At least 24 people were killed in Israeli air strikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, while the United States said it was still waiting for Tehran to respond to a proposed peace plan on day 72 of the conflict. Local Lebanese authorities and media gave a lower toll of at least 17 dead after a mix of strikes that included three drone strikes near Beirut. Washington says it submitted a proposal and expected an answer by Sunday, but no formal reply had arrived. One report says negotiators may meet in Washington on May 14-15, making the coming days a possible diplomatic hinge.
Israeli air strikes on Saturday hit more than 10 towns in southern Lebanon, killing people in a wave of attacks that local and international sources described as among the heaviest of the recent run of exchanges. Two accounts put the death toll at 24, while other Lebanese authorities and media reported at least 17 killed, a discrepancy that reflects differing field tallies and reporting windows. Among the lower count were four fatalities said to have resulted from three drone strikes near Beirut, and 13 killed elsewhere in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese reports.
Frontline combat and diplomatic pause
The strikes unfolded amid what officials describe as a fragile diplomatic pause between the United States and Iran. The United States said it had submitted a proposal to Tehran and expected a reply, but by Sunday no formal response had arrived. That wait is the immediate development cited across coverage as negotiators press for an agreement.
The pause between Washington and Tehran hasn't halted fighting along the Israel-Lebanon front. Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group active in southern Lebanon, have continued near-daily exchanges. Pakistani officials said Islamabad will continue mediation efforts between the United States and Iran, and Qatari and US officials have held meetings in recent days to press for de-escalation, diplomatic statements said.
On the diplomatic front, a senior US official met Qatar's prime minister in Miami as part of wider shuttle diplomacy involving other capitals. A senior US official said they had expected to receive Iran's reply late on Friday, but no public response from Tehran had been recorded in the immediate aftermath. One account also said Russia offered to oversee the transfer and storage of Iran's enriched uranium, a separate proposal that hasn't been widely reported.
Maritime tensions and warnings
Even as the US-Iran ceasefire persists, military and maritime tensions remain active in the Gulf. Sources reported sporadic naval skirmishes near the Strait of Hormuz, although a marine authority described a relative calm on Saturday with no incidents reported in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman that day.
The strait is a central flashpoint because of the volume of global oil shipments that transit it.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued public warnings that it would target US sites in the region and "enemy ships" if its tankers were attacked. An Iranian military spokesperson also warned that any country enforcing US sanctions would face difficulties transiting the Strait of Hormuz. These statements underline Tehran's willingness to threaten regional shipping as part of its response strategy.
Several operational and economic claims appear in only one account and should be treated as single-sourced. Those claims include CENTCOM's cumulative count of vessels redirected and disabled, an allegation that Iran's crude exports have fallen by more than 80% with output down by about 400,000 barrels per day, and specific allegations about US air strikes on Iranian tankers. One report also said the British warship HMS Dragon had been redeployed to the Middle East, but that too comes from a single source.
Regional mediators remain active. Qatar is reported to be running back-channel contacts with figures linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps alongside Pakistani mediators. Pakistan and Gulf states are widely described as engaged in quiet diplomacy to try to convert the ceasefire and the US-Iran pause into a broader settlement that could reduce cross-border strikes and maritime incidents.
Two short background points help frame the current moment. A ceasefire between the United States and Iran has been in effect since April 8, but the sides haven't agreed a formal peace deal. Separately, local hostilities involving Israeli forces and Hezbollah have continued despite the broader US-Iran agreement, with periodic cross-border exchange of fire and air strikes along the Israel-Lebanon front.
Reporting has shown a mix of confirmed, widely reported developments and single-source claims. The casualty figures in Lebanon are a clear example of how different outlets and authorities can produce divergent counts during fast-moving strikes. The diplomatic picture is likewise uneven, with multiple governments engaged but only partial transparency about the substance of proposals under consideration.
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At least one report says negotiators are preparing a third round of talks in Washington on May 14-15, a specific next milestone in the diplomatic effort.
This article was created with AI assistance.
