversation with his \u200bIranian counterpart \u200cAbbas \u2060Araghchi, \u200cRussia’s Foreign Ministry said.<\/p>\n
Lavrov reiterated \u2060the need to uphold the \u200bceasefire and stressed \u200cthe importance of continued diplomatic \u200cefforts, while the Iranian \u200bside confirmed its readiness to do everything \u200bin its power \u200bto ensure \u200bthe uninterrupted passage of \u200bRussian ships and cargo through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:38Iran’s Pezeshkian says ‘deep historical mistrust in Iran towards US government conduct remains’<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:19France’s Macron urges Iran, US to de-escalate amid Hormuz tensions<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel \u200bMacron called for \u200bthe US and Iran to de-escalate amid increased tensions over the weekend \u200bover \u200cthe Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
“Our \u2060position remains the same. We need \u200cto settle things through diplomacy. Everyone must \u2060calm down,” Macron said during a joint press conference with Polish \u200bPrime Minister Donald Tusk.<\/p>\n
The \u200cUS has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran lifted \u200cand then reimposed its own blockade on the \u200bStrait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Macron \u200balso said that France \u200bwas not specifically targeted in the strait after \u200bIran fired shots on ships on Saturday, including a container ship belonging to the CMA CGM. CMA CGM \u2060had described them as “warning shots” and said \u2060at the \u200btime the crew was safe.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:18Ceasefire at risk after US seizes Iranian ship, Iran shuns peace talks<\/p>\n
The US-Iran ceasefire appears in jeopardy after the US said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate, refusing for now to join new peace talks.<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington has shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process \u200band Tehran would not change \u200cits clearly stated demands, adding that it did not believe in deadlines or ultimatums when safeguarding national interests.<\/p>\n
FRANCE 24’s International Affairs Editor Angela Diffley tells us more.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:15US negotiators will head to Pakistan for new talks with Iran soon<\/p>\n
The US delegation will head to Pakistan “soon” for a new round of peace negotiations with Iran, a source familiar with the plan told AFP, as Iran said it had yet to decide whether to attend.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:15Seized Iranian ship likely carrying equipment deemed dual-use by US<\/p>\n
The Iranian-flagged container ship Touska, which was boarded and seized by US forces on Sunday, is likely to have what Washington deems dual-use items that could be used by the military onboard, maritime security sources said.<\/p>\n
The small container ship, which is part of the Islamic Republic of Iran \u200bShipping Lines (IRISL) group \u200cthat has been hit with US sanctions, was boarded on Sunday off the coast of Iran’s Chabahar port \u2060in the Gulf of Oman and last reported its position at 13:08 GMT, according to ship-tracking data on the Marine Traffic platform.<\/p>\n
The US Central Command said Touska\u2019s crew failed to comply with repeated \u200cwarnings over a six-hour period, and that the vessel was in violation of a US blockade.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 17:02Iraq reopens Rabia border crossing to boost fuel oil exports via Syria<\/p>\n
Iraq has reopened \u200bthe Rabia border crossing with Syria after more than a decade \u200bto accelerate overland fuel oil exports and revive cross-border trade amid disruption to Gulf shipping, Iraqi border officials said.<\/p>\n
The crossing, located in Iraq\u2019s northern Nineveh \u2060province, will allow fuel oil shipments to be trucked through Syria while also reopening the \u200croute to commercial trade traffic that has been halted since \u2060the conflict that followed Syria\u2019s civil war, officials said.<\/p>\n
The head of Iraq\u2019s Border Ports Commission, Omar al-Waeli, said reopening \u200bRabia would ease pressure on fuel shipments to Syria \u200cby allowing more fuel oil trucks to cross, with most convoys currently backed up at the al-Waleed crossing in western Iraq, the only \u200coperating border point.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:57Vance has not departed for Pakistan yet, source familiar says<\/p>\n
Vice \u200bPresident JD Vance is still in the United States and has not yet departed for Pakistan, a \u200bsource \u200cfamiliar with the matter \u2060told Reuters, as prospects for a second round of \u200cnegotiations with Iran remain unclear.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump has \u2060said he would send a US delegation to Pakistan for additional talks \u200bbefore a ceasefire<\/p>\n
is set to \u200cexpire in the coming days. Iran is considering attending the peace talks, a senior Iranian \u200cofficial told Reuters on Monday, but no decision had \u200bbeen made.<\/p>\n
It was unclear if other members of a US delegation were en route or \u200balready in Islamabad for talks.<\/p>\n
The New \u200bYork Post earlier reported \u200bthat Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law \u200bJared Kushner were on their way to the talks. The three participated in the first round of talks to end hostilities that \u2060began with US-Israeli<\/p>\n
attacks on Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:50EU to widen Iran sanctions to those who block Hormuz<\/p>\n
The EU will expand the criteria of its \u200bIran sanctions to include those responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, two EU \u2060diplomats said.<\/p>\n
“There was a political agreement among ambassadors that we indeed \u200bwould change the criteria in Iran’s sanctions regime so that we could also list persons and entities that are responsible \u200bfor the obstruction of the freedom of navigation \u200bin the Strait of Hormuz,” one of \u200bthe diplomats said.<\/p>\n
A second diplomatic source said the European External Action Service would \u200bneed a few weeks to prepare any new listings. The EEAS is in charge of placing people and companies under sanctions while the European Commission handles sector-wide restrictions.<\/p>\n
In January, the \u2060EU designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation and in March \u2060it listed \u200bIranian officials for human rights violations.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:42Crude oil loadings from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port fell 17% week-on-week, shipping data shows<\/p>\n
\u2060Crude \u200boil \u200bloadings from Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea \u200bport \u200cof \u2060Yanbu \u200caveraged about 3.5 million barrels \u2060per day in the \u200bweek \u200cbeginning April 13, Kpler \u200cdata showed, 17 percent \u200blower than the previous week, \u200band their \u200blowest \u200bsince the second week \u200bof March.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:39US military blockade redirected 27 vessels since blockade<\/p>\n
The \u200bUS \u200bmilitary has directed 27 vessels to \u200bturn \u200caround \u2060or \u200creturn to an \u2060Iranian port since the \u200bbeginning of \u200cits blockade around \u200cthe Strait \u200bof Hormuz, US Central Command said \u200bin \u200ba statement \u200bon X.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:18’Israel never talked me into war with Iran’, Trump says<\/p>\n
US\u00a0\u200bPresident Donald Trump said that Israel did not persuade him \u200bto \u200cattack Iran, after news \u2060reports that Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu influenced \u200cthe US president’s decision and \u2060criticism from right-wing commentators.<\/p>\n
“Israel never talked me into the war \u200bwith Iran, the \u200cresults of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN \u200cCAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did,” \u200bTrump wrote in a Truth Social post.<\/p>\n
Trump also said “the results in \u200bIran will be amazing” in the \u200bpost, which came \u200bas the US prepared to resume negotiations \u200bin Pakistan although Iran was undecided.<\/p>\n
“And if Iran\u2019s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can \u2060have a great and prosperous future!” \u2060Trump wrote.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:08Israel army warns Lebanese against returning to south<\/p>\n
Israel’s military warned Lebanese civilians against returning to dozens of villages in southern Lebanon, claiming Hezbollah’s activities in the area were violating a ceasefire agreement struck last week.<\/p>\n
Thousands of displaced residents have begun making their way back to parts of southern Lebanon since the truce between Israel and Lebanon took effect on Friday.<\/p>\n
FRANCE 24’s Cyril Payen tells us more.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:05Israel military says armoured vehicle likely damaged by explosive device in southern Lebanon<\/p>\n
The Israeli military reported that an armored vehicle was likely damaged on Sunday by an explosive device in southern Lebanon. No casualties were reported and the incident is under investigation.<\/p>\n
20\/04\/2026 – 16:04EU proposes full resumption of cooperative agreement with Syria<\/p>\n
The European \u200bCommission has proposed a full \u200bresumption of its 1978 cooperation agreement with Syria, deepening its engagement ahead \u200bof \u200cformal talks \u2060with Syria’s authorities in May, confirming a \u200cReuters report published.<\/p>\n
Syria, which \u2060had most Western sanctions lifted at the end \u200bof last year, is \u200cseeking broader integration into the international community under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, \u200cwho headed an alliance of Islamist \u200brebel factions to oust former leader Bashar al-Assad at the end of \u200b2024 after a 14-year \u200bwar.<\/p>\n
It is also \u200bemerging as a critical transit point, particularly \u200bamid the energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
The proposal will need \u2060to \u200bbe formally adopted by the European Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20\/04\/2026 – 18:25France ‘not specifically targeted’, Macron says of soldier’s Lebanon killing President Emmanuel Macron said France was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,87,46,88,47,22649,43,158728,114994,48717,2586],"class_list":{"0":"post-401997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-lebanon","12":"tag-middle-east","13":"tag-navy","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-oil-and-gas-industry","16":"tag-strait-of-hormuz","17":"tag-us-military","18":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}