Israel Says Iran Launched Missiles At It In The First Such Bombardment During Fragile Ceasefire

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Sunday that Iran launched a missile for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April, complicating efforts to mediate a deal to end the war.

Iranian state television confirmed that a missile was launched in northern Israel and many explosions were heard. The Israeli army said it was working to block the missiles, but “the defenses are not hermetic,” adding that sirens were blaring in various parts of the country.

Tehran had warned of retaliation after Israel struck the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday without warning, despite Washington’s request to withdraw days earlier. Israel described it as retaliation for Iran-backed Hezbollah opening fire on northern Israel earlier in the day.

Israel’s attack on Beirut came just days after the Lebanese and Israeli governments agreed to a ceasefire in US-hosted talks, but Hezbollah rejected the agreement. Lebanon’s health ministry said two people were killed and 20 injured in an attack on a residential building.

Iran warned of renewed attack on Beirut full scale war It continues in the Middle East even as Pakistan tries to restart negotiations between Tehran and Washington. Iran wants an agreement that includes an end to the war in Lebanon.

Israel’s incursions and land occupation into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah and the militant group’s resistance to disarmament have complicated an overall agreement to end the war in the Middle East. Iran says any deal must include an end to the conflict in Lebanon.

The White House did not comment on Israel’s attack in Beirut. Israel had said on Monday it would strike the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, but urgent talks through Washington stopped that on condition that Hezbollah stop targeting Israeli border towns.

Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for the shooting into Israel early Sunday.

Hezbollah wants an end to direct talks between Lebanon and Israel and instead supports Iran’s position that the general ceasefire agreement between Tehran and Washington should include the situation in Lebanon.

Mediation efforts on that larger deal continued Sunday, with Pakistan’s interior minister visiting Iran to meet with officials and Egypt’s foreign minister and his Qatari counterpart saying they had discussed “proposed elements” of a potential deal without any details.

U.S. President Donald Trump did not comment on the war on Sunday, but said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” after Friday’s taping that he wanted to see “a more surgical strike on Hezbollah.” He also said he was “not demanding” that Lebanon be part of a general ceasefire agreement in the Iran war.

Meanwhile, Iran continued to assert its dominance in the Strait of Hormuz and the United States continued its blockade of Iranian ports; Shipments of oil, natural gas, and fertilizer were affected and the global economy suffered.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuTrump, who faces elections later this year, wants to continue Israel’s offensive until he believes Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.

Pakistan’s interior minister was in Tehran on Sunday. According to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, Mohsen Naqvi was conveying a message from Pakistan’s chief of staff, Marshal Asim Munir, to Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. No details were given regarding the content of the message.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since his appointment as ruler of the Islamic Republic following the killing of his father on February 28, the first day of the war.

According to official Iranian media, Naqvi met with Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni late on Saturday and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday.

Pakistani officials said Islamabad was working to help bridge differences between the United States and Iran with the support of regional countries such as Qatar, Türkiye and Egypt.

In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Bader Abdelatty and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed “proposed elements” of a potential deal between the United States and Iran, the Egyptian foreign ministry said, without providing details.

Chehayeb reported from Beirut, Magdy from Cairo and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Matthew Lee in Washington and Michelle L. Price in Bridgewater, New Jersey, contributed to this report.