Al Jazeera

By Nils Adler and Zsombor Peter

    United States Secretary of State Marco ⁠Rubio told reporters that Washington should receive a response from Iran on Friday ‌to a US proposal to end the war.

    Iran’s Fars news agency reported “sporadic clashes” between Iranian and US naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the US opts for a reckless military adventure”, and questioned whether Washington was engaged in a “crude pressure tactic”.

    Israeli attacks have escalated as the death toll mounts in Lebanon, with dozens killed on Friday in one of the deadliest days since Israel’s invasion and bombardment was launched on March 2.

    The US State Department said that it would mediate two days of talks between Israel and Lebanon on May 14-15 in Washington, DC.

    Visit our live tracker for the latest casualty figures from across the region.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says an Iranian response to a US proposal on ending the war is expected soon.

    Rubio said earlier that he was hopeful a response from Tehran would push forward diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

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    Tehran has not yet formally responded to Washington’s latest proposal to end the war, with the two sides officially in a ceasefire despite reported skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington should receive a response from Tehran on Friday.

    Hezbollah claims it carried out 26 attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon since Thursday afternoon, amid intensified strikes across the country by Israeli forces, which were reported to have killed more than 30 people on Friday.

    Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, urged the world body to “condemn unequivocally” the US blockade of the country’s ports and attacks on its oil tankers, calling them a dangerous escalation and unlawful.

    The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says its food price index rose 2 percent in April year-on-year, driven to its highest level since 2023 in part because of the Middle East conflict.

    Brent ⁠crude oil futures jumped as much as 3 percent, but the gains were pared back amid optimism of an imminent agreement between the US and Iran.

More on overnight Israeli raids, settler attacks in the occupied West Bank

    As were reported earlier, there has been a wave of arrests and settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Friday night.

    Here are more reports by the Palestinian news agency Wafa:

    Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian man in the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem. Sources say the man was attacked on his land and robbed of his mobile phone.

    Israeli forces detained four Palestinian men in the town of Battir, west of Bethlehem, while they were hiking near a railway line.

    Settlers attacked the town of Silted, northeast of Ramallah, leading to clashes when residents confronted the attackers.

    Settlers attacked a Palestinian man and his child with sharp objects in the village of Khirbet Shuweika, south of Hebron, causing injuries to their heads that required hospitalisation.

    Israeli forces raided the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, firing tear gas and stun grenades at worshippers leaving a local mosque and detaining some of them inside.

What we know about latest US sanctions linked to Iran’s weapons

    The ⁠US ⁠Department of the Treasury has announced sanctions against 10 ⁠individuals and companies for assisting efforts by Iran’s military ‌to secure weapons and raw materials used to build Tehran’s Shahed attack drones.

    According to a statement released by the Treasury, those sanctioned include:

    China-based Yushita Shanghai International Trade Co Ltd, which the US said had acted as a facilitator for Iran’s Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation (CITC), which Washington claims coordinates Iranian technology acquisition efforts.

    CITC has sought to purchase weapons, including man-portable air-defensive systems from China, according to the Treasury Department.

    Dubai-based Elite Energy FZCO, which the US said had “transferred millions of dollars to Hong Kong-based AE International Trade Co Limited in furtherance of these procurement efforts for CITC”.

    Hong Kong-based HK Hesin Industry Co Limited and Belarus-based Armoury Alliance LLC, which the US said had acted as intermediaries in procurements for CITC, it said.

    Belarus-based Iranian national Mohammadmahdi Maleki, an employee of Armoury Alliance, also contributed, it said.

    Belarus national Mohammed Ali Tolibov, the CEO of Armoury Alliance, was a “longstanding arms procurement facilitator” for Iran in Belarus, the Treasury claimed.

    Hong Kong-based Mustad Limited, “as an intermediary, has facilitated, or attempted to facilitate, financial transactions in furtherance of the IRGC’s procurement of millions of dollars’ worth of weapons”, the Treasury also claimed.

Wave of Israeli raids, arrests, settler attacks rock the occupied West Bank

    The occupied West Bank experienced a wave of raids and arrests by Israeli forces and attacks on Palestinians by settlers on Friday night, the Palestinian Wafa news agency has been reporting.

    Settlers set fire to a house in the village of al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus, after which members of the Palestinian Civil Defence arrived to extinguish the blaze.

    Residents of al-Asa’asa village in Jenin were forced by Israeli forces to exhume the body of a Palestinian man buried earlier in the day and bury it elsewhere. They claimed the first site was too close to an illegal Israeli settlement.

    Israeli forces fired stun grenades at a group of Palestinians picnicking in the Burak Sulayman (Solomon’s Pools) area, south of Bethlehem, to force them to leave the area.

    The Palestinian Red Crescent Society treated two people for tear gas inhalation and evacuated five others from the scene after the attack.

Iran’s embassy in South Africa mocks Trump over UFO files

    In a satire-laden post on X, Iran’s embassy in South Africa has mocked the US Department of Defense’s release of previously classified files on unidentified flying objects (UFOs), following an order from Donald Trump, saying the president wanted to “divert public attention away from the war against Iran”.

What we know about Iran’s response to the latest US ceasefire proposal

    The US administration of President Donald Trump remains upbeat about reaching a deal with Iran to end the war, but Tehran has not yet formally responded to Washington’s latest proposal.

How is Iran likely to respond to the latest US ceasefire proposals

And will Tehran have to make significant compromises to reach a deal

    Read our explainer here.

Gaza: A ceasefire in name only

    They called it a ceasefire.

    But for people in Gaza, the war never ended.

    Bombings continue. Families are still displaced. Basic needs are still out of reach.

    “They say the war ended. But it didn’t,” says Bisan Owda from Gaza, where daily life is still shaped by destruction and uncertainty – from children walking to school under fire to families living in tents on the rubble of their homes.

    And at the edge of it all, the sea remains one of the few places people can go to breathe in Gaza.

    “The Israelis cannot destroy the sea,” Owda says.

Oil prices jump amid renewed US-Iran fighting in Hormuz Strait, then settle

    Brent ⁠crude oil futures jumped as much as 3 percent on Friday, as the US and Iran clashed in the Strait of Hormuz, but the gains were pared back amid optimism of an imminent agreement between Washington and Tehran to end the war.

    Brent crude futures settled at $101.29 per barrel, up $1.23 or 1.23 percent, after rising as much as 3 percent during the trading session on Friday.

    US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures finished at $95.42 per barrel, up ⁠$0.61, or 0.64 percent.

    John Kilduff, a partner with Again Capital – an investment firm – told the Reuters news agency there is much uncertainty in the market but a belief that an agreement is due.

    “We’re on the cusp of a breakthrough in negotiations or we’re on the cusp of a renewal of the fighting. We’ve been here a lot,” he said.