Jerusalem — Israel said on Sunday that Iran had fired missiles at it in the first such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April, complicating mediation efforts to reach a deal to end the war.
The Iranian Radio and Television Corporation confirmed that rockets were fired and several explosions were heard in northern Israel. The Israeli army said it was working to intercept the missiles, but “the defense is not tight,” adding that sirens had sounded in several areas of the country.
A missile is launched into the sky of central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 7, 2026.
AFP Photos/Ohad Zweigenberg
Tehran warned of retaliation after Israel bombed the southern suburb of Beirut on Sunday without warning, in defiance of Washington’s request a few days ago to withdraw. Israel described this as a response to Iran-backed Hezbollah firing into northern Israel earlier in the day.
The Israeli attack on Beirut came just days after the Lebanese and Israeli governments agreed to a ceasefire in talks hosted by the United States, despite Hezbollah rejecting the agreement. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that the raid on a residential building resulted in the death of two people and the injury of 20 others.
Iran warned that the attack on Beirut would renew a large-scale war in the Middle East, even as Pakistan tries to resume talks between Tehran and Washington. Iran wants to reach an agreement that includes ending the war in Lebanon.
Israeli strikes and a ground invasion in Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah, and the militant group’s resistance to disarming, have complicated the comprehensive agreement to end the war in the Middle East. Iran says any agreement must include an end to the fighting in Lebanon.
The White House did not comment on the Israeli raid in Beirut. Israel announced on Monday that it would strike the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, but urgent talks through Washington stopped that on the condition that Hezbollah stop targeting Israeli border towns.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for the shooting into Israel earlier on Sunday.
Hezbollah wants to end direct talks between Lebanon and Israel, and instead supports Iran’s position that the comprehensive ceasefire agreement between Tehran and Washington includes the situation in Lebanon.
Mediation efforts on that larger agreement continued on Sunday, with Pakistan’s interior minister visiting Iran to speak with officials, and Egypt saying its foreign minister and his Qatari counterpart discussed “proposed elements” of a potential agreement, without details.
US President Donald Trump did not comment on the war Sunday, but in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired after Friday’s taping, he said he would like to see “a more precise attack on Hezbollah.” He also said he “does not demand” that Lebanon be part of a comprehensive ceasefire agreement in the Iran war.
Meanwhile, Iran continued to tighten its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, and the United States continued its blockade of Iranian ports, with oil, natural gas, and fertilizer shipments affected and the global economy damaged.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with the Israeli offensive until he believes Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.
Mediation efforts continued
The Pakistani Interior Minister visited Tehran on Sunday in a new attempt to resume negotiations between Iran and the United States
Mohsen Naqvi was delivering a message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei from Pakistani Army Commander Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA. No details were provided about the content of the message.
Khamenei has not appeared in public since his appointment as ruler of the Islamic Republic after his father was killed on February 28, the first day of the war.
Naqvi met with Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni late on Saturday and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Sunday, according to official Iranian media.
Pakistani authorities said that Islamabad, with the support of regional countries including Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, is working to help bridge the differences between the United States and Iran.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, discussed in Cairo “proposed elements” of a possible agreement between the United States and Iran, without details.
Meanwhile, the US military said it shot down two more Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz, which it said threatened international maritime traffic.
The fiercest fighting ended with an initial ceasefire on April 8, but Washington and Tehran did not agree on a long-term end to the war.
The US military continued its blockade of Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz. Energy prices have risen, posing political problems for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of the midterm congressional elections in November.
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Chehayeb reported from Beirut, Magdy from Cairo, and Liedman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Matthew Lee in Washington, and Michelle L. Price in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
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