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Aoun says deal announced in Washington 'last chance' for comprehensive Israel truce

President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that an agreement on implementing a ceasefire announced in Washington after talks with Israel was the "last chance" to reach a comprehensive truce.

Envoys from Israel and Lebanon held a fourth round of U.S.-brokered talks in Washington on Wednesday, agreeing to implement a ceasefire hinged on Hezbollah halting its attacks.

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Iran's Guards say Israel must withdraw to pre-war positions in Lebanon

The head of the Quds Force, the foreign arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards, said Thursday that Israel must pull back from its current front lines in Lebanon, where it is fighting Tehran's ally Hezbollah.

"Supporting the resistance in Lebanon is the duty of all of us, and removing Israel from the region is an attainable goal for Muslims," Esmail Qaani said in a post on a domestic social media platform. "The minimum demand of the resistance is the withdrawal of the usurping regime (Israel) to the position it held before the start of the 40-day war."

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UN force says peacekeeper killed in south Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Thursday that a peacekeeper was killed and two others wounded when shelling hit their base in the country's south the previous night.

"A UNIFIL peacekeeper died early this morning from critical injuries sustained when mortar shells struck his position," a statement from the force said, adding that an investigation had been launched.

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Israel says military to continue operations in south Lebanon

Israel's defense minister said Thursday that a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon grants the military the "freedom" to strike Beirut if Hezbollah attacks Israeli communities, adding that operations in southern Lebanon would continue.

"The IDF will, at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the Yellow Line -- including in the Beaufort area -- and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground," Israel Katz said in a statement, as he hailed the ceasefire deal reached on Wednesday.

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Trump says he wants to separate Lebanon, Iran talks

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants to separate talks on the conflict in Lebanon and those on the war between the United States and Iran, although Tehran insists the conflicts are linked.

"I'd like to separate it, I'd like to have a separate thing, because it is, it is separate," Trump told reporters.

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Four paramedics killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a paramedic, the state-run National News Agency reported late Wednesday after three other strikes targeted paramedics in south Lebanon in the same day.

The strike on a team from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee in Zebdine killed a paramedic and wounded another.

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Israel far-right minister slams ceasefire with Lebanon as 'serious mistake'

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir criticized on Thursday a ceasefire deal with Lebanon brokered by Washington, calling it a "serious mistake".

"The ceasefire with Lebanon is a serious mistake and the pipe dreams of advisers are dragging the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to wrong decisions," the minister wrote on X.

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Iran FM says 'no tangible progress' in talks with US to end war

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that lines of communication with the United States were still open, but "no tangible progress" has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war.

"Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process," the Tasnim news agency quoted him as telling Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV.

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Rubio says enriched uranium key issue in Iran talks, no deal yet

The fate of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpiles is at the center of talks with Washington, and Tehran has not yet agreed to a peace deal, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.

Washington insists that Iran must turn over its near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, agree to curb its nuclear activities and re-open the Strait of Hormuz for any peace agreement to take hold.

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Netanyahu says Iran 'playing with fire' after attack on Kuwait

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Iran was "playing with fire" after the Islamic republic carried out an attack on Kuwait.

"Iran surely knows what the (U.S.) president has said, that if necessary, there'll be a full-scale return to military action," Netanyahu said in an interview with U.S. channel CNBC when asked if there was still a ceasefire following recent attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain.

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