The groundwork for starting negotiations for a final agreement was discussed. It was decided that technical teams will continue working on the issues necessary for the effective implementation of this agreement.

At this stage, the work of the negotiation delegation has ended, but technical teams will resume their work tomorrow. A text will be provided by the two mediators, Qatar and Pakistan, and will include the key points I mentioned. It will be presented as a document of the understandings reached over 18 hours of negotiations.

In addition to this document, the three points I mentioned earlier are important, including permission for Iran’s oil sales and the release of Iran’s frozen assets. These must take place so that, under item 13, we can begin negotiations for a final agreement.

⚪️ @Alsaa_plus_EN

A new survey conducted by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Agam Institute found that 92.1% of Israelis believe Iran emerged as the winner of the recent war and subsequent agreement with the United States.

The poll, conducted between 17 and 20 June among 3,644 respondents, found that 93.1% of voters aligned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc shared the same view.

Additionally, 82.9% said the six-week campaign against Iran weakened Israel’s long-term security, while 86% expressed a negative view of both the war’s outcome and the US-Iran deal.

The survey pointed to a broader crisis of confidence in Israel’s leadership.

According to the findings, 87.8% of respondents said Israel either failed to achieve its stated objectives or achieved them only partially, while 72.5% said they do not believe Netanyahu’s claim that Israel secured significant gains and eliminated an existential threat.

Netanyahu’s handling of the war was rated as “failed” or “poor” by 56.4% of respondents, compared with 26.5% who rated it “good” or “excellent” and 17.1% who described it as “fair.” Support for Netanyahu as prime minister dropped from 40.5% in March to 29.4% in June.

The poll also found growing dissatisfaction with US President Donald Trump’s handling of the war and its aftermath, with 69.1% rating his performance as “failed” or “poor” and only 10.8% viewing it positively.

Despite this, 48.2% of respondents said Israel should renew major military action against Hezbollah, including strikes on Beirut, even at the risk of a confrontation with Trump, while 20.9% opposed such action and 30.9% remained undecided.

Just 12.2% of respondents said Israel had achieved most of the goals associated with Netanyahu’s “total victory” doctrine, including defeating Hamas, freeing captives, and removing the Hezbollah threat, while 61.3% said those goals had not been achieved at all and 26.5% said they had been achieved only in part.

An Iranian negotiating source said the first round of four-way talks in Switzerland, involving Iran, the United States, Qatar, and Pakistan, concluded after about 80 minutes and was temporarily suspended for internal consultations.

The talks, held at the Bürgenstock Hotel under the “Lake Lucerne Meeting,” brought together the participating delegations, with Qatar and Pakistan acting as mediators.

No further details were disclosed regarding the discussions.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to strike Iran if it did not stop Hezbollah from “causing trouble,” as peace talks between senior US and Iranian officials began in Switzerland.

The negotiations opened against a backdrop of clashes in recent days between the Israeli army and Hezbollah – a Tehran ally – in southern Lebanon, threatening to derail the preliminary peace deal between Tehran and Washington.

“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 30 people on Saturday in eastern and southern Lebanon, before a lull in the fighting that evening, when the Israeli army was ordered to halt clashes with Hezbollah.

The memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday between the United States and Iran stipulates a cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

At the outset of the talks in Switzerland on Sunday, US Vice President JD Vance said he had seen “great progress in the last just couple of days in ensuring that the ceasefire holds in Lebanon.”

“We’re all working towards regional peace,” he said. “I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There’s still some additional wood to chop but we’re going to keep on working at it.”

Vance asserted that Trump and the United States had done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any other country in recent months.

Hezbollah flags (image from archive).

Hezbollah issued on Sunday a statement to highlight the fruitlessness of the direct negotiations between the Lebanese authorities and the Israeli enemy in Washington, condemning all the approach and its outcomes.

The statement stressed that the continued participation in direct negotiation sessions to be the implementation of the daily directives issued by the U.S. administration to the Lebanese authorities.

What follows is the text of the statement:

It has become clear and certain that the rounds of direct negotiations to which the Lebanese authority’s delegation was led in Washington amounted to nothing more than nodding in approval and endorsing the dictates drafted by the U.S. administration—dictates that undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty and shift its political position toward the camp of those reconciled with the Zionist occupation and its illegitimate entity.

No good whatsoever can be expected from these conciliatory negotiations, because their premise is flawed and suspicious, and their objective is submission and surrender.

We in Hezbollah once again condemn the approach of direct negotiations with the Zionist enemy, its successive rounds, and the outcomes resulting from them. We also condemn their obstructive role, which constitutes an obstacle to confronting the enemy’s project, the efforts of the resistance field, and the great sacrifices of our noble people—sacrifices that the authorities could instead utilize and leverage as sources of strength in order to achieve a complete and unconditional withdrawal from our Lebanese territory.

We consider the continued participation in direct negotiation sessions to be the implementation of the daily directives issued by the U.S. administration to the Lebanese authorities. Acting unilaterally and independently in their decision-making, in violation of the National Pact, the Constitution, and the laws, these authorities are responding to the agenda pursued by the United States and “Israel”, thereby increasing the dangers facing Lebanon, its stability, independence, and sovereignty.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

The Israeli army will not withdraw from territory occupied in southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday, Anadolu reports.

“The ceasefire announced yesterday leaves the IDF (army) in all positions within the security zone that protects the northern communities,” Katz said in a statement carried by The Times of Israel news portal.

The army “will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon,” he added.

The statement was made as negotiations between the US and Iran started in Switzerland on Sunday to reach a lasting peace agreement between the two sides.

An interim agreement between Washington and Tehran called for halting all hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon.

Katz claimed that Israeli forces have “no restriction” in Lebanon.

READ: Israeli strikes kill at least 28 in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire

“There was and is no restriction on IDF soldiers in Lebanon from operating to remove threats,” he said.

“As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have made clear, Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon,” Katz said.

His comments came after a major Israeli escalation in Lebanon on Friday and Saturday, during which the Israeli military launched more than 200 strikes across southern and eastern parts of the country, claiming to target Hezbollah sites. Anadolu correspondents reported that many of the attacks hit homes and civilian infrastructure.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, the strikes killed 105 people and injured over 150 others on Friday and Saturday.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed nearly 4,000 people, and injured over 12,000 others since March 2, according to official Lebanese figures.

Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, some held for decades and others seized during the 2023–2024 war.

READ: Netanyahu: Israel will not withdraw from southern Lebanon

Israeli military officials believe Hezbollah has rebuilt its surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities along the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon and is increasingly targeting senior field commanders through sophisticated nighttime operations, according to a report by Walla published on 21 June.

Citing military sources, Walla said Hezbollah is using drones, observation posts, cameras, and advanced technological tools to detect radio activity and other indicators of high-ranking officers’ presence before launching attacks. The assessment follows a string of recent incidents involving senior Israeli officers, including the severe wounding of the former commander of the 401st Brigade in a drone strike, the injury of the deputy commander of the 36th Division in a roadside bomb attack, and the killing of the commander of the 52nd Battalion.

An Israeli military probe into the incident that killed the 52nd Battalion commander and three other soldiers suggests Hezbollah may have combined an explosive drone strike with an anti-tank missile or mortar attack, igniting a tank that reportedly burned for hours due to the ammunition stored inside.

The tank has yet to be recovered, and Israeli forces are still investigating the exact sequence of events.

According to Walla, Israeli officials believe Iran continues to supply Hezbollah with drones and advanced intelligence and surveillance technology despite the ongoing war.