• Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants exchanged fire despite Israel and Lebanon agreeing on Wednesday to implement a ceasefire contingent on an end to Hezbollah attacks. Hezbollah is not a party to the agreement, and the leader of the Iran-backed militant group has rejected the deal. Why it matters: This undermines US President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop the fighting there and advance diplomacy with Tehran. Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a condition for any agreement with Washington and has signalled in recent days that it could intervene directly if Israeli attacks continue.
  • In Washington, President Trump told reporters he believed progress was being made in ⁠Lebanon and the country deserved to have peace. He also said he would be open to meeting with Iran’s new supreme leader if there’s an agreement to end the war. Follow our live updates here.
  • The commander of Iran's Revolutionary ​Guards Quds Force, which established Hezbollah in 1982, said that the "minimum demand" was for Israel to retreat to the positions it held before the Iran war. This came after Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces ‌would not withdraw or halt operations in the country, which they invaded in March.
  • Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that the army would begin deploying in "pilot zones" in the country’s south. “The next step is practical and tangible: the deployment of the Lebanese army in pilot zones as a first phase,” said Mr Salam, according to remarks read out by Information Minister Paul Morcos after a cabinet meeting, adding that "this does not prejudice our right to a full [Israeli] withdrawal, but brings us closer to it".
  • Oman's Mina al Fahal terminal has ​suspended oil loading following an ‌explosion near its single-buoy mooring (SBM) berths, two people familiar with the ​matter told Reuters this morning. The ​explosion occurred between SBM 1 ⁠and 2 berths due ​to an alleged drone attack, they ​said.
  • Oil prices rose on Friday after Hezbollah rejected a new Lebanon ceasefire proposal and the Mina al Fahal terminal suspended oil loadings. Brent crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.35 per cent, to $95.36 a barrel ⁠by 8am UAE time. US West Texas ​Intermediate ⁠crude was at $93.06 a barrel, up ‌2 cents, or 0.02 per cent.
  • The UK and France have finalised plans to lead a multinational mine-clearing mission in the Strait of Hormuz within days of an agreement between the US and Iran to reopen the waterway, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
  • President Trump, who has said his top priority is to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, told reporters Washington did not need a deal with ​Iran to get enriched uranium from the country. "I don't think they could stop us if we wanted, but there's no reason to," he said in the Oval Office. "It's entombed."
  • The Lebanese government has cancelled official examinations for the 2026 academic year, citing the disruption caused by the recent war.
  • A wave of sympathy has swept across Kuwait for an airport employee who lost his leg during the Iranian attack on Wednesday.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Al Sabah during a visit to Washington, a day after the deadly strike on Kuwait International Airport.
  • Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed regional developments in separate phone calls with his Kuwaiti and Egyptian counterparts, according to readouts from the Foreign Ministry.
  • The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, surrounded by his counterparts from Arab and Muslim countries, called on the US to stop Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territories.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has written to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and said the two should meet in person to end the war, possibly in an Arab country.
  • The International Monetary Fund has warned that global oil inventories are expected to sink to a five-year low next month as the Iran war affects energy supplies.
  • A construction worker who stabbed a Saudi student to death in Cambridge has been sentenced to life in jail for the murder.
  • Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Colombia top the list of the world's most neglected displacement crises, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.
  • IAEA Board of Governors meeting on UAE nuclear plant attack
  • Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to launch revised flash appeal for humanitarian assistance in Lebanon
  • WHO press conference on Ebola continental response plan

This newsletter was compiled by Vanessa Ghanem, Arab Affairs Editor.

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