24/04/2026

FRIDAY | APR 24, 2026

9 Iran to keep Strait of Hormuz closed if US blockade persists

GAZA: Five citizens, including three children, were killed and others injured on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a group of citizens in Beit Lahia town, north of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian News and Information Agency reported. Its correspondent, citing medical and local sources, reported that five individuals were killed and others sustained serious injuries when an Israeli drone struck a group of citizens near a mosque in the Beit Lahia Project area. Israeli artillery also shelled the eastern areas of Beit Lahia, with shrapnel falling on homes in Beit Lahia’s main street. Earlier, four citizens were injured by Israeli army gunfire east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. In a separate attack, a citizen was injured in a drone strike near the Bani Suhaila roundabout east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Earlier on Wednesday, a citizen was killed and others were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a group of citizens while they were attempting to remove the rubble of their home in Old Gaza Street in Jabalia town, north of the Strip. – Bernama-Wafa WASHINGTON: The United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday a second peacekeeper has died following a recent attack in southern Lebanon, prompting renewed calls for accountability and the protection of international peacekeepers in the region, Anadolu Ajansi reported. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed sorrow over the death of a French soldier serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) following an attack on Saturday in which another peacekeeper was TEHRAN: Iran’s vow not to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so long as a US naval blockade remains in place was upheld yesterday despite a ceasefire extension, as the Gulf nation announced the seizure of two ships trying to cross the waterway. US Central Command said on Wednesday it has “directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port” as part of its own “blockade against Iran”. As the clock ticked for a return to the war that has engulfed the region, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would maintain the truce to allow more time for Pakistani-brokered peace talks. Iran said it welcomed the efforts by Pakistan but made no other comment on Trump’s statement. “A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade,” said Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran’s delegation in the first round of talks in Islamabad. “Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire.” Trump had said he wanted to give time for Iran’s “fractured” leadership to come up with a proposal, in what many observers saw as a face-saving way to avoid renewed war. Trump told the New York Post that talks could resume in Pakistan within three days, although Iran has not confirmed participation and Vice-President J.D. Vance put

paper said. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that a second French soldier, who had been wounded in a weekend ambush against United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, has died. A first soldier was shot dead in the ambush, for which Hezbollah has denied responsibility. Israel and Lebanon, which have no diplomatic relations, held a second round of talks in Washington yesterday. Lebanon planned to request a one-month extension of the ceasefire during the meeting, a Lebanese official told AFP. Lebanon would also seek “an end of Israel’s bombing and destruction in the areas where it is present and a commitment to the ceasefire”, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the talks. Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,450 people since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities. – AFP “Ultimately, the timeline would be dictated by the commander in chief.“ Trump may extend the ceasefire with Iran for between three and five more days, US online media outlet Axios reported on Wednesday, citing three US officials. Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps Commander Ahmad Vahidi and his deputies had rejected much of what Iran’s own negotiators had discussed during the first round of US-Iran talks in Pakistan this month, the report said. – Bernama-Anadolu Russia, Ukraine exchange blows KYIV: Russian strikes killed two people and wounded eight others in Ukraine, local authorities said yesterday, while Russia announced that one person has been killed in a Ukrainian attack. “Two people have been killed and eight injured. “One person is still unaccounted for,“ said Dnipro regional administration head Oleksandr Ganzha. Of those wounded, two children aged nine and 14 were taken to hospital, he said. He added that an apartment building, a shop and a car had been hit in the attack on Dnipro. In Russia’s southwestern Samara region, a Ukrainian strike killed one person, said Regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorischev yesterday. Debris from the strike landed on the roof of a block of apartments in Samara and onto the street, wounding one person who was taken to a hospital, he said. Russia’s Defence Ministry also said it intercepted 154 Ukrainian drones. – AFP

all-out war. Iran in retaliation for being attacked has said vessels must seek permission to leave or enter the Gulf through the strait. It had earlier promised free passage during the ceasefire but returned to defiance after Trump announced the blockade. The US Defence Department said on Tuesday US forces had intercepted and boarded a “stateless sanctioned” vessel. AFP has identified the ship as one linked to Iranian activity. Both sides accuse the other of ceasefire breaches. After the ceasefire with Iran, the United States helped broker a truce between Israel and Lebanon, including Hezbollah, which had fired rockets into Israel in revenge for the attacks on its patron Iran. Despite the declared truce, Israeli strikes killed five people on Wednesday, Lebanese media said. Newspaper Al-Akhbar journalist Amal Khalil was killed and her fellow reporter Zeinab Faraj wounded in an Israeli strike near the border, the President Donald Trump said on Wednesday there is “no time frame“ for ending the US-Israeli war with Iran. There is “no time pressure” on the extended ceasefire or pending new peace talks, he said, reported Xinhua. “People say I want to get it over because of the midterms, not true.“ He had initially said the war would last between four and six weeks after it began on Feb 28. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has not set a deadline for receiving Iran’s proposal.

o Complete ceasefire only has meaning if not violated by naval barricade, says Tehran Parliament speaker

ship MSC Francesca and the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas . Panama’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the seizure of the MSC Francesca , calling it a “serious attack on maritime security” and an “unnecessary escalation”. United Kingdom-based maritime security monitors confirmed that three commercial vessels had reported incidents involving gunboats in the strait. Among them, a container ship reported being fired upon by a Revolutionary Guards boat 15 nautical miles (27.7km) northeast of Oman, causing damage to the bridge but no casualties, monitor UKMTO said. The US navy is attempting to block vessels heading to or from Iranian ports, seeking to ramp up pressure on the Iranian economy even without “All attacks on peacekeepers must be promptly investigated, and those responsible must be effectively prosecuted and held accountable.” Earlier, France confirmed the death of Anicet Girardin, who had been evacuated to France for treatment after being wounded in the same attack that killed Adjutant Florian Montorio and injured two other French personnel. In a separate development, US Security Council resolution 1701, and may amount to war crimes.

his travel to Islamabad on hold on Tuesday. Trump also claimed that Iran at his request has halted alleged plans to execute eight women arrested over massive anti-government protests in the weeks before the attack. However, Iran’s judiciary described his remarks as “false news”, saying the women had never faced the death penalty. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they forced two ships to the Iranian shore from the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow gateway for about one-fifth of the world’s oil. “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships.” They identified the vessels as the Panama-flagged container killed and three were injured, said his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. “This was one of several incidents in recent weeks to have resulted in the deaths and serious injury of peacekeepers serving with Unifil.“ Dujarric said Guterres reiterated his call on all actors to uphold their obligations under international law and ensure the safety and security of UN personnel. “Attacks on peacekeepers must stop. They are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of

Attacks on peacekeepers must stop: UN

Strike in Gaza kills five, including three children

Displaced Palestinian children queueing to receive food from a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. – AFPPIC