Summary

  1. Ceasefire deal terms still a source of contentionpublished at 03:10 BST

    Contention over the two-week ceasefire deal between the US, Israel and Iran continues as Trump has said that Iran's handling of ships in the Strait of Hormuz is "not the agreement we have".

    Meanwhile, Israel is set to negotiate with Lebanon after the Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes in the country killed 303 people yesterday.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire deal, while Iranian officials have called the strikes in Lebanon a violation of the agreement.

    We're pausing our live coverage for now. You can find the latest on the conflict in the Middle East here.

  2. Even if fighting stops, trauma to Iran's children will endurepublished at 01:57 BST

    Fergal Keane
    Special correspondent

    A woman and her child look at the aftermath of an air strike in Tehran. Debris surrounds them while the look on next to a cordonImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A woman and her child look at the aftermath of an air strike in Tehran

    The war is inside his head now. A slamming door or cutlery being dropped makes him jump. The ceasefire doesn't change that.

    "Before the war, I had no stress at all," says Ali. "But now even the smallest sound causes my brain to react very badly."

    Although he is only 15, Ali – not his real name – understands these fears will linger even with a ceasefire. Loud noises trigger an automatic "startle response", he says.

    "The sound of explosions, the shock waves, and the sound of fighter jets flying over the city can have a very serious effect," he says.

    More than 20% of Iran's population is under the age of 14 – approximately 20.4 million children. What Ali and many others are experiencing is what psychologists call "hyper arousal" and it can be an early warning of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

  3. US lawmaker says she wants to hear Trump's 'exit strategy' amid ceasefire talkspublished at 01:15 BST

    Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth, a Democrat who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, is telling the BBC that she wants the administration to give Congress and the public more information about the ceasefire deal and what comes next.

    "We've had a number of closed door classified briefings on the war, but never any conversations out in the open," she told Caitriona Perry, the BBC's chief presenter in Washington. "It's critical the American people hear some type of strategy, some type of plan. We should have heard it before we went in. Now we need to hear what is the exit strategy."

    Elfreth says she's conflicted on whether or not to vote in favour of doling out more funding to the US military. She supports the troops, she says, but Trump has bypassed congressional clearance on the war with Iran.

    She noted that former President George W Bush lobbied members of Congress and sought approval from Congress in 2002 before the Iraq War was launched.

    "The president has made absolutely zero effort to bring Congress into this planning," she said. "My colleagues refuse to check and balance this president, and it's very frustrating."

  4. Former FM dies of injuries after attack - Iranian mediapublished at 00:26 BST 10 April

    Ghoncheh Habibiazad
    Senior reporter, BBC Persian

    Iranian outlets are reporting that former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has died following injuries he sustained in an attack earlier this month.

    Kharrazi was known in Iran’s political atmosphere as a reformist politician, head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, and an adviser to Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. He served as Iran’s foreign minister from 1997 to 2005.

    Iran’s reform-leaning Jamaran news website had reported on 1 April that Kamal Kharrazi had been "severely injured and hospitalised" following an attack that, according to the report, killed his wife. Jamaran had reported Kharrazi’s house in Tehran was targeted.

  5. Trump says Iran's handling of oil through Strait of Hormuz is 'not the agreement we have'published at 23:43 BST 9 April
    Breaking

    Trump has just posted on Truth Social, writing "Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz."

    He concludes: "That is not the agreement we have!"

  6. Air raid sirens sounding in Tel Aviv as IDF says Hezbollah launches missile attackpublished at 23:29 BST 9 April

    Air raid sirens have been sounding in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to Reuters.

    The Israel Defense Forces say these were triggered by Hezbollah launching a missile attack at Israel.

  7. US State Department demands Iraq make effort to dismantle its militia groupspublished at 22:59 BST 9 April

    In a meeting with Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Khirullah today, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau condemned recent "egregious terrorist attacks" against US facilities by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, according to a spokesperson for the State Department.

    "While acknowledging the efforts of Iraqi Security Forces to respond to these terrorist attacks, the Deputy Secretary emphasised the Iraqi government’s failure to prevent these attacks while some elements associated with the Iraqi government continue to actively provide political, financial, and operational cover for the militias adversely impacts the U.S.-Iraq relationship," department spokesperson Tommy Pigott says.

    Landau also stressed that the US expects Iraq to immediately make every effort to dismantle the militia groups operating in its country, Pigott says.

    He named an 8 April "ambush on US diplomats in Baghdad" as one of the recent attacks from Iran-backed militias in Iraq. The embassy had issued a security alert saying these groups "conducted multiple drone attacks in the vicinity of the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center and Baghdad International Airport" on 8 April.

  8. Iran 'better not be' charging ships going through Strait of Hormuz, says Trumppublished at 22:33 BST 9 April

    Iran "better not be" charging ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, says US President Donald Trump.

    "There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait", he says on Truth Social. "They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now".

  9. No place for tolls on international waterways - UK foreign secretarypublished at 22:20 BST 9 April

    Yvette CooperImage source, PA Media

    UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the UK has been working for a "swift resolution" to the conflict and for a plan for what will come after.

    She says "most important of all for us" is the "reopening" of the Strait of Hormuz.

    She says no country can close such a route as it "goes against the fundamental principles of the law of the sea".

    "We need the full and unconditional of the strait as a central part not just of the current ceasefire but the long-term future for the region," she says.

    "The fundamental freedoms of the seas must not be unilaterally withdrawn or sold off for individual bidders. And nor can there be any place for tolls on an international waterway.

    "Freedom of navigation means navigation must be free."

    Cooper also says a durable peace settlement cannot be reached in the Middle East if "in Lebanon the crisis endures".

  10. Damage in Lebanon after Israel confirms fresh air strikespublished at 22:17 BST 9 April

    Photos show a village in the southern Lebanese city of Choukine reduced to rubble after Israel confirmed a fresh wave of air strikes in the region.

    An hour ago, the Israeli Air Force posted on X that it would be targeting "terrorist" infrastructure in the region.

    "The Air Force has begun to attack launch sites of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon a short while ago," they wrote.

    Lebanon's state media said on social media that fighter jets targeted several other cities as well, injuring multiple people and destroying civilian homes.

    Two men look on as fire burns under a destroyed building surrounded by rubbleImage source, Getty Images
    Emergency responders walk through rubbleImage source, Getty Images
    First responders near a building that has been destroyed and turned to rocks and rubbleImage source, Getty Images
  11. Hezbollah statement confirms rocket attack on northern Israelpublished at 22:14 BST 9 April

    A little earlier, Israeli emergency services said that it was responding to an attack launched at northern Israel. Media in the country were reporting that sirens had sounded in the Haifa area.

    A statement shared by the pro-Hezbollah television channel Al Manar, and attributed to the Iran-backed group, has taken credit for the attack.

    It says that Haifa was targeted "with a barrage of advanced missiles".

    The statement says that the group did this because it "adhered to the ceasefire" while "the enemy did not".

    A separate statement attributed to the group also says it fired rockets at Israeli soldiers in the city of Bint Jbeil in Lebanon. The IDF has not commented on this.

  12. UK foreign secretary speaks in Londonpublished at 21:59 BST 9 April

    UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is giving a speech at Mansion House in central London.

    She is expected to speak about the situation in the Middle East - we'll bring you the key updates here, and you can watch live above.

  13. Starmer and Trump discuss 'next stage' in plan to open Strait of Hormuz - No 10published at 21:40 BST 9 April

    UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Trump have said they're at the "next stage of finding a resolution" to open the Strait of Hormuz, says Downing Street.

    Starmer has just landed in Qatar, from where his phone call with the US president took place.

    A statement from No 10 says that Starmer set out the UK's "efforts to convene partners to agree a viable plan" to open the shipping lane.

    "They agreed that now there is a ceasefire in place and agreement to open the Strait, we are at the next stage of finding a resolution," it says.

    It adds that Starmer and Trump "discussed the need for a practical plan to get shipping moving again as quickly as possible".

  14. Rockets fired at northern Israel from Lebanonpublished at 21:35 BST 9 April

    Israel's emergency services says it is responding to an attack launched at northern Israel, with no known casualties at the moment.

    This follows reporting from the Times of Israel, citing the IDF, that a small number of rockets were launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel.

    Israeli media reported earlier that sirens had sounded in the Haifa area, in the north of the country.

  15. Lebanon evacuation order 'unfeasible' as covers two major hospitals - WHO chiefpublished at 21:17 BST 9 April

    An evacuation order Israel has issued for an area of Beirut in Lebanon is "unfeasible" because the area contains two major hospitals, the director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.

    An evacuation order for Beirut's Jnah area "includes two major referral hospitals; the Rafik Hairiri University Hospital and Al Zahraa Hospital", says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

    There are roughly 450 patients at the two hospitals, 40 of whom are in intensive care, he says.

    "At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available" to receive these patients, he says, this makes their evacuation "operationally unfeasible".

    "Both facilities are operating at full capacity including treating the injured from the strikes of 8 April," he adds.

  16. US State Department to host Israel-Lebanon talkspublished at 20:55 BST 9 April

    Tom Bateman
    US State Department correspondent

    A State Department official says they can confirm that the department will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon.

  17. Kuwait says national guard site attacked by dronespublished at 20:46 BST 9 April
    Breaking

    Kuwait says one of its national guard sites has been targeted by "hostile drones".

    The attack resulted in "significant material damage", but there have been no casualties, the government says on social media.

    Kuwait's army says in a separate post on social media that air defences have been working to deal with hostile drones, and that vital facilities have been targeted.

  18. Some Iranians say they're 'happy' about ceasefire, others think it's 'just another trap'published at 20:31 BST 9 April

    A man stands in a dark room and stares out at a pile of rubbleImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    File photo of a man in Tehran whose home was damaged in a strike, dated 7 April - one day before the ceasefire

    How do people in Iran feel about the ceasefire? Some have been speaking to BBC Persian, which is used by 24 million people in the country, despite being blocked and routinely jammed by Iranian authorities.

    One person says they "feel happy" about it, because "the country won’t be destroyed more, and fewer people will be killed".

    But they say a better outcome would have been "the end of the Islamic Republic" regime, because it "feels like living next to an angry and wounded wolf that shows its fangs to the people now and then".

    The US and Israel "can't be trusted", says another person. "I don’t think this ceasefire could permanently last." They say they think the truce is "just another trap" to coax Iranian regime leadership out of hiding so that the US or Israeli military can target them.

    A psychiatrist from Tehran says, "I visit people in their homes everyday... People are tired and are suffering from the economic pressure and can’t afford to buy their medicines".

    They "hope the Islamic Republic stops supporting its proxies", and thinks "it should release political prisoners, carry out widespread reforms and national reconciliation to avoid a civil war".

  19. WHO says Lebanese hospitals may run out of critical medical supplies within dayspublished at 20:07 BST 9 April

    Hospitals in Lebanon may run out of life-saving medical equipment as they grapple with the injuries caused by recent Israeli strikes, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

    Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO's representative in Lebanon, tells Reuters news agency that some of the country's hospital may run out of life-saving trauma kits - which include bandages, antibiotics, and anaesthetic - within "a few days".

    According to Lebanon's health ministry, 303 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded on Wednesday across the country as a result of Israeli attacks.

    "If we have another mass casualty, like what happened yesterday, it will be a disaster," Abubaker tells Reuters.

    "Probably we will lose more lives just because we don't have enough supplies."

    The WHO says it will work with the Lebanese Ministry of Health to move supplies between hospitals to avoid total depletion of stocks, but cautioned that the health system is being stretched to its limit.

    Lebanese security officials stand guard as victims are rushed to a hospital in Beirut following a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted several areas in the Lebanese capital and its outskirts on April 8, 2026Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Lebanese security officials stand guard as victims are rushed to a hospital in Beirut following a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted several areas in the Lebanese capital and its outskirts on April 8, 2026

  20. IDF launches fresh strikes in Lebanonpublished at 19:54 BST 9 April
    Breaking

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has launched a fresh wave of strikes on Lebanon, which it says is targeting Hezbollah-affiliated sites.

    "A short while ago, the IDF began striking Hezbollah launch sites in Lebanon," the statement reads.