Israel strikes Hezbollah sites, orders evacuations as Trump says he will review Iran plan
Israel ordered residents of 11 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to leave their homes and move at least 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) to open areas, as its military reported a fresh wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets. The evacuation warning, issued Sunday, came with a caution that anyone near Hezbollah fighters or facilities could be at risk as operations intensified across the border.
The Israel Defense Forces said that over the past day (Saturday) it struck “numerous terrorist infrastructure sites” and “eliminated terrorists operating adjacent to IDF soldiers” in southern Lebanon. According to the military, around 70 military structures and approximately 50 Hezbollah-linked infrastructure sites were dismantled across several areas.
The IDF said the targets included command centres, weapons storage facilities, military buildings and other sites it alleged were used to advance attacks against Israeli forces. It added that the operations followed what it described as a violation of their ceasefire agreement.
On the diplomatic track, President Donald Trump said he will “soon be reviewing the plan Iran has just sent to us,” referring to a 14-point proposal, but added he was not optimistic about a potential deal. The regional security backdrop also included a visit by US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper to sailors and Marines aboard the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli in the Arabian Sea.
His trip comes as the US naval blockade continues to be enforced in the Gulf of Oman, near where the USS Tripoli is operating. Tensions spilled onto social media, with the Iranian Embassy in South Africa using X to accuse Washington of posturing.
“When someone truly wins, they don’t keep trying to convince everyone they did,” the embassy’s account posted, adding that shifting US narratives about Iran sounded “less like victory, more like panic dressed up as confidence.” At sea, the monitoring website said a Very Large Crude Carrier owned by Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Company had evaded the US Navy and reached the Asia Pacific.
The vessel was reportedly carrying more than 1.9 million barrels of crude oil valued at nearly $220 million. The site said the tanker was last sighted off Sri Lanka more than a week ago and is currently traversing the Lombok Strait of Indonesia toward the Riau Archipelago.
The conflict’s economic reverberations are rippling through policy circles. Investment firm Robeco said central banks are reassessing their paths after the Iran war pushed energy prices higher, warning the “crude disruption” is forcing some to postpone easing while others weigh rate hikes they had not anticipated.
Robeco expects the Federal Reserve to deliver two rate cuts later this year under incoming Chair Kevin Warsh, while the European Central Bank could raise rates by 25 basis points in June and September if Brent crude holds near $80 a barrel. In Asia, it said the Bank of Japan is likely to continue tightening as a tight labour market and 3 percent wage growth raise the risk of a 2022-style inflation episode.
Marking World Press Freedom Day on May 3, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of escalating dangers for media workers worldwide.
“Without a free press, there can be no peace or human rights,” he said, noting that while it is often said that truth is the first casualty of war, “far too frequently, the first casualties are the journalists, who risk everything to report that truth, not only in war, but wherever those in power fear scrutiny.” As of May 3, the combination of Israeli military operations and evacuation orders, cautious signals from Washington and Tehran, heightened naval activity, and oil flows underscores a volatile regional landscape likely to shape the days ahead.