Bahrain and Kuwait targeted by fresh Iran salvoes; Israel bombs southern Lebanon

This live blog has ended, thanks for following.

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed two women and wounded 22 people on Saturday, Lebanon's health ministry said, despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

"The Israeli enemy raid on the town of Saksakiyeh, Sidon district, on Saturday morning resulted in two martyrs and 22 wounded, including three children and a woman," the ministry said in a statement.

The United States will make Iranian assets available to Gulf allies to support rebuilding and repairs for future damage caused by Iran, a source familiar said on Saturday.

The U.S. will also consider using those assets to support repairs for past damages, the source said, adding that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has directed a team to assess costs for damage already inflicted on Gulf allies by Iran.

The Israeli army announced on Saturday the deaths of two soldiers who had been fighting in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah.

Captain Shahar Gamla, 23, died Saturday after succumbing to wounds sustained in combat, while Sergeant Ohad Yaari, 21, died Friday "during operational activity in southern Lebanon", the military said.

Israel has lost 29 soldiers since the start of the latest war in Lebanon, as well as one civilian contractor, according to official figures.

Its bombing campaign and invasion of Lebanon's south have killed more than 3,500 people there, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Iran's Tasnim News Agency said explosion sounds on Kharg Island are linked to controlled ammunition detonation.

Israel's military on Saturday said it had struck around 150 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the past two days.

"Over the weekend, the IDF struck weapons storage facilities, command centers, rocket launchers, and additional Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites," the military said in a statement, adding the sites had been used "to advance and execute terror attacks against IDF soldiers".

"Many" Iranian and African journalists have been denied the necessary visas to cover the World Cup in the United States, according to the International Sports Press Association.

The association sent a letter on Friday to Bryan Swanson, FIFA's director of media relations, and Jochen Steinhoff, the soccer governing body's head of media operations and services.

"We find ourselves facing a long-standing and unacceptable problem for us journalists: the denial of entry visas to regularly accredited colleagues," association president Gianni Merlo wrote, per The Athletic.

"There are many cases: Iranian colleagues, African colleagues, some of whom have been given single entries, so if their team goes to play in Canada or Mexico and they follow it, they can no longer return to the States. The cases are countless and, I repeat, unacceptable. Politicians always say that sport unites and builds bridges between young people in countries in conflict, but in this case, we are going in the opposite direction.

"We believe it is important to allow colleagues to attend the event and work, because their presence will be crucial to the image of sport and what it represents, especially in a country like the United States of America, where freedom of the press is a must.

"I hope FIFA can do everything possible to secure visas. We're already significantly behind schedule, and many colleagues have already lost the opportunity to use plane tickets booked on time, and they'll also face significant additional expenses."

The 48-team FIFA World Cup begins Thursday and runs through July 19 with matches in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Iran's national football team took off from Turkey en route to Mexico on Saturday to take part in this year's World Cup, according to state TV, after its players were granted US visas late the night before.

The team "took off this evening for Mexico to participate in the World Cup after a 15-day training period" in Turkey, Iranian state TV reported. "The national team will arrive in Tijuana after a 20-hour flight."

An Israeli strike killed at least seven Palestinians including two women in Gaza on Saturday, health officials said, as mediators restarted talks in Cairo with Hamas and other factions over safeguarding a strained ceasefire agreement.

Medics said seven people were killed and 15 others, including children, were wounded when an Israeli airstrike targeted a large tent encampment in the heart of Gaza City.

Indirect talks on a second phase of the ceasefire deal - including Hamas disarmament and Israeli troop withdrawals - have stalled.

On Saturday, Egypt began hosting a new round of truce talks with leaders from Hamas and other Palestinian factions expected to last for a few days, Hamas and other sources close to the negotiation said.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has been transferred by Israeli authorities from Ktzi'ot Prison to solitary confinement in Nafha Prison in the Negev, southern Israel, after his legal team appealed to Israel's High Court seeking his release, his son has said.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by حسام أبو صفية (@dr.hussam73)

Israel's offensive on Lebanon since 2 March has killed 3,593 people and wounded 10,990 others as of 6 June, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has launched a campaign urging British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to stop a property exhibition event due to take place in London later this month, arguing that it facilitates the sale of homes in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Read more:

A seven-month-old Palestinian was laid to rest in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday, a day after he was shot dead and his parents were injured by the Israeli military near Hebron, according to family members who witnessed the shooting and the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, wrapped in a white shroud and a Palestinian flag, was buried in Hebron after funeral prayers were held at a nearby mosque. The infant was killed on Friday while traveling with his family by car near the city of Hebron.

"What happened to us is not a matter of an apology. What happened is not that shots were fired by mistake and led to this tragedy," the child's father, Fahd, said on Saturday.

"To say it happened by mistake, that 'I didn't know you were coming here,' or that the bullet passed through by accident — no. There is no such thing as 'by mistake' in this case."

قُتـ'ل قبل يعرف معنى الحياة..
وداع مؤثر للقمر الرضيع سام فهد أبو هيكل في الخليل.. pic.twitter.com/5QXY6J5wxx

— فلسطين بوست (@PalpostN) June 6, 2026

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travelled to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee on Thursday for consultations with technical experts who could play a role in nuclear negotiations with Iran, according to a report by Axios.

Read more: