Iran’s football chief says the country’s preparations for the World Cup remain on track, but its participation will depend on a guarantee of respect for the Iranian armed forces by tournament cohosts the United States.

The Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) will seek reassurance from FIFA that the US will not insult the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during the World Cup, FFIRI President Mehdi Taj said on Tuesday.

“[The] Americans, if they guarantee not to insult our military institutions and the IRGC, we’ll go,” Taj told state broadcaster IRIB.

“If they give such a guarantee that an incident like Canada doesn’t happen and they definitely assure it, we will go,” he added.

Taj was referring to an incident that took place last week, when an FFIRI delegation turned back at Toronto’s main airport, citing their treatment by Canadian immigration, and missed a pre-World Cup FIFA gathering in Vancouver.

The delegation members, including Taj, turned back ⁠⁠⁠⁠upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson airport despite holding valid visas, citing what was described as the “unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials”.

“They [delegation] returned to Turkiye on the first available flight due to the unacceptable behaviour of immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian nation’s armed forces,” the FFIRI said in a statement following the incident.

In 2024, Canada listed Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organisation, and statements from the Canadian government indicated that Taj was denied entry due to his alleged ties with the IRGC.

“IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country,” the Canadian government said.

The US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28.

At least 3,468 people have been killed in US-Israeli attacks, according to Iran’s Ministry of Health. More than 26,500 people have been injured, including at least 4,000 women and 1,621 children.

Iranian forces retaliated, launching attacks on Middle East countries where US troops are deployed, as well as Israel.

‘Our host is FIFA, not Mr Trump’

Taj, who was speaking in Tehran, will meet FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom at the organisation’s headquarters in Zurich this month.

During the meeting, Taj said he will seek guarantees that the Iranian team and accompanying officials would not face entry restrictions or “disrespect”, particularly towards Iran’s state institutions.

“We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system – especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said.

“This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what ⁠⁠happened in Canada will not happen again.”

The Iranian team is going full-speed ahead with its preparations for the World Cup, and football officials have outlined the team’s training and preparations for the tournament, which include camps at home and in neighbouring Turkiye before travelling to the US.

The squad will depart for Turkiye on Monday for their final leg of preparations before travelling to the US in June.

Team Melli will kick off their ‌‌‌‌campaign ‌‌‌‌against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, before taking on Belgium at the same stadium on June 21 and facing Egypt in their final group match in Seattle on June 26.

Taj insisted Iran had earned the right to play in the World Cup as one of the first teams to have qualified for the tournament.

“We are going to the World Cup because we qualified,” the Iranian official said. “Our host is FIFA, not Mr Trump or America.”

Authorities say the cell was planning ‘targeted assassinations against high-level government officials’.

Syrian authorities say they have arrested a Hezbollah-linked cell accused of plotting to assassinate senior government figures, an allegation rejected as “false” by the Lebanese armed group.

The Syrian Ministry of Interior said late on Tuesday it carried out a “series of simultaneous security operations” in the Damascus countryside as well as in the provinces of Aleppo, Homs, Tartous and Latakia.

According to the ministry, the raids resulted in the “dismantling of an organised cell affiliated with the Hezbollah militia, whose members infiltrated Syrian territory after undergoing intensive specialised training in Lebanon”.

Since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s removal in December 2024, Syria’s new authorities have repeatedly announced the discovery and disruption of alleged plots to undermine security, which they have attributed to Hezbollah – accusations the group has consistently denied.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the cell was planning “targeted assassinations against high-level government officials”, the ministry statement said, adding that they seized military equipment, including explosive devices and RPG launchers.

The ministry released photos of 11 suspects, without disclosing their nationalities, saying they included the person allegedly in charge of planning and supervising the attacks.

Hezbollah issued a statement “categorically denying the false accusations from the Syrian interior ministry”.

“The repetition of these claims by Syrian security authorities despite our repeated declarations that Hezbollah has no presence inside Syrian territory … raises major questions,” the Iran-backed group said.

It “suggests that there are those who seek to ignite tensions and strife between the Syrian and Lebanese peoples”, the group said.

Hezbollah was a key ally of al-Assad, and its intervention was widely seen as pivotal in shifting Syria’s war in his favour in the years before he was removed.

Before that, Syria had served as a crucial corridor for the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah.

Jordanian fighter jets struck what they described as “factories and laboratories” for narcotics in southern Syria on Sunday, highlighting the emergence of Suwayda province as a key hub for the production of Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine.

While the multibillion-dollar Captagon industry was once synonymous with forces linked to the government of former President Bashar al-Assad, recent investigations and military operations, dubbed “Operation Jordanian Deterrence”, show the trade has found a new haven in the restive southern province.

The developments point to an emerging axis between the new Syrian government and Jordan to dismantle the burgeoning drug infrastructure in Suwayda, a southern province that borders Jordan, to halt the spread of Captagon.

Here is a breakdown of why the Druze-majority province has become a regional hub for the production and distribution of the drug.

The shift to a Captagon hub

The recent air attacks specifically targeted sites associated with the “National Guard”, a militia loyal to Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, an influential figure within Syria’s Druze minority, an offshoot of Shia Islam. While the drug trade was historically linked to Iranian-aligned armed groups in neighbouring Deraa, recent reports indicate a major shift towards Suwayda, which has remained largely outside government control since the fall of al-Assad in December 2024.

Clashes between the Syrian military and Druze militias, backed by Israel, in 2025, had further entrenched Suwayda’s isolation from the Syrian state, with the National Guard, the group in the province most strongly opposed to new President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, becoming the dominant force there.

According to a report by investigative outlet Forbidden Stories, this situation has allowed Suwayda to become a “hotspot” for the Captagon trade with elements linked to the National Guard not only accused of establishing drug manufacturing labs and warehouses within the province, but also operating smuggling rings beyond Syria’s borders.

Why Jordan is acting now

For Jordan, the emergence of Suwayda as a Captagon manufacturing hub has become a national emergency, with the drug becoming increasingly prevalent in the kingdom. Colonel Abdullah al-Sarhan, a retired Jordanian pilot, noted that Sunday’s “preemptive” strikes were a necessary action, given that the trafficking methods of drug smugglers had evolved significantly. “The best defence is a good offence,” al-Sarhan told Al Jazeera Arabic.

He argued that air strikes were required by Jordan to curb the drug trade, as Captagon labs in Suwayda are often shielded by difficult terrain with criminal groups in Syria using advanced techniques, such as drones, to deliver the contraband over the border.

A Jordanian government source told Al Jazeera that the kingdom will no longer tolerate the presence of drug-production facilities on its doorstep but stressed that Sunday’s operation was conducted in full coordination with the new Syrian authorities to preserve the national security of both nations.

The new Damascus-Amman axis

The air strikes align with the objectives of Syria’s new leadership under al-Sharaa, whose government is determined to dismantle the National Guard’s autonomy, which it views as a threat to state sovereignty. Alleged drug and weapon smuggling from southern Syria to Jordan is also considered to be a threat to the kingdom’s stability.

Major-General Mamoun Abu Nowar, a retired Jordanian military analyst, told Al Jazeera that the kingdom’s actions send a clear message to elements operating in southern Syria. “Jordanian national security is inextricably linked to Syrian national security,” Abu Nowar said. He added that the strikes serve as a deterrent not only to drug cartels but also to external actors who might seek to take advantage of the power struggle between the central government in Damascus and the Druze factions.

“It is a message to those within Suwayda cooperating with Israel and to Israel itself: do not attempt any future projects on our borders. Jordan will not hesitate to strike these nests,” Abu Nowar said.

The Israel and US factor

The conflict over Suwayda’s drug trade has the potential to draw in broader regional powers. Israeli officials have previously sought to position themselves as protectors of Syria’s Druze community, and carried out attacks on government forces during clashes in Suwayda between the military and armed groups linked to al-Hijri.

In early March 2025, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to advance the Israeli military to the outskirts of Damascus, using the spurious claim of protecting Syria’s religious minorities.

However, the United States has signalled its opposition to such escalations and in July 2025, the US State Department publicly criticised Israeli air strikes in southern Syria, calling for diplomatic engagement and urging the Syrian government to lead the path towards stability. This is a position that aligns with the current efforts by both Amman and Damascus to consolidate border security and eradicate the presence of Captagon from Syria, which has expanded criminal activity across the region.

What comes next?

The situation in Suwayda remains highly volatile, with much of the province still outside government control and periodic clashes along its periphery.

The Syrian government and Jordan are determined to dismantle the National Guard’s alleged illicit economic lifelines, while there is little incentive for criminal elements to give up this lucrative trade without a fight. The battle for the control of Suwayda is now a crucial test for the stability of post-Assad Syria that has broader implications beyond its borders.

Manipur, India – The loud wails of a 37-year-old nurse pierce the air as she crouches near two coffins to grieve the killing of her infant daughter and five-year-old son in a blast last month.

A woman tries to comfort the mother as dozens of men and women, most of them dressed in ceremonial white, congregate on top of a truck carrying the two coffins and around the vehicle in Tronglaobi town in Bishnupur district of northeastern India’s Manipur state.

The last rites of the two children were held on Saturday, nearly a month after an improvised RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) hit their home on April 7, killing the children and wounding their mother while they were sleeping.

Their father, a paramilitary soldier with India’s Border Security Force (BSF), was on duty hundreds of kilometres away in Bihar state when he came to know of the killing. He had been waiting to return home to celebrate his daughter turning six months old this month.

“Just the previous evening, I had called my wife. She gave the phone to our daughter. She hadn’t even learned to speak yet, but she recognised my voice. I was trying to make her say ‘papa’,” the soldier told Al Jazeera.

“I had never imagined it would be the last time I would hear her.”

The killing of the two children is yet another episode in Manipur’s violent ethnic conflict between the predominantly Hindu Meitei community and the mainly Christian Kuki-Zo minority – a conflict that has claimed more than 250 lives and displaced tens of thousands of people since May 2023.

In the remote Himalayan state populated by several Indigenous tribes, the Meiteis had been historically dominating the plains and the valley, including the state capital, Imphal, while Kuki-Zo and Naga, a third major tribe, have been mostly confined to the hills, where their rights over land and public jobs were protected under India’s affirmative action programme by recognising them as “scheduled tribes”.

In April 2023, the High Court in Manipur recommended that the “scheduled tribes” status should also be extended to the Meiteis, who constitute about 60 percent of the state’s 2.9 million people and wield considerable political and economic power.

The court’s remarks angered the Kuki-Zo, who feared losing their protected status. Though India’s Supreme Court called the High Court’s observations “factually incorrect”, the spark was lit, turning the tensions into India’s longest-running ethnic violence, which entered its fourth year on Sunday.

But what began as a war between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo has now mutated and deepened into a more complex, multi-actor conflict. A basic question — “Who carried out this attack?” — rarely gets you a clear answer in the state any more.

‘Unknown armed miscreants’

The two children killed on April 7 belonged to the Meitei group. A day later, hundreds of protesters stormed a nearby camp of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), accusing it of failing to prevent the attack.

In a rare act of aggression, CRPF men opened fire, killing three people. The police force later claimed armed suspects had attempted to loot weapons under the cover of the protest — a pattern often reported in the three-year conflict and one that contributed to its escalation. Families of those killed, however, maintain they were unarmed civilians.

As bodies piled up and protests intensified, the state’s Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, also a Meitei and a member of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), handed the probe to the federally-controlled National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Even without official attribution, many in the valley remain convinced that “attackers from the hills” were behind the April 7 killings, a reference to the Kuki-Zo people.

But the first information reports (FIRs) filed for the Tronglaobi incident – and reviewed by Al Jazeera – record the accused as “unknown miscreants”.

“Unknown”, “unidentified”, or broad community labels such as “Meitei militants”, “Naga militants” or “Kuki militants” form a pattern seen across most cases in more than 12,000 FIRs — related to killings, sexual assault, abduction and arson — registered in Manipur since May 2023 until the end of 2025. Officials say additional FIRs continue to be registered with the same pattern.

With the accused remaining “unknown”, not a single case has resulted in a conviction, compounding the anger and anguish in the state.

In fact, the funeral of the two children was delayed, their bodies stored in a morgue for 25 days, because the family wanted the perpetrators to be identified and punished. They agreed to bury them only after the government assured them of action.

Similarly, the body of Vungzagin Valte, a BJP legislator who was assaulted by a mob in Imphal in May 2023 and succumbed to the resulting injuries in February this year, remains in a mortuary in Churachandpur town, the epicentre of the conflict, as his supporters continue to demand justice for his killing.

In Ukhrul district, a young Naga volunteer, Horshokmi Jamang, was shot dead while patrolling his village last month. Hundreds of volunteer groups have emerged across Manipur after civilians took to arms to guard their villages and lands.

“He wasn’t given a choice, but was ordered by the community. Everyone was told to defend their land,” his 20-year-old wife, Lilychin Jamang, told Al Jazeera. “It was our daughter’s first birthday. We thought he would come back with a cake. Instead, his body came back.”

The FIR into his killing names “Kuki armed miscreants”.

The Naga groups, initially on the margins, got involved in the conflict, particularly in areas where territorial claims, overlapping land boundaries, and longstanding tensions with Kuki-Zo groups intersect.

On March 13, two Kuki-Zo labourers were killed, also in Ukhrul, following the abduction of 21 Naga men by an unidentified armed group.

The labourers, their families say, earned less than a dollar a day and struggled to make ends meet. They had gone out to fix a pipeline when they were allegedly abducted and shot dead.

The FIR names the Naga group NSCN-IM and “unknown militants” from a Naga community, largely based in Ukhrul’s Tangkhul areas. Weeks later, no arrests have been made.

Even the FIRs into the killings of security forces often do not identify the attackers, blaming them on “unknown armed miscreants”. At least 14 people — including a paramilitary soldier — have been killed in the past two months alone.

“Even we cannot be sure whether they were armed village volunteers or individuals linked to insurgent groups,” a police officer told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

In cases where the officials have alleged the use of explosives, alluded to conspiracies, or invoked “anti-terror” laws, the identities of the accused have not been established.

“We don’t even know who killed him. We have no closure,” the grieving wife of a BSF constable killed by a stray bullet during clashes between the armed groups told Al Jazeera.

‘Boys have gone rogue’

Meanwhile, chaos has worsened the violence in Manipur, with several armed groups linked to Meitei, Kuki-Zo and Naga factions operating in overlapping territories, often with competing claims.

Security officials report sporadic gunfire, abductions, extortion and targeted killings, without being able to attribute the crimes to a group. In such an environment, repeated references to “unknown or unidentified assailants” reflect not just investigative gaps, but the fragmentation of violence itself.

Across the restive state, confusion persists over who is a civilian, who is affiliated with armed groups, and where those lines are blurred. The violence is no longer defined by a single front, with experts saying each community blames the other — a dynamic that perpetrators exploit to sustain the violence.

A highly placed source within a Naga armed group told Al Jazeera that even their senior leadership does not always have control over their actions on the ground.

“Many of our boys have gone rogue,” the source said. “There is no clear command any more. Even we don’t always know who is carrying out these attacks.”

A similar sentiment is echoed by sources within the armed groups in both the valley and the hills. They say some of their cadres are increasingly acting independently, not always at the instruction of their leadership.

Security officials say their investigations often point to multiple actors — armed groups, militias, and village volunteers — but attribution remains difficult.

“There is involvement of insurgent groups from all three sides — Meitei, Kuki and Naga,” a senior official said. “But on the ground, it is extremely difficult to differentiate.”

Weapons widening the crisis

Security officials say the violence in Manipur is closely tied to the availability and circulation of weapons in the state. Thousands of firearms were looted from police and paramilitary armouries in the early months of the conflict and remain in circulation.

“The availability of weapons has fundamentally changed the nature of the Manipur conflict,” an official in Manipur said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. “It is no longer limited to organised insurgent groups — a wider range of actors, both underground and overground, old and new, now have access to firearms.”

Despite repeated claims by the authorities of restoring normalcy and recovering looted weapons, there is little clarity on the extent of weapons still in circulation. In case after case, perpetrators remain unidentified.

Even security officials privately acknowledge the absence of a clear protocol to end the violence, as the situation increasingly shifts from a law-and-order problem to a “counterinsurgency” challenge.

“The scale of weapons in circulation, the number of armed insurgents — from both proscribed and unproscribed groups — and the blurred lines between civilians, volunteers, and insurgents have altered the nature of the conflict,” a senior security official told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Manipur also shares a 1,600km (994-mile) border with Myanmar, a military-ruled country undergoing ethnic unrest and instability for years.

Along the porous India–Myanmar border, weapons move through informal networks shaped by terrain and conflict.

Sources within networks that are opposed to Myanmar’s military government told Al Jazeera that since 2023, large consignments of weapons have been routed to underground groups in Manipur.

Indian security forces say they are operating under extremely challenging conditions, across difficult terrain and multiple fronts.

“There are not enough men to guard every stretch,” a senior official told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Meanwhile, the police have been given more powers under stringent laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which allows authorities to act against individuals suspected of involvement in “terrorist” activities, including preventive detention.

Officials warn that in a sensitive border state like Manipur — with thousands of weapons in circulation and multiple armed factions operating — the situation, if not contained, could pose a serious risk to India’s internal security.

‘Mess they have created’

Even after three years of conflict, more than 58,000 people remain internally displaced across Manipur and are living in relief camps spread across the state, according to government data.

As hopes of their return diminish with each passing day, many of these camps have turned into long-term settlements.

Families say they survive on extremely limited means, often with little access to stable income, healthcare or sanitation. Several residents described struggling to secure even two meals a day.

Testimonies from inside the camps point to persistent fear and insecurity. Residents and local organisations report repeated instances of violence, including sexual assault and killings, with limited accountability.

Children growing up in these camps have seen their education disrupted for years. Aid workers and local observers warn that prolonged exposure to violence and instability is increasing their vulnerability, including the risk of recruitment by armed groups.

“In many cases, children are affected psychologically and physically,” said Letminlen, an aid worker in Churachandpur.

“Many children have expressed a desire to join armed groups and pick up weapons because it is glorified and that is all they see around them,” Letminlen noted. “There is very little rehabilitation support from the government for the children, who are among the worst affected. If this continues, we could be looking at an entire generation growing up exposed to violence, trained in weapons, and further radicalised.”

India’s BJP-led government has been criticised for its inability to contain the Manipur crisis.

Prime Minister Modi visited the state for the first time in September last year – more than two years after the conflict broke out. While the government maintains that restoring normalcy remains a priority, critics say there is no clear plan to end the killings and that a lack of accountability continues to deepen mistrust among the communities.

GK Pillai, a former federal home secretary who oversaw the security operations in India’s northeast, told Al Jazeera the situation in Manipur reflects a “breakdown of political direction and coordination among the state institutions”.

“Basically, the government has not decided what to do. It is a mess they have created, and they don’t know how to resolve it,” he said.

“That is why the security forces cannot operate with clear mandates. Otherwise, our forces, be it the army or the Assam Rifles [paramilitary], are very capable of bringing an end to the insurgency and recovering weapons, but they cannot act in isolation without clear orders from the government of India.”

Pillai said political considerations were shaping the absence of a clear direction to end the conflict.

“The government will not give clear directions to protect its political interests due to the upcoming [state] elections,” he said. “And as far as the truth of this conflict is concerned — who perpetrated it — the government does not want the truth to come out.”

The conflict, said Pillai, has hardened identity positions, making reconciliation difficult without sustained political engagement.

“The Meiteis are the largest community and have to reach out to the other communities,” he said. “The weaker party cannot be expected to start a dialogue and surrender.”

Al Jazeera reached out to a BJP spokesperson for their response to the allegations, but did not receive one.

Meanwhile, violence continues and investigations stall as a growing number of cases with “unknown assailants” define the conflict. Accountability remains elusive, and families are left to grieve without clarity — or closure.

Trump pauses US ‘Project Freedom’ operation in Strait of Hormuz, citing progress towards Iran agreement.

United States President Donald Trump has announced a temporary pause to the US military’s “Project Freedom” operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying “great progress” had been made towards a potential agreement with Iran.

Trump said the operation would be suspended for “a short period” to see whether a “complete and final agreement” with Tehran could be reached, despite ongoing tensions in the Gulf.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, accused Washington of pursuing a policy of “maximum pressure” and expecting Iran to submit to unilateral demands.

Here is what we know:

In Iran

• US pauses Hormuz escorts: Trump said he was halting the US military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz after just one day, in a bid to reach a deal with Iran to end the Middle East war. Trump’s so-called “Project Freedom” to help vessels leave the strait began on Monday.
• Shipping incident reported: A cargo vessel has been struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said in a statement.
• Fears grow for jailed Nobel laureate: Supporters of imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi warned that her health is in “catastrophic” decline and appealed for urgent international intervention. Her legal team said the activist, jailed over charges linked to national security and propaganda, has suffered heart attacks and severe medical neglect while in custody.

War diplomacy

• Iranian foreign minister in Beijing: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met China’s top diplomat Wang Yi for talks in Beijing on Wednesday, China’s Xinhua news agency reported, without giving details on the discussion.
• China seen as key diplomatic channel: Analyst Jodie Wen said Araghchi’s visit comes at a sensitive moment shaped by the Gulf shipping crisis, the conflict with the US and Trump’s planned China trip. She said Beijing is likely trying to steer Tehran back towards negotiations and stabilise the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime choke point carrying a fifth of global oil exports.
• Rubio, Lavrov talk Iran, Ukraine: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to the State Department, on a day of deadly Russian attacks in cities across Ukraine.

In the Gulf

• ‘No plan’ to attack UAE: Iran had “no preplanned programme” to attack oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Iranian state TV quoted a military official as saying, after the UAE blamed Iran for a drone attack at an energy installation in Fujairah.
• Ukraine offers drone expertise to Bahrain: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been offering his country’s know-how fighting Russian- and Iranian-made drones to Middle East nations, offered to help Bahrain in his latest visit to the region.

In the US

• US says offensive stage of war is ‘over’: The US has completed its offensive operations against Iran, Rubio said on Tuesday, nearly a month into a fragile ceasefire. “The operation is over – Epic Fury – as the president notified Congress. We’re done with that stage of it,” Rubio told reporters at the White House.
• US pledges tough response in Hormuz: US forces are ready to resume combat operations against Iran if ordered, Washington’s top military officer said, as the Pentagon threatened a “devastating” response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping in the Hormuz Strait.
• Trump pushes for deal: Trump urged Iran to “do the smart thing” and make a deal to end the war, saying – even as a ceasefire teetered – that he did not want to kill more Iranians. “They should do the smart thing, because we don’t want to go in and kill people. Really don’t,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about Iran. “I don’t want to, it’s too tough.”

In Israel

• Israelis sceptical of ending war: A new survey by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 59 percent of Israelis oppose ending the war with Iran at this stage, while nearly two-thirds expect a return to large-scale conflict. The poll also showed growing concern over US influence on Israeli defence decisions and deep pessimism about the chances of a stable deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In Lebanon, Gaza

• Settlers wound three in Masafer Yatta: Three people, including a minor, were injured when Israeli settlers attacked the community of Rujum Ili, south of Hebron, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, while Israeli forces detained three others, including a foreign activist. Residents said settlers also targeted nearby communities, attempted to steal livestock, and several Palestinians suffered tear gas inhalation.
• Lebanon peace deal ‘achievable’:  Rubio said Washington is working to keep Israel-Lebanon talks going, but called Hezbollah the main obstacle.