Before the fighting stops, there are no chances of normal prices. The overarching U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding included a provision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, providing some initial relief to global energy shipments. However, the economic impact—and hopes for "normal prices"—are directly tethered to whether this broader ceasefire holds.
“TEL AVIV -- Strikes by Israel against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah marked one of the most serious escalations in Lebanon since a ceasefire in April and threatened to derail talks between the U.S. and Iran aimed at cementing a 60-day ceasefire agreement reached this past week.
Israel and Hezbollah on Friday agreed to renew a ceasefire after the new flare-up, U.S. and Israeli officials said. Strikes had mostly subsided on Friday, but some clashes continued after the fresh ceasefire took effect at 4 p.m. local time, a U.S. official said.
In the fighting overnight into Friday, Israel's military said that four of its soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah drone strike, and that it had killed dozens of Hezbollah militants and carried out more than 150 strikes in response to what it said were repeated violations of the April pact.
The White House said Thursday that Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the U.S. negotiating team with Iran, wouldn't be traveling to Switzerland to meet Iranian counterparts as planned. The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed talks were postponed and said it stands ready to facilitate should they resume.
Iran told mediators that the Israeli strikes were a breach of the preliminary agreement and that they were seeking guarantees that they would end before negotiations could start, according to Iranian and Arab officials. Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the U.S. was directly responsible for the situation and warned of serious consequences for regional security, according to Iranian state media.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has become a major sticking point in negotiations and driven a wedge between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump, his most important ally. Their interests have diverged as Netanyahu seeks to keep up pressure on Iran and Hezbollah, while Trump looks for a way out of the war. Conversations between the two leaders have become increasingly hostile, with Trump pressing Netanyahu to "stop blowing up buildings," The Wall Street Journal has reported.
"My directive is clear: Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these assaults," Netanyahu said on Friday.
Tehran insists that any peace deal with Washington must include Lebanon, while Israel says it will keep up the fight there.
"This was a train wreck waiting to happen," said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli military-intelligence official and a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank in Tel Aviv. "If the U.S. wants an agreement, it will have to force Israel to completely stop and withdraw, and Netanyahu is not interested in that."
The Israeli strikes targeted two command centers in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, as well as scores of other sites in the country's south, the Israeli military said.
Hezbollah said on Thursday that it was fighting Israeli troops as they tried to advance farther inside Lebanese territory.
Lebanon's health ministry said at least 47 people were killed and about 100 injured. It had earlier said there were strikes on at least 11 locations across the country's south, where Israeli troops have occupied what they call a security zone several miles wide along the border. The ministry didn't say how many of those killed were combatants.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the Israeli strikes were "effectively undermining all ongoing efforts to consolidate the ceasefire and bring the war to an end," adding that his country was still committed to reaching a comprehensive ceasefire.
The memorandum of understanding reached between the U.S. and Iran this past week is meant to usher in a 60-day period in which the Strait of Hormuz will reopen in exchange for allowing Iranian oil sales, providing Tehran with much-needed economic relief. The agreement also stipulates an end to fighting in Lebanon and that its "territorial integrity and sovereignty" must be ensured, language that drew criticism from Israel's security establishment.
Netanyahu himself hasn't publicly criticized the deal, but ministers in his government have pushed to keep up fighting against Hezbollah.
"For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!" Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right minister of national security, said in a post on social media Friday.
"With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeited."
Vance lashed out at Israeli critics on Thursday, pointing out that the country relies on U.S. weapons to defend itself. Trump "is the only head of state in the entire world who's sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time," the vice president said.
On Thursday, Iran Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he only agreed to the country's president signing the deal after receiving assurances from him and others that the interests of its militias would be protected. "They have also explicitly stated that if the American side seeks excessive demands, they will not submit to them," Khamenei said in a statement on X.
Khamenei also said that Trump agreed to the deal "out of desperation."
Trump, in his own social-media post on Friday, said: "We didn't meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We'll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!"
Tensions remained high since Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut earlier this month, triggering retaliatory missile launches from Iran and threatening to reignite a broader conflict. The flare-up prompted other countries including France and Qatar to lobby Israel to stop its strikes and for the U.S. to boost pressure on its ally, European and Arab officials said.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee appeared to come to Israel's defense on Friday after France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on both Israel and Hezbollah to end their strikes. "Last night, Israel had 4 of its soldiers killed," Huckabee wrote on social media. "Ceasefire happens when Hezbollah stops shooting & killing."” [1]
1. Lebanon Clashes Reignite Mideast Tensions --- Renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah delays U.S. talks with Tehran. Solomon, Feliz; Faucon, Benoit; Seligman, Lara. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 20 June 2026: A1.
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