Smoke rises from an Israeli strike on Marjayoun near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, June 19, 2026 (AFP)
EA on DW News: Trump Fails in His War on Iran
UPDATES: US-Israel Wars, Day 113 — Trump Concedes Failure By Signing Iran Memo
UPDATE 0641 GMT:
The US and Qatar are reportedly developing a plan to release billions of dollars in frozen funds to Iran for humanitarian projects.
Tehran would initially be able to unfreeze $6 billion held in Qatar, transferred under international supervision. Iran’s Central Bank can order food, medicine and other humanitarian goods with the funds.
The plan is in its early stages and has not been accepted by Iran.
UPDATE 0545 GMT:
Defying the supposed ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israel killed at least five people in an airstrike near the town of Arabsalim in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning.
Israeli warplanes and drones carried out strikes across the Nabatieh area overnight and into the morning, destroying residential buildings and houses. Israeli artillery shelled Nabatieh and its outskirts before dawn.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Israel and Hezbollah agreed a tentative ceasefire after Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon postponed US-Iran talks in Switzerland.
Two Hezbollah officials confirmed the group would halt attacks. The Israeli Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, posted, “Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire. If Hezbollah honours the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet.”
The ceasefire, at 4 p.m. local time (1300 GMT), came on the second-deadliest day in the Israel War on Lebanon. At least 47 people were killed and 97 injured by Israeli attacks in the south and in the Bekaa Valley in the east. Four Israeli soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, were killed and five were injured by Hezbollah drone strikes on the frontline of Israel’s advance near Nabatieh.
At least 18 people were slain and 33 wounded in the Nabatieh area.
Iran pulled out of Friday’s talks to negotiate the terms ending the US war because of the attacks. Tehran’s postponement came as staff of Vice President J.D. Vance, who was supposed to lead the American delegation, and journalists were on the runway at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. Other US officials and journalists were already at the Swiss resort.
Donald Trump’s envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, will now meet the Iranians. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will reportedly head Tehran’s delegation, but that is subject to change.
