French UNIFIL soldier killed in Lebanon. A French soldier, Master Sergeant Florian Montorio, was killed and three other French soldiers were injured on Saturday in southern Lebanon, during an attack against peacekeepers. Among them, two are seriously injured. Emmanuel Macron estimated on his X account that “everything suggests” that Hezbollah was responsible for the attack.
Strait of Hormuz closed again. Iran announces that it is resuming “strict control” of the Strait of Hormuz in reaction to the continued American blockade of Iranian ports, reversing its decision the day before to reopen this essential sea route for global hydrocarbon trade.
Trump denounces “blackmail” by Iran over Hormuz. The American president denounced “blackmail” after Tehran’s announcement of the resumption of the blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. “They can’t blackmail us,” he stormed. Earlier, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said the United States cannot “impose a siege” on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran opens fire on an oil tanker. Iranian launches fired on an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, the British maritime security agency UKMTO reported, after the Iranian army reneged on its promise to leave the route open to navigation. The captain of the tanker reported having been approached 37 kilometers northeast of Oman by two launches of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Hezbollah vows to retaliate against Israel’s attacks. The leader of the Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, Naim Qassem, has promised to retaliate against Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, where a truce is officially in force. “A ceasefire means a complete cessation of all hostilities. As we do not trust this enemy, the resistance fighters will remain on the ground, their finger on the trigger, and they will respond to violations,” Naïm Qassem said in a statement read on television, affirming that a truce could not be “unilateral”.
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