15 April 2026
- Lebanon has cast doubt on Donald Trump's claim that Lebanese and Israeli leaders are due to hold talks
- On Wednesday night in the US, President Trump wrote: "Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow. Nice!"
- But on Thursday, an official in Lebanon's presidential office told the BBC they were unaware of upcoming contact with Israel
- In southern Lebanon, Israel issues a new warning to residents as its air strikes continue
- The BBC's Lyse Doucet is reporting from inside Iran - read her first report here, and see her video report at the top of the page
The BBC's Lyse Doucet is reporting from inside Iran - read her first report here, and see her video report at the top of the page reports from outside the Iranian capital
Live Reporting
Edited by Owen Amos and Charlotte Hadfield, with reporting from BBC Persian and teams across the Middle East
Published at 00:07
Who's talking to who?
Image source,Getty ImagesUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, in Washington DC on Tuesday
A two-week conditional ceasefire between Iran and the US remains in place, but strikes continue between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Here's the latest on the various negotiations:
Israel-Lebanon talks
A two-week conditional ceasefire between Iran and the US remains in place, but strikes continue between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Here's the latest on the various negotiations:
Israel-Lebanon talks
- US President Donald Trump said last night talks between the Israeli and Lebanese leaders are due to take place "tomorrow"
- But an official in Lebanon's presidential office tells the BBC they are not aware of any upcoming contact with Israel
- On Tuesday, talks between Israel and Lebanon officials took place in Washington DC - the first direct negotiations since 1993. Lebanon called the talks "productive" and Israel said they were both on the "same side of the equation" - but Israeli attacks against Hezbollah continue
US-Iran talks
- Over the weekend, talks in Islamabad between the US, Iran and mediators Pakistan failed to bring about a deal
- On Wednesday, more details emerged of messages between both sides. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran wants a "full end to war, lifting sanctions, and retribution of damages of US-Israeli attacks on Iran"
- The White House says discussions around a possible second round of peace talks between the US and Iran are "ongoing" and "productive" - but no time or place have been confirmed. The two-week ceasefire is due to end on 22 April
Published at 23:54 15 April
US defence secretary and military chief to hold news conference
The US defence secretary and the chairman of the military's joint chiefs of staff will hold a news conference about the US-Israel war with Iran on Thursday morning.
In a post on X, the US Department of War said Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine will chair the media briefing at 8:00 ET (12:00 GMT/1:00 BST) on Thursday.
News conferences of this kind have been held regularly since the start of the war on 28 February. You'll be able to watch and follow live on this page.
In a post on X, the US Department of War said Pete Hegseth and Dan Caine will chair the media briefing at 8:00 ET (12:00 GMT/1:00 BST) on Thursday.
News conferences of this kind have been held regularly since the start of the war on 28 February. You'll be able to watch and follow live on this page.
Image source,ReutersPublished at 23:49 15 April
Hezbollah says it fired rockets at Israel
Iran-backed group Hezbollah says it has fired a barrage of rockets at Israel this morning.
In a post on Telegram the group says it targeted Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi, Misgav Am, and Margaliot in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, at 08:45 local time (05:45 GMT, 06:45 BST).
"This response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases," it adds.
Israel has not commented.
In a post on Telegram the group says it targeted Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi, Misgav Am, and Margaliot in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, at 08:45 local time (05:45 GMT, 06:45 BST).
"This response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases," it adds.
Israel has not commented.
Image source,EPAImage caption, Israeli air defense systems intercepting projectiles yesterdayPublished at 23:29 15 April
Israel issues warning ahead of strikes on southern Lebanon
The Arabic-language spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces, Avichay Adraee, has issued an "urgent warning" to residents living in southern Lebanon as it continues air strikes.
Adraee says Hezbollah is "forcing" the Israeli military to act in the area and that the IDF "does not intend to harm" civilians.
"We reiterate and urge you to evacuate your homes immediately and head immediately north of the Zahrani river," he writes this morning.
"Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, their facilities, or their combat means exposes their life to danger."
Adraee says Hezbollah is "forcing" the Israeli military to act in the area and that the IDF "does not intend to harm" civilians.
"We reiterate and urge you to evacuate your homes immediately and head immediately north of the Zahrani river," he writes this morning.
"Anyone present near Hezbollah elements, their facilities, or their combat means exposes their life to danger."
Image source,EPAImage caption, Israeli armoured personnel carriers guard excavators demolishing buildings in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, as seen from the Israeli side of the border yesterdayPublished at 23:21 15 April
A damaged bridge and new banners: The BBC reports from inside Iran
Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, reporting from Iran
Chief international correspondent, reporting from Iran
Image source,Irna news agencyImage caption,Iranian media published images of a damaged highway bridge on the Tabriz-Zanjan highway in northern Iran
On our 12-hour journey to Tehran, vehicles are forced to take a detour down winding rural roads because the main bridge linking the northern city of Tabriz with the capital, via Zanjan, collapsed under missile fire last week.
The targeting of civilian infrastructure has been met by a growing chorus of criticism from legal scholars who warn of violations of international humanitarian law and possible war crimes. The US and Israel insist they're only striking military targets.
We spot those targets too, including a flattened barracks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, on the outskirts of Tabriz.
A huge flag is draped across the rutted pillars protruding from the ruins like concrete teeth. Other military and police bases, as well as factories, were also hit in this region.
Trump's apocalyptic threat on 7 April that "a whole civilisation will die tonight" comes to mind when we stop at a roadside restaurant - a hundreds-year-old caravanserai, a travellers' inn of old - with vaulted stone ceilings and stained-glass windows.
The Iran of today is also visible everywhere we stop, with some women wearing veils and scarves and others, of all ages, bare-headed. It's a legacy of the 2022-2023 Woman Life Freedom protests. Women now refuse to turn the clock back even though strict rules on "modesty" and severe punishments are still the law of this land.
But there are more pressing priorities for Iran's theocracy in this moment.
New banners stretch over highways with portraits of the three supreme leaders since the 1979 revolution: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini; Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in this war's first salvos on 28 February; and his successor, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, reported to have been seriously injured in that attack
He has not been seen or heard in public since then.Read more from Lyse Doucet here - and watch her video report below
BBC's Lyse Doucet reports from outside the Iranian capital
Published at 22:59 15 April lBreaking
Lebanon casts doubt on Trump's talks claim
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent in Beirut
Lebanon is not aware of any upcoming contact with Israel, an official in Lebanon’s presidential office has told the BBC, after President Trump’s post on social media suggesting a possible conversation between the leaders of both countries.
Published at 22:37 15 April
Middle East correspondent in Beirut
Lebanon is not aware of any upcoming contact with Israel, an official in Lebanon’s presidential office has told the BBC, after President Trump’s post on social media suggesting a possible conversation between the leaders of both countries.
Published at 22:37 15 April
With one million displaced in Lebanon, UN refugee chief calls for 'urgent' support
The head of the UN's refugee agency, Barham Salih, has called on the international community to provide "urgent support and relief" to Lebanon.
More than one million people - a fifth of the Lebanese population - have been displaced by the conflict, which Salih calls "unprecedented".
"Lebanon does not deserve to be trapped in a recurring cycle of violence, it deserves support and stability," Salih says after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the AFP news agency reports.
More than 2,100 people have been killed by Israeli attacks since 2 March, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Israel says its operations in Lebanon are aimed at weakening Iran-backed Hezbollah and protecting its citizens from attacks, including cross-border rocket fire.
More than one million people - a fifth of the Lebanese population - have been displaced by the conflict, which Salih calls "unprecedented".
"Lebanon does not deserve to be trapped in a recurring cycle of violence, it deserves support and stability," Salih says after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the AFP news agency reports.
More than 2,100 people have been killed by Israeli attacks since 2 March, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Israel says its operations in Lebanon are aimed at weakening Iran-backed Hezbollah and protecting its citizens from attacks, including cross-border rocket fire.
Image source, ReutersThis picture from the Reuters news agency shows Wael Sabbagh - whose mother Afaf Sidaoui and brother Hassan were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building on 8 April - at the site in Beirut yesterday
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