Israel increases attacks on Lebanon as US-Iran talks crawl on

Arsalan Shahla, Bloomberg News on May 27, 2026

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Israel stepped up attacks on Lebanon and said its ground forces would move further into the country, potentially complicating U.S.-Iran talks on an interim peace deal.

Israeli forces, who are fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, will move beyond a strip of land roughly 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into the south of Lebanon, the military said. Israel has stepped up strikes elsewhere in the country and killed the new head of the military wing of Hamas, another group allied with Tehran, in Gaza on Tuesday.

Israel’s deepening invasion and attacks on Lebanon, which have killed thousands of people and displaced more than a million, come as negotiations between Iran and the U.S. to extend their ceasefire by around two months and reopen the Strait of Hormuz crawl on.

Iran insists the ceasefire will cover “all fronts,” including Lebanon. Israel, which started the wider war when it bombed Iran in late February alongside the U.S., is reluctant to accept any restrictions on its operations in its northern neighbor. It says its actions are necessary to protect its communities and counter Hezbollah’s rockets and drones.

Both Iran and the U.S. have said their talks, via mediators such as Pakistan and Qatar, are making progress. Though, Marco Rubio, U.S. President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, said on Tuesday it would take a few more days to reach an agreement.

Tensions remain high and on Monday night the U.S. killed several Iranian soldiers in an attack on ships it said were laying mines near the strait. Iran fired back at American jets and said it downed an unmanned drone.

“Indirect contacts with the Americans are continuing,” Ali Bagheri-Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Wednesday in Russia, where he is attending a security forum. “Until we have agreed on all issues, we consider that we have agreed on nothing.”

Another key sticking point is whether Iran will allow ships free passage through the Hormuz strait once there’s an interim deal, which would also see the U.S. lift a blockade of Iranian ports. Washington says it must, but Tehran wants to control maritime traffic in the narrow waterway, through which one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally flow.

“There is no doubt that the conditions for passage through the Strait of Hormuz and the procedure for doing so will not be the same as before,” said Bagheri-Kani. “A completely different procedure will be introduced. Iran and Oman, as neighboring coastal states, are holding talks to determine a new mechanism for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”

The warring sides, who agreed to a fragile ceasefire in early April, also need to agree on what portion of Iranian financial assets will be unfrozen and how quickly. On Tuesday, Iranian state media said Tehran wants $12 billion unfrozen once the so-called memorandum of understanding — as the two sides are describing the interim deal — is agreed.

Iran hawks in the U.S., including Sen. Lindsey Graham, are likely to balk at that and pressure Trump to revert to bombing the country.

Still, energy traders remain optimistic there will be a deal, with Brent crude oil dipping 3% on Wednesday to under $97 a barrel. It’s fallen more than 5% this week. It remains much higher than when the war began, reflecting how it will take months for flows to revert to normal if and when the Hormuz strait is reopened.

Here’s more on the Iran war:

•Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz gained modest momentum over the past 24 hours as at least two non-Iranian supertankers exited the Persian Gulf, the latest mini-flurry in energy flows transiting the vital waterway.

•An oil tanker named Olympic Life reported an explosion off the coast of Oman on Tuesday, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center.

•French Finance Minister Roland Lescure reiterated the government’s goal to reduce the deficit to 5% of output this year and below 3% in 2029 even as the Iran conflict weighs on the economy.

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—With assistance from Vladimir Kuznetsov.