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Talks between the US, Lebanon, and Israel in Washington DC earlier this year. (photo credit: AMICHAI STEIN) Israeli and Lebanese negotiators are discussing returning the remains of missing Israel Air Force navigator  Ron Arad  in exchange for Lebanese prisoners, Lebanese media reported on Tuesday.  The news about Arad's possible return comes as Israel and Lebanon enter the fifth round of talks in the  United States , which will be centered on creating "pilot areas" where Israeli forces would withdraw in order for the Lebanese army to prove its ability to disarm Hezbollah.

SWITZERLAND-US-IRAN-DIPLOMACY-WAR Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araghchi (L) and Swiss Federal Council, Ignazio Cassis take part in bilateral discussions at the Burgenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne on June 21, 2026. (photo credit: URS FLUEELER / POOL / AFP via Getty Images) Iran alone will decide how to use assets that are unfrozen under a deal with the  United States,  an Iranian envoy said on Tuesday, denying Washington would have any control over the funds or that they must be used to buy US commodities. The US waived  sanctions  on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the talks in Switzerland on turning an interim deal into a lasting peace agreement. Frozen Iranian assets worth about $12 billion are expected to be released under the initial accord.q Iran is the only country to control its own assets when unfrozen, and any claim of influence by another is flatly rejected, Ali Bahreini, Iran's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said on Tu...

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh. (photo credit: REUTERS/Nathan Howard) The fifth round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon opened on Tuesday in Washington, with the talks centered on creating "pilot areas" where Israeli forces would withdraw in order for the Lebanese army to prove its ability to disarm Hezbollah. Just before the talks began,  Hezbollah  claimed that the  IDF  "violated" the ceasefire, saying that soldiers opened fire with "automatic weapons towards a group of civilians" near Nabatiya at approximately 11:30 a.m. It called the alleged incident "treacherous" and claimed that two  civilians  were killed, and two more were injured. Hezbollah claimed that the IDF "violated" the ceasefire, saying that soldiers opened fire with "automatic weapons towards a group of civilians" near Nabatiya at approximately 11:30 a.m.

IDF soldiers seen operating in the northern Gaza Strip, April 13, 2025 (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) A UN-backed commission report accuses Israel of severe violations against Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank, prompting a strong Israeli rebuttal. Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in “genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes” in  Gaza , and “war crimes in the occupied West Bank,” a UN inquiry said on Tuesday. The report by the “UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel” examined alleged violations against Palestinian children since the start of the Israel-Hamas War. Around 30% of those killed in the Gaza war were children, the report alleges.

STANSSTAD, SWITZERLAND - JUNE 21: U.S. Vice President JD Vance (R) looks on next to U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (L) shakes hands with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. June 21, 2026 (photo credit: Nathan Howard-Pool/Getty Images) Iran's missiles were not in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the US and "will never be," Iranian President  Masoud Pezeshkian  said at a joint news conference with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday. The Iranian president stated that its missile program "was not in the MoU and never will be", adding that regional peace can only be achieved through honest discussion and cooperation. Iran will never negotiate its defense capabilities with any country and strongly believes that regional peace and stability can only be achieved through honest discussions and intraregional cooperation, Pezeshkian added.

US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-DOD-HEGSETH US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Defense hearing to examine the 2027 budget for the Department of Defense on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on May 12, 2026 (photo credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images) The  Pentagon  is seeking an additional $80 Billion from Congress to cover the cost of the Iran war, as US President Donald Trump's  ratings fall  and Americans face steeper economic pressure, the  Associated Press  reported on Tuesday. While an official request by the White House Office of Management and  Budget  has yet to be made to Congress, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg have been lobbying senators for the funds.

Moroccan officers join Gaza stabilization force planning in Israel. (photo credit: Courtesy: Board of Peace) A small number of Moroccan planning officers have already arrived to take part in discussions related to the future International Stabilization Force for Gaza (ISF Morocco, Albania, and Greece will join the International Stabilization Force ( ISF ) in  Gaza , which will handle peacekeeping operations during the Trump administration's Phase II of the ceasefire, the  Jerusalem Post  has learned. There is still no specific information on the timing of deployments to the three new countries, but by mid-January, reports indicated that Morocco would team up with Indonesia as the two largest peacekeeping forces.