Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
NY Times
Apr 24, 2026
Iran War Live Updates: Trump Says Lebanon Cease-Fire Is Extended by 3 Weeks
The Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah targets on Friday, but its truce with Lebanon appeared to be holding. Stopping the fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militia could help end the war in Iran.
Abdi Latif DahirEuan Ward and Qasim Nauman
Abdi Latif Dahir and Euan Ward reported from Beirut, Lebanon.
Here’s the latest
The Israeli military said on Friday that it carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, a day after President Trump announced a three-week extension of the cease-fire there, though there were no immediate reports of significant fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group.
Mr. Trump made the announcement on Thursday after hosting a meeting at the White House between Israeli and Lebanese diplomats. Hezbollah, which did not have representatives at the talks, did not immediately comment on the announcement. Neither did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel or President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon.
Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire overnight in several towns and villages in southern Lebanon, and demolition operations in two towns on Friday morning. The Israeli military said early Friday that it had struck two rocket launchers in southern Lebanon. Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel can act in self-defense but not carry out offensive operations against Lebanese targets.
A durable peace would hinge on Lebanon’s ability to rein in Hezbollah, a powerful political and fighting force that wields significant control over large areas of the country’s south.
The conflict in Lebanon has killed nearly 2,300 Lebanese people, 15 Israeli soldiers and two civilians in Israel since it began in March, according to official tallies. Stopping that fighting is considered crucial to advancing any U.S.-Israeli peace agreement with Iran.
After a separate cease-fire paused the Iran war, hostilities have shifted to the waters in and around the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for oil and gas. The United States and Iran have in recent days seized vessels they said were violating their respective restrictions on shipping, and on Thursday, Mr. Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot and kill any boat” laying mines in the strait.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
Pentagon briefing: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are scheduled to hold a news conference at 8 a.m. Eastern on Friday. The Times will stream it live.
High price tag: White House officials have refused to estimate the cost of the war so far, but two independent groups say it has been staggering: between $28 billion and $35 billion, or just under $1 billion a day.
World Cup: Iran’s soccer team will be allowed into the United States to play in the tournament this summer, but not Iranians with ties to the country’s military, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
April 24, 2026, 6:45 a.m. ET31 minutes ago
Abu Bakr Bashir and Johnatan Reiss
Kuwait’s military said that two sites near the country’s border with Iraq had been targeted on Friday by drones launched from Iraq. Iran-linked militias in Iraq have recently carried out a series of strikes on U.S. interests in Iraq. The U.S. has suspended air shipments of dollars to Iraq, according to senior Iraqi officials, as part of a campaign to pressure the Iraqi government to distance itself from Iran.
April 24, 2026, 6:45 a.m. ET31 minutes ago
An Indonesian peacekeeper who was wounded in an explosion in late March has died, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said. At least six peacekeepers — four Indonesian and two French — have been killed since the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began in early March, according to the peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL.
April 24, 2026, 6:20 a.m. ET56 minutes ago
Sarah Chaayto
Reporting from Tyre, Lebanon
The announcement of the extended cease-fire was met with skepticism in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel have continued to exchange sporadic attacks.
“Cease-fire? What cease-fire while drones are still hovering above us? What cease-fire and we are still losing our men?” said Fatima al-Masri, 49, in the southern city of Tyre. “We do not want a cease-fire; we want this war to be over, and we want our land back.”
April 24, 2026, 5:39 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Oil prices rose about 2 percent with Brent, the global benchmark, hovering around $107 a barrel for June delivery. Stocks were lower in Europe and ended mixed in Asia. U.S. gasoline prices, which have been trending lower recently, ticked up 3 cents to 4.06 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club.
April 24, 2026, 5:25 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are scheduled to give a news conference at the Pentagon at 8 a.m. Eastern to discuss developments in the war.
April 24, 2026, 1:38 a.m. ET6 hours ago
Rubio says Iran’s soccer players, but not military personnel, can attend the World Cup
Iran’s soccer team will be allowed to enter the United States to play in the World Cup this summer, but the Trump administration will deny entry to Iranians with ties to the country’s military, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
The United States is co-hosting the 48-team World Cup this year with Canada and Mexico, starting June 11. The Iranian team qualified for the tournament last year but its participation was thrown into considerable doubt after the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in February.
During an event at the White House on Thursday, Mr. Rubio and President Trump both suggested that Iranian soccer players coming to the United States for the tournament would be welcome.
“Nothing from the U.S. has told them they can’t come,” Mr. Rubio told reporters. “If they decide not to come on their own, it’s because they decided not to come.”
But Mr. Rubio said that anyone with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps would not be allowed in.
“What they can’t bring is a bunch of I.R.G.C. terrorists into our country and pretend that they are journalists and athletic trainers,” he said.
“We would not want to affect the athletes,” Mr. Trump quickly added.
American and Iranian officials have given mixed signals about Iran’s participation in the World Cup.
Mr. Trump said in March that he did not care if the Iranian team played in the World Cup. Later that month, he said that while Iran’s players would be welcome, it would not be appropriate for them to come to the United States “for their own life and safety.”
Iran’s sports minister said last month that the national team could not countenance taking part in the World Cup after the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes. This week, an Iranian government spokesman told state media that the team was preparing to play its World Cup matches in the United States.
Gianni Infantino, the head of soccer’s global governing body, FIFA, said last week that Iran was “coming for sure” to the World Cup.
“We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation,” he said, speaking at a CNBC event in Washington. “As I said, that would definitely help. But Iran has to come, of course, they represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”
All three of Iran’s group stage matches are in the United States — two in Los Angeles and the third in Seattle.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio made their comments about the World Cup after a reporter asked what the president thought about Italy replacing Iran in the tournament.
The Financial Times had reported that Paolo Zampolli, a U.S. special envoy and a close friend of the president’s, had proposed the switch to Mr. Trump and Mr. Infantino.
“I don’t think about it too much,” Mr. Trump said.
Italy’s sports minister, Andrea Abodi, and some fans have dismissed the idea.