Hezbollah

It was his first address since a ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday after more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel that decimated swathes of Lebanon and killed 4,000 people including hundreds of women and children.

The ceasefire marks the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza.

Israel launched its intensified campaign of bombardment in Lebanon in late September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and stop its barrages into northern Israel after months of more limited cross-border exchanges between the two sides.

India News Highlights: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Fiuggi, Italy, to discuss strengthening cooperation on global security.

Both benchmarks settled down $2 per barrel on Monday following reports that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which triggered a crude oil selloff.

Another Israeli official told Reuters the cabinet would convene to discuss a deal that could be cemented in the coming days

Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, told Israel's GLZ radio an agreement was close and "it could happen within days … We just need to close the last corners", according to a post on X by GLZ senior anchorman Efi Triger.

At least four people were killed and 33 wounded in the attack in Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, Hezbollah’s al-Manar broadcaster reported, citing the health ministry.

He said a deal now depended on Israel's response and the "seriousness" of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - and that Hezbollah would keep negotiating and fighting at the same time.

Hamas ignited the war in Gaza when its fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of them believed to be dead.

The visit indicates progress in U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at ending a conflict which spiralled into all-out war in late September, when Israel launched a major offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, said Lebanon had delivered its written response to the U.S. ambassador in Lebanon on Monday, and White House envoy Amos Hochstein was travelling to Beirut to continue talks.

The strike hit a neighborhood where many people displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs had been seeking refuge.

Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli border early Saturday, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said Israeli troops were later pushed back from the hill

"Hezbollah doesn’t value human life - dead or alive", wrote the Israeli military on X.

Israeli PM Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Trump since Tuesday's election and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components”.

'Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon,' his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP of the attacks that killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel's ongoing military operation in Lebanon

US diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal, faltered last week ahead of the US election on Tuesday in which former President Donald Trump recaptured the White House.

The cleric had long been the group’s second-in-command, serving as deputy chief to the late Nasrallah. He is one of the few leaders of the Iran-backed group to survive Israel’s recent onslaught on the organization, which saw some of its key figures assassinated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met top aides late on Tuesday to discuss a US-shepherded cease-fire proposal, his spokesperson said