Iran war updates: Netanyahu orders Israeli army to expand Lebanon invasion

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We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a quick recap of the main developments:

• Iran’s foreign minister said that everything is “speculation” until a deal with the US to end the war and continue negotiations is finalised.
• Netanyahu said he has “instructed the Israeli military to expand the manoeuvre in Lebanon”.
• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says that invading Israeli troops will remain stationed at Beaufort Castle after they captured the strategic hilltop in southern Lebanon.
• Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli air strike at dawn on Lebanon’s south killed eight people, including three women, with 19 others wounded.
• At least four people have been killed in an Israeli air raid on the town of al-Abbassieh, Lebanon, and dozens have been injured in multiple attacks on the port city of Tyre, as well as near a hospital in the country’s south.
• Iran has restored gas production at three offshore platforms in the South Pars gasfield, the head of the Pars Oil and Gas Company told state media, after Israel attacked the facility in March.
• Israeli forces have carried out new incursions into southern Syria, entering parts of Quneitra and Deraa provinces, setting up temporary checkpoints, and searching civilians and vehicles, before withdrawing.
  

  

An Al Jazeera investigation has found that military-related goods from at least 51 countries and territories continued to enter Israel after the International Court of Justice warned of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.

Arms originating from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain continued to enter Israel until the October 2025 “ceasefire”, despite many of those countries publicly backing restrictions or embargoes.

Watch our investigation below:

Tehran claims it has the right under international law to charge vessels an environmental fee for transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to Arman Khorsand, head of Iran’s Centre for International Affairs and Environmental Conventions.

Khorsand said that oil pollution, foreign military fleet activity, and damage to sensitive ecosystems in the Gulf had “doubled the need to provide resources for environmental restoration”, and that fees collected could be used to compensate for damages caused to the Gulf environment.

Under the “innocent passage” system, he said, countries adjacent to the strait can collect fees for maritime services and compensation for damages caused by violations of regulations, “and this issue has a precedent in international law”.

Khorsand dismissed pushback on the measure, saying that “the claim that collecting environmental fees from ships passing through is illegal has no legal basis”, and that the action could be taken “within the framework of recognised international rules”.

Oil prices have jumped more than 2 percent in early Asian trading on Monday after Israel ordered troops to move further into Lebanon, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.

Brent crude futures rose to more than $93 a barrel as markets opened for the week, while US oil futures are now just under $90 a barrel.

Brent and US oil had fallen 1.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, on Friday on expectations that the US and Iran had reached a ceasefire agreement.

Israel’s escalation in Lebanon has reportedly become a major sticking point in negotiations to end the Iran war, threatening the stability of the Strait of Hormuz.

The head of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has condemned Israel’s “brutal aggression” in Lebanon and called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

In a statement on X, Aboul Gheit said that Israeli forces had encroached on Lebanese territory, destroyed villages and historical sites in the south, and targeted civilians, leading to displacement. He added that the actions violated Lebanon’s sovereignty and international law.

Aboul Gheit urged the UN Security Council to compel Israel to stop its military actions and fully implement Resolution 1701, the 2006 measure that called for a cessation of hostilities and Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

In a post on X, US Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has called on Israel to halt its military activity in Lebanon.

“Israel’s military escalation in Lebanon has killed and displaced civilians, destroyed infrastructure, and eroded space for diplomacy. It must end,” she said.

Cooper also called for Hezbollah to disarm and end attacks on Israel.

“All sides must respect the ceasefire and engage with negotiations in good faith,” Cooper wrote.

There’s an issue that people are really suffering from – especially those in the south – now, with the attacks on major cities, such as Nabatieh and Tyre… Tyre is a city of more than 80,000 people, and Nabatieh also has tens of thousands of people. These residents are being forced to leave their cities and head north of the Litani River towards other areas in Lebanon.

This is adding a lot of pressure, not only personal pressure on the residents, but also on the government, which is currently incapable of hosting all these people.

The Lebanese infrastructure is in a dire situation, and this is complicating everything, given the fact that the Lebanese government itself is already negotiating with Israel for an exit from this conflict.

So, for the people it’s very complicated, and it is becoming incredibly deadly. Just today, the Ministry of Health announced that 3,412 people have been killed since the beginning of this conflict [on March 2].

Hezbollah says it launched several attacks against Israeli forces.

At 3:30pm local time (12:30 GMT), the group said it targeted an “Israeli force positioned inside a tent in the town of Maroun El Ras with a swarm of attack drones”.

Prior to that, at 2:30pm (11:30 GMT), Hezbollah said it targeted a site in Hanita, in northern Israel. The group also said it hit “infrastructure belonging to the Israeli enemy army in the occupied city of Safad with two rocket salvoes”.

The most significant thing is that the Israeli occupation forces are advancing beyond the Litani River.

Hezbollah announced several launches towards Israel. However, it was very significant to see the [Israeli] attacks on the Lebanese ancient city of Tyre – at least three attacks during the day and several of them around the city.

This indicates how much the Israeli government is planning to escalate its attacks on Lebanese territories.

We saw the occupation of the Beaufort Castle in South Lebanon. To some well-informed sources here in Beirut, it indicates a kind of new move. They are anticipating a new wave and a kind of strategic shift in the Israeli thinking towards what they want to do next in Lebanon.

There are a lot of fears here that this could mean a longer Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory. We understand there was no Hezbollah presence during the attack on Beaufort Castle; it was not a Hezbollah position. However, it is a UNESCO-registered heritage site.

We also heard from well-informed sources that the Lebanese issue right now is one of the main sticking points [in the US-Iran negotiations].

Dania Thafer, executive director of the Gulf International Forum, told Al Jazeera that both the US and Iran each hold different leverage when it comes to the negotiations.

Iran can withstand and has a “higher degree of pain economically” as the country has faced sanctions for decades, she explained. “They [Iran] also think the international economy card is going to be their strongest,” she said, despite the fact that their own economy is reeling.

For the US, they were recently able to sanction $1bn of Iranian cryptocurrency, which Tehran used to bypass US sanctions.

“Neither party has blinked, and we have to see where it goes with negotiations,” Thafer said.

Watch the interview below:

The British Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Hamish Falconer MP, warned that “continued escalation in Lebanon is undermining diplomatic efforts and having an unacceptable impact on civilians. Israel’s expansion of the conflict must stop.”

“Hizballah must end attacks on Israel and disarm. All sides should uphold the ceasefire and continue US-led talks,” Falconer said in a post on X.

Continued escalation in Lebanon is undermining diplomatic efforts and having an unacceptable impact on civilians. Israel's expansion of the conflict must stop.

Hizballah must end attacks on Israel and disarm. All sides should uphold the ceasefire and continue US-led talks.

— Hamish Falconer MP (@HFalconerMP) May 31, 2026