Follow live: Ceasefire fragile as Israeli strikes slam Lebanon

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has signed a joint statement calling for an "urgent end to hostilities in Lebanon".

"Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected from the effects of hostilities," it reads.

"Humanitarian personnel, who dedicate themselves to protecting and assisting the most vulnerable, must be respected and protected."

Most of Israel's latest strikes on Lebanon, which killed at least 254 people, were in civilian-populated areas, Israel's military said on Wednesday.

Penny Wong condemned in "the strongest terms actions that have killed UN peacekeepers and significantly increased the risks faced by humanitarian personnel in southern Lebanon". Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Hours before the attacks, the military had issued warnings for some areas of southern Beirut and southern Lebanon. No such warning was given for central Beirut, which was also hit.

Speaking to the ABC after the release of the statement, Wong reiterated her calls for a ceasefire.

"If fighting continues in Lebanon, if Israel continues to not observe the ceasefire, there is a risk the ceasefire across the region will be at risk. And we don’t want that," she said.

"We want the ceasefire to hold. We know it’s fragile. We know what it means for the world, and we know what it means for Australians at the petrol bowser."

— Cameron Carr

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says a plan to charge ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz a fee sets a "very dangerous precedent".

Amid ceasefire talks with the US and Israel, Iran suggested implementing a toll for ships using the key waterway should it reopen in the future.

The Strait — which facilitates around 20 per cent of global oil trade — has been largely closed by Iran since the war in the Middle East began.

Source: SBS

Donald Trump later suggested the US and Iran could collect shipping fees as a joint venture, which Mitsotakis rejects.

"I don't think that the international community would be ready to accept Iran setting up a toll booth for every ship that crosses the strait," he told CNN.

"That seems to me to be completely unacceptable."

Such a plan would jeopardise freedom of navigation, he added, saying that no toll was in place for the Strait of Hormuz before the current conflict.

"We would be setting a very, very dangerous precedent," he said.

The opening of the Strait has been a key negotiating point for both Iran and the US in their ceasefire discussions. It has been effectively closed to international shipping since the US-Israeli strikes began on Iran on 28 February, sending economic shock waves across the globe.

Read more on how the Strait's reopening could affect you by our reporter Jack Revell.

READ MORE

The Strait of Hormuz is set to reopen. Here's how it will affect you

— Cameron Carr, Reuters

The leaders of the UK and France have shown their support for ceasefire efforts, but have raised concerns about its fragility.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been on a pre-planned visit to the gulf where he plans to hold talks with regional leaders.

Keir Starmer has touched down in Saudi Arabia beginning his three-day trip to the Gulf. Source: Getty / WPA

Starmer had already organised the trip before the ceasefire was announced and said in Saudi Arabia, "there's a lot of work to do".

"A lot of work to make sure that the ceasefire becomes permanent and brings about the peace that we all want to see. But also, a lot of work to do in relation to the Strait of Hormuz, which has an impact everywhere across the world," he said in a speech at a military base.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed he spoke with both Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump and told them their decision to accept a ceasefire was the best possible one.

"I expressed my hope that the ceasefire will be fully respected by each of the belligerents, across all areas of confrontation, including in Lebanon," Macron said in a post on X.

— Cameron Carr

World leaders are in disagreement over the purview of the temporary ceasefire and whether it included Lebanon, drawing threats from Iran.

Israel's latest bombardment of the country and the Iranian-aligned group Hezbollah go against the truce, according to its mediator, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who had said the truce would include Lebanon.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian later said a ceasefire in Lebanon was core to his country's agreement with the United States.

Israel and the US disagree about Lebanon's inclusion in the truce.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire with Iran, and the Israeli military was continuing to strike Hezbollah with force.

US Vice President JD Vance echoed Netanyahu.

"I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn't," he told reporters in Budapest overnight.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned the US and Israel that it would deliver a "regret-inducing response" if attacks on Lebanon did not stop.

— Cameron Carr

Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, killing more than 250 people on Wednesday.

More than 100 Hezbollah command centres and military sites were targeted in the city, the Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon within ten minutes, Israel's military said.

Following the strikes, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X that Hezbollah had moved out of its traditional Shi'ite stronghold in southern Beirut's Dahiyeh neighbourhood to religiously mixed areas elsewhere.

He said Israel's military would pursue Hezbollah wherever it was.

Most of Wednesday's strikes were in civilian-populated areas, Israel's military said. Hours before the attacks, the military had issued warnings for some areas of southern Beirut and southern Lebanon. No such warning was given for central Beirut, which was also hit.

A total of 254 people were killed and over 1,100 wounded across Lebanon, the country's civil defence service said.

In a statement, Hezbollah condemned what it called Israel's "barbaric aggression" and said the attacks underscored its right to respond.

Hezbollah had stopped attacking Israeli targets early on Wednesday, three Lebanese sources close to the group told Reuters.

— Cameron Carr, Reuters

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the war in the Middle East. Lebanon has been pummelled by Israeli strikes, threatening the longevity of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

Here's the latest:

• Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed more than 250 people on Wednesday, the highest death toll since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month.
• The ongoing attacks on Lebanon could undermine the US-Iranian ceasefire, the latter saying the truce needs to include Lebanon as an essential condition.
• Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran does not include Lebanon, despite claims from mediator and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the US and Iran had agreed "to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere".
• Iran's 10-point peace plan is expected to underpin peace talks with the United States after more than a month of war. You can read more about that here.
• Donald Trump said in a social media post yesterday that the US will be "loading up with supplies of all kinds" and "hangin' around" to help with the Strait of Hormuz.

You can catch up on yesterday's coverage of the war in the Middle East below, and we will keep you up to date throughout the day.

READ MORE

Trump offers 'help' in Strait of Hormuz; ceasefire 'does not include Lebanon' — as it happened

— Cameron Carr