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Below are the essential updates of the day:
Israel must withdraw from "occupied areas" in Lebanon, Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Tuesday in a call with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, as Tehran and Washington planned to sign a peace deal on Friday to end their war.
"The people of southern Lebanon must return to their homes", Qalibaf added in a post on his Telegram channel.
China's top diplomat told his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday that the next phase of negotiations between the United States and Iran - which Pakistan has helped mediate - will be "more difficult".
In a phone conversation ahead of the planned signing on Friday of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding to end their war, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Pakistan's Ishaq Dar that "it is foreseeable that, compared with the first stage, the second stage of negotiations will be more difficult".
Wang added that the United Nations Security Council "should also play a greater role" in supporting these talks, according to a statement from Beijing's foreign ministry.
"The current consensus is far from the final destination, rather it is a new starting point," Wang said.
"Achieving lasting peace in the Middle East and Gulf region still requires unremitting efforts from all parties," Wang said, adding that China was willing to work with Pakistan to promote peace.
A US-Iran deal aimed at ending the Middle East war will be signed at Switzerland's mountainside Burgenstock resort on Friday, the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed to AFP.
The site, located near Lucerne in central Switzerland, is difficult to access and therefore easily secured. It "was proposed by the Pakistani and Qatari mediators, as well as by the US and Iran", Switzerland's foreign ministry said.
Lebanon's Health Ministry has announced that 3,826 people have been killed since the start of Israel's war in Lebanon, which has devastated much of the country's south, as well as Beirut's southern suburbs.
The ministry added that a further 11,851 had been wounded.
Oil prices fell to a three-month low Tuesday on optimism over the expected reopening of the Strait of Hormuz after a peace deal between the United States and Iran.
Brent North Sea crude, the international benchmark, dropped 4.0 percent to $79.87 a barrel, dipping below $80 for the first time since early March.
The main US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, slid 4.5 percent to $77.16 a barrel.
US President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would "completely open" once Washington and Iran sign their peace agreement on Friday in Switzerland.
Iran had effectively halted tanker traffic through the vital waterway in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes launched in late February, choking off oil and gas traffic and sending crude prices skyrocketing.
"Traders are pricing in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as the most immediate and positive result of any peace deal," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at broker Trade Nation.
While Iranian officials have threatened to impose tolls on ships passing through the crucial channel, "as far as oil traders are concerned, they see a market which is loosening up at last," Morrison said.
Hezbollah has received assurances from its ally Iran that it will demand a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon in its next phase of talks with the United States, Hezbollah's media relations office told Reuters on Tuesday.
A withdrawal would be the result of, and not a precondition for, continuing talks between Tehran and Washington following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries on Friday, Hezbollah said.
The group told Reuters that there would be "no nuclear deal between Iran and the United States unless the Israelis withdraw" from Lebanon.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had suggested to Israel that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa should deal with Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia as the Israeli campaign was causing too many casualties.
Praising Sharaa as doing an "amazing job", Trump said at a G7 summit: "If Israel can't do the job (against Hezbollah) without killing everyone else, then he (Sharaa) will do the job. Syria will do the job."
Sharaa "is very good with Hezbollah, does not like them", Trump said, adding that the Syrian leader, an ex-jihadist who came to power after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, is "no boy scout".
Israel "is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed," he said.
"I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah as, to be honest with you, I think they would do a better job," said Trump.
Following reports that his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in decline, Trump said "Bibi (Netanyahu) has to be more responsible with respect to Lebanon."
"I am not happy with the way Israel had handled themselves with Lebanon and Hezbollah. They should have been able to do the job faster," Trump said.
Iranian state television said Tuesday that Iranian oil tankers and other vessels had resumed shipping following a deal with Washington, in what appeared to be an easing of a US naval blockade.
"Three Iranian oil tankers are currently sailing in the northern Indian Ocean, and two others carrying essential goods and livestock feed are en route and sailing towards southern ports," said a state television reporter from a site in the Strait of Hormuz.
He added that "the operation to lift the naval blockade has been implemented", in reference to the US measure in place since 13 April.
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that he has cancelled the 1997 Hebron agreement that allowed the Palestinian municipal council authority over administrative functions, including planning, zoning and construction over the city, according to the Times of Israel.
The Palestinian Presidency has condemned the move, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, saying that the announcement was an Israeli violation of the agreement, a breach of international law, and alters the status quo in the occupied West Bank, as well as undermining a two-state solution.
Qatar, a key negotiator in the deal to end the war between the US and Iran, said on Tuesday it believed the agreement could deliver security to the Middle East.
"We are cautiously optimistic that the signing of the memorandum of understanding will lead to the next phase of regional security through the talks that will take place on the nuclear programme and on other issues," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told reporters at a regular press briefing.
The head of the International Energy Agency said Tuesday that "unconditionally" opening the Strait of Hormuz to Gulf tanker traffic was essential to ending the shock from soaring oil and gas prices to economies worldwide.
"The single most important solution to this problem is the fully and unconditionally opening up of the state of Hormuz to shipping," IEA chief Fatih Birol told a press conference.
The deal between Iran and the United States to end the Middle East war calls for the strait to be opened, but Iranian officials have said tolls or "service fees" could be imposed for ships passing through the crucial passage for Gulf oil and gas.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but that he must be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.
Trump, speaking at the G7 summit, said he told Israel that he did not like its attack on Beirut and suggested that Syria should take care of Hezbollah instead of Israel.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the Iran deal was going to a second stage, and that the US would not be investing any money in Iran.
"We have our deal done with Iran, and it should be successful, it goes to a second stage, which I think would be actually easier," said Trump, speaking to reporters at the G7 summit in France.
Gaza's health authorities have said that Israeli attacks on the enclave have killed five Palestinians and injured another eight over the last 24 hours.
Authorities said that since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, 73,008 Palestinians have been killed, including 997 since the ceasefire began in October 2025.
An Israeli drone struck a van on the Haddatha-Hariss road in the district of Bint Jbeil, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqher Ghalibaf will be present for the signing of an interim agreement to end the war with the US, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday, according to Tasnim news agency.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi said it remained unclear where exactly the signing would take place and in what format it would be conducted.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Vice President JD Vance would attend the formal signing ceremony in Geneva.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that talks with the United States on a final agreement covering Tehran's nuclear programme will likely begin on Friday.
"Likely on Friday, at a location to be determined... a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States to reach a final agreement will begin," Araghchi said in a briefing with foreign diplomats broadcast on state television.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that ending the war in Lebanon was the "most important issue" in the peace deal with the United States announced the day before.
"The important point I want to emphasise here is that in our view, there are two parties to this memorandum -- one side is America and Israel, and the other side is Iran and Hezbollah," said Araghchi during a briefing with foreign diplomats broadcast on state television.
"This is perhaps the most important issue in the memorandum - the declaration of an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon," he said.
Iran will soon begin connecting its electricity grid to Qatar's, with studies in the final stages and the project entering the early phase of execution, Iran's Energy Minister said on Tuesday, according to Tasnim news agency.
Abbas Aliabadi added that studies were also underway to link Iran's power grid with those of other Gulf countries.
Lebanon's National News Agency is reporting that Israeli artillery shelling is striking the outskirts of Al-Rayhan in the Jezzine district, south of the country.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said, on the occasion of the Islamic New Year, that Lebanon is going through a delicate and exceptional phase amid rapid regional developments, which calls for the highest levels of awareness and national responsibility.
Aoun stressed that the Lebanese are called today, more than ever, to strengthen their national unity, rally around state institutions, and consolidate national and humanitarian solidarity in a way that fortifies the country against challenges and dangers and preserves its sovereignty, security, and stability.
The Lebanese President expressed his hope that the recent developments would bring an end to the suffering of the Lebanese and the liberation of the occupied territories, and contribute to achieving the aspirations of the Lebanese people for pride, dignity, stability, and peace of mind.
Senior aides to US President Donald Trump were surprised by his Truth Social post that he had reached an agreement with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump’s own top aides were caught off guard by his posts on the deal, which they thought was still being negotiated, the report noted.
The report added that Trump inked the deal while speaking by phone with journalists, allies, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and as he prepared to attend the cage fights on the White House lawn for his 80th birthday.
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Monday his team were being “oppressed” due to last-minute travel changes stemming from tensions between Iran and the U.S., adding the disruption had affected their performance after a 2-2 draw with New Zealand.
The Iranian football federation had negotiated a late move of the team’s base camp from Arizona to Mexico amid uncertainty over U.S. visas and a growing sense that the squad’s presence in the United States should be kept to a minimum, Iran’s ambassador to Mexico has told Reuters.
Ghalenoei, 62, said they had suffered further disruption, with Iran expecting to remain in Los Angeles overnight on Monday but instead being required to return immediately to Mexico.
“We’re supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime, but they haven’t permitted us,” Ghalenoei said. “To be honest, I have no idea why. I think perhaps our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup."
The Israeli newspaper Maariv quoted officials in the security establishment as saying that Beirut has become a "no-go zone" for the Israeli occupation army, in reference to the restrictions imposed on carrying out military operations inside the Lebanese capital.
This is likely related to what's in the agreement between the US and Iran.
Iranian media reported, Tuesday morning, that the naval blockade imposed by the United States on Iran last April must be ended, and several commercial ships, including an Iranian oil tanker, must cross the blockade line.
The Iranian Fars Agency reported this morning that several Iranian ships sailed without any problems across the blockade line. US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday-Monday night, in a post on his "Truth Social" platform, that he had issued an order to cancel the naval blockade.
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