The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a threat to US-Iran diplomacy, flared on Wednesday. The IDF said two Hezbollah gunmen were targeted in an Israeli strike after being spotted near troops in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Lebanese media later reported two dead in another Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. Lebanon\u2019s state-run National News Agency said that two people were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their vehicle near the town of Kfar Rumman.<\/p>\n
\t There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the incident. However, a military official confirmed to The Times of Israel that a strike was carried out against Hezbollah operatives identified in the area.<\/p>\n UN\u2019s nuclear agency head says inspections will happen<\/p>\n Since Israel launched its 12-day war on Iran in June 2025, the IAEA has been blocked by Tehran from visiting enrichment sites. The Islamic Republic is believed to store enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build as many as 10 nuclear weapons, should it choose.<\/p>\n Iran maintains that its program is peaceful, though it has enriched uranium up to 60 percent purity, far beyond the level needed for civilian use.<\/p>\n Grossi\u2019s remarks were the firmest yet from the United Nations agency, which is central to determining the status of Iran\u2019s nuclear stockpile.<\/p>\n \u201cI can understand political statements, they are part of the reality, but the fundamental thing I would like to remind you and draw your attention to is that there has been a memorandum of understanding, signed by both presidents,\u201d he said at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which was hit by a tsunami in 2011.<\/p>\n \t The accord \u201csays explicitly that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with regards to the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA \u2014 in all letters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, to do that, we will have to inspect,\u201d Grossi said. \u201cWhether this happens the day after tomorrow or in one week or in 10 days, it\u2019s important, but not essential. This is going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The deal calls for Iran\u2019s uranium at least to be \u201cdownblended\u201d from highly enriched levels, subject to negotiation.<\/p>\n Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, took a swipe at Grossi after his remarks, saying Tehran didn\u2019t meet with him while in Switzerland.<\/p>\n \u201cThese issues will be reviewed and decided only within the framework of a final agreement and as a result of practical action by the other side to end all sanctions and other measures.\u201d Gharibabadi wrote on X.<\/p>\n He added, \u201cYou cannot advance the \u2018stir up and take over\u2019 policy with media hype.\u201d<\/p>\n IAEA blocked from seeing bombed sites<\/p>\n The IAEA has been allowed to visit other nuclear sites in Iran since the 2025 war. But without accessing the enrichment sites, the IAEA says it can\u2019t verify the status of Iran\u2019s stockpile. Both Iran and the IAEA say Tehran hasn\u2019t been enriching uranium, but nonproliferation experts worry the Islamic Republic may be moving its stockpile.<\/p>\n \t The US and Iran agreed to the deal last week that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium and waives US-backed sanctions on Iranian oil.<\/p>\n But the uneasy ceasefire already has been tested by Iran saying it closed the Strait of Hormuz again over fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.<\/p>\n Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday<\/a> the US has not demanded that Israel withdraw from Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that \u201cas long as I am prime minister, we will maintain the security zone in southern Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n Lebanese and Israeli officials are meeting this week in Washington as part of direct negotiations between the two countries, through which Lebanon hopes to reach a plan for Israeli withdrawal and Israel aims to have Hezbollah disarmed.<\/p>\n Technical-level talks between the US and Iran are expected to resume early next week in Switzerland, Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Pakistan has been a key mediator.<\/p>\n US has plan to oversee Iran\u2019s frozen funds<\/p>\n The interim deal also includes a pledge to unfreeze billions in Iranian assets. US President Donald Trump wants that money to go toward buying American-grown crops, but Iranian officials say they will decide how it\u2019s spent.<\/p>\n \t US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department would have people in Qatar to oversee what happens with the funds. He said in a CNBC interview that Iran would spend \u201ca very large percent\u201d of its released money on \u201cUS foodstuffs and medicines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be recycling the money back into US products,\u201d Bessent said.<\/p>\n Rubio, in Middle East, pledges not to \u2018undermine\u2019 allies<\/p>\n US Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled in the Persian Gulf for a three-nation tour, starting with a meeting in Abu Dhabi with Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the State Department said Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies,\u201d Rubio later said while in Kuwait, where the Trump administration announced the limited reopening of the US Embassy, which was closed at the height of the Iran war.<\/p>\n Before leaving for Bahrain, Rubio said ongoing negotiations include the creation of \u201chundreds of specific areas\u201d where Lebanon\u2019s military could secure its territory.<\/p>\n He called the discussions part of the process and said it wasn\u2019t going to \u201chappen overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident \u2013 ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded \u2013 I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.<\/p>\n There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.<\/p>\n As a Times of Israel reporter, I\u2019m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit\u2019s. But my colleagues and I can’t do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.<\/p>\n \u2014 Stav Levaton, military reporter<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tPeople inspect their shops destroyed in previous Israeli airstrikes in the town of Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, June 24, 2026, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. (AP Photo\/Bilal Hussein)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26047386701645-e1771241254727-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tForeign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, shakes hands with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi during their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, February 16, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP21107409114651-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tCentrifuges line a hall at the Uranium Enrichment Facility in Natanz, Iran, in a still image from a video aired by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting company on April 17, 2021, six days after the hall had been damaged in a mysterious attack. (IRIB via AP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26175579197601-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Kuwait\u2019s Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah share a word on the occasion of their meeting at Bayan Palace during Rubio\u2019s visit to the Middle East to discuss the interim deal between the U.S. and Iran with Arab Gulf allies, in Kuwait City, Kuwait, June 24, 2026. (Eric Lee\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
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