Hezbollah demands full Israeli withdrawal as Strait of Hormuz ship hit

A cargo vessel was hit near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz on June 25, forcing the U.N. International Maritime Organization to pause its ship-escort operation and reopening fears over a waterway that once carried about a fifth of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Evergreen Marine said its Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely was struck close to Oman, and two U.S. officials said they believed Iran fired on the ship. The vessel, its crew and cargo were reported safe.

The attack landed as Lebanon and Israel were already locked in a new round of talks in Washington, which began on June 23, 2026, under pressure from a U.S.-brokered memorandum of understanding signed in June and described as setting a 60-day timetable for a final agreement. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said there could be no settlement unless Israel fully withdrew from Lebanon, rejecting a partial ceasefire. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei went further, warning that any continued Israeli presence in southern Lebanon would effectively annul the memorandum.

Israel has signaled it will not pull its forces back. Officials have said they intend to keep troops in place and continue operations against Hezbollah, leaving the Lebanese track tied to the separate issue of security along the border. That linkage has complicated the wider U.S.-Iran framework, which was meant to create space for a broader settlement while containing the violence along Lebanon’s frontier with northern Israel.

The Strait of Hormuz strike sharpened the stakes beyond the battlefield. Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said vessels outside the routes it has set would not be guaranteed safe passage, a warning that underscored how quickly maritime risk can be used as leverage in a diplomatic standoff. The attack came after shipping traffic in the strait had only recently begun to recover from months of disruption, and it raised fresh doubts about whether any deal reached under the current timetable can survive the next proxy action.