Fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah continued to disrupt prospects for a U.S.-Iran peace deal this week, as Tehran insists those hostilities must end before any broader agreement can be reached. Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew their truce earlier this week, but Hezbollah rejected it Thursday, and Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon were reported Friday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that "no tangible progress" had been made toward renewing the ceasefire or reopening the Strait of Hormuz, despite optimism that had circulated the previous week. The U.S. maintains it is still in a ceasefire with Iran. President Trump said this week that if Iran kills U.S. troops, that would be "a good reason" to restart the war.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps released a statement Friday saying it had fired a missile and a drone as warning shots against two U.S. destroyers in the Sea of Oman. Iran said the action was in retaliation for what it described as "hostilities" and the "seizure of commercial vessels" by the U.S. Navy. U.S. Central Command denied the characterization, posting on social media: "U.S. forces continue to operate freely in regional waters while fully enforcing the ongoing blockade against Iran."
Overnight, U.S. forces boarded the sanctioned tanker vessel MT Davina in the Indian Ocean, according to a statement from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. INDOPACOM said it would "continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran."
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun delivered a rare public rebuke of Hezbollah in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, accusing Iran of exploiting Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its war with the U.S. and Israel. Aoun addressed Hezbollah directly, saying "the Lebanese people are not your people." He added: "[it's] our people being killed, our houses being destroyed… It's unacceptable." He said Hezbollah must understand there is "no other way to solve this problem and to save what's left except through negotiation and diplomacy."
Lebanese parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri said Friday that the group would withdraw from southern Lebanon if Israeli forces pulled back.
In Gaza, Hamas said it will not hand over its weapons but indicated that armed fighters would not be visible in the streets if a Palestinian administrative committee takes control of the territory. Hamas political bureau member Husam Badran told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview that "there will be no visible weapons in the streets and alleys of Gaza except the official weapons belonging to this committee, which is the official Palestinian police." He was careful to clarify: "We are not talking about handing them over; we are talking about, at least, weapons not being visible except for the official weapons of the Palestinian police."
Hamas is preparing to send a delegation to Cairo this weekend for renewed talks involving eight Palestinian factions. Badran said Israel has failed to implement even 30 percent of its phase one obligations under the U.S.-brokered October 2025 ceasefire plan, making any transition to later phases impossible. Around 1,000 people have been killed since the ceasefire was proposed, he said. Hamas had briefly delayed its participation in the Cairo talks to demand a halt to Israeli assassinations of military commanders, including the recent killings of Izz al-Din al-Haddad and Mohammed Odeh.
