Published on: 02/05/2026 - 07:14 Modified on: 02/05/2026 - 23:03

The United States "must choose between the diplomatic path or the pursuit of a confrontational approach," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on Saturday after the American president's rejection of the latest Iranian proposal. Iran is “ready for both options,” he added. For his part, Donald Trump said in a letter to Congress dated Friday that hostilities with Iran were “over.” Find the thread for Saturday May 2.

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🎥 Withdrawal of American soldiers from Germany: what consequences for Europe?

“Besides Germany, Italy and Spain are also in the crosshairs of the White House,” recalls David Delos, international columnist France 24, while Donald Trump announced today the departure of 5,000 American soldiers stationed in Germany.

Berlin reacted, calling on Europe to unite. The United States has 68,000 active military personnel on the European continent.

📸 in pictures: several localities in southern Lebanon were targeted by Israeli strikes on Saturday

A bulldozer clears the rubble of a destroyed building in the Lebanese town of Habboush, following Israeli strikes, in Nabatieh governorate, Lebanon, May 2, 2026. © Reuters

© Reuters

Israeli army says it carried out series of strikes in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah

Israel carried out a new series of strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, with the army saying it had targeted dozens of pro-Iranian Hezbollah targets.

In a statement, the Israeli army said it had struck "around 70 military structures and dismantled around 50 Hezbollah sites in several areas". The Israeli army had previously issued two calls to evacuate nine villages.

These strikes took place in several locations in southern Lebanon, according to the country's official news agency, ANI.

Hezbollah, for its part, claimed responsibility for several attacks targeting Israeli troops, claiming that they were retaliation for “violations” of the ceasefire.

Israel confirms damage to 'religious building' in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military said forces operating in the village of Yaroun damaged a structure at a religious site as they dismantled what it described as "terrorist infrastructure" in the area.

The official Lebanese news agency ANI reported on Friday destruction by the Israeli army in Yaroun, notably of a monastery, but also of a private school, houses and businesses. A French Catholic association for its part condemned a “voluntary act” targeting a convent.

“It was noted that, during the operations carried out (...) to destroy the terrorist infrastructure, one of the houses located on a religious site was damaged,” an Arabic-speaking army spokesperson, Colonel Avichay Adraee, told X.

"There were no visible signs indicating that it was a religious building. As soon as clear distinguishing signs were observed on another building at the site, (Israeli) forces acted to prevent further damage to the site," he added.

📸 In pictures: in Beirut, displaced people find refuge in a school

Children play in the courtyard of a school serving as a shelter for displaced people, in Beirut, Lebanon, May 2, 2026. © Raghed Waked, Reuters

Ibtisam, displaced from southern Lebanon, prepares a meal at a school serving as a shelter. © Raghed Waked, Reuters

© Raghed Waked, Reuters

🎥 “The authorities are coming after her,” says Narges Mohammadi’s lawyer in France

At the microphone of France 24, Chirinne Ardakani, lawyer for Narges Mohammadi in France, discusses the deterioration in the state of health of the Iranian activist, hospitalized Friday for heart problems.

“This slow death, which is a strategy of systematic denial of care to all political prisoners in order to break them, has a name in international law; it is inhuman and degrading treatment. It is treatment comparable to torture,” analyzes the lawyer.

“The ball is in the United States’ court,” says Iran, “ready” for war or diplomacy

“Iran presented its plan to the Pakistani mediator, with the aim of permanently ending the imposed war and now the ball is in the court of the United States, which must choose between the path of diplomacy or pursuing a confrontational approach,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.

“Iran, in order to guarantee its national interests and security, is ready for both options,” he added, addressing ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions residing in the Iranian capital.

Lebanese army chief and chairman of ceasefire monitoring committee meet in Beirut

The Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Rudolf Haykal, and US General Joseph Clearfield met in Beirut to discuss the security situation in Lebanon and regional developments, the army said in a statement.

Joseph Clearfield chairs a committee monitoring a U.S.-backed ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Participants in the meeting stressed the importance of the role of the Lebanese army and the need to support it in the current phase, the statement said.

Hezbollah considers video that caricatures its fighters “offensive”

Published by a Lebanese television channel, the video caricatures the leader and fighters of the pro-Iranian group as characters from the famous video game Angry Birds in their war with Israel.

This video, tweeted by LBCI on Friday, shows Hezbollah fighters, including their leader Naïm Qassem, in the skin of birds, some equipped with explosive vests and slingshots facing Israelis incarnated by pigs who carry out airstrikes or pilot pig-shaped drones.

The video contains "offensive insults (...) which lower the political debate to a repugnant level", Hezbollah reacted in a press release. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, for his part, "condemned (...) any attack on the leaders of the Christian and Muslim religious communities as well as on the spiritual figures of Lebanon".

Although LBCI was initially founded in the 1980s by the Lebanese Forces (FL), a Christian party opposed to Hezbollah, it distanced itself from it years ago.

Iraq says its oil production can recover in a week after the end of the Strait of Hormuz crisis

Iraq can return its oil production and exports to normal levels within seven days after the end of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, Deputy Oil Minister Basim Mohammed said on Saturday.

He said production currently stood at 1.5 million barrels per day, of which around 200,000 barrels per day were exported while two tankers had been prepared and two more were expected depending on security conditions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Narges Mohammadi is "still in an unstable state", according to his supporters

“Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remains in an unstable condition. She is currently hospitalized in the USITC (Cardiology Intensive Care Unit) of a hospital in the city of Zanjan in Iran, receiving oxygen while suffering from persistent and unstable high blood pressure and nausea,” writes the Narges Mohammadi Foundation on X.

Both the foundation and the Norwegian Nobel committee called on Iranian authorities to "immediately" transfer Narges Mohammadi to his medical team in Tehran. “Without such treatment, his life remains in danger,” said the chairman of the Nobel committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, in a message to AFP. “His life is now in the hands of the Iranian authorities.”

🎥 In serious condition, Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi transferred to hospital

Narges Mohammadi was transferred to hospital in Zanjan, a town in northwestern Iran where she has been detained since last December. Siavosh Ghazi, France 24 correspondent in Tehran, recalls the reasons for the detention of the 54-year-old activist, who has been campaigning for 25 years against the death penalty and the strict dress code imposed on Iranian women.

US Transportation Secretary Says Airline Sector Doesn't Need a Bailout

⁠US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday he doesn't think the government should issue a bailout for low-cost airlines, which have sought $2.5 billion in government aid because of high jet fuel prices.

"I would say at this point, I don't think it's necessary. They have access to liquidity. If they want to go to the U.S. government, we would be a lender of last resort. If they can find funds in the private markets, I think that's better for them," Sean Duffy said at a news conference at Newark Airport.

🎥 Explosion in fuel prices in the United States: Americans angry

Spirit Airlines liquidation must happen 'in one fell swoop,' says Spirit Airlines CEO

Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday that the liquidation "has to be done in an orderly manner" and the only way to do that is to "do it all at once."

Oil tanker hijacked off Yemen and taken to Somalia

⁠The Yemeni coast guard said on Saturday that the tanker M/T EUREKA had been hijacked off the coast of Chabwa province, in southeastern Yemen, by unidentified armed men. They would have boarded the ship before taking control of it and directing it towards the Gulf of Aden, towards Somali waters.

The coast guard added that the tanker's position had been located and efforts were underway to track it, take necessary measures to recover it and ensure the safety of its crew.

Qatar Airways to resume flights to Iraq from May 10

Qatar Airways has announced that it will resume flights to Baghdad, Basra and Erbil airports in Iraq from May 10.

United Arab Emirates announces return to normal air traffic after lifting precautionary measures

Air traffic in the United Arab Emirates has returned to normal according to the authorities, after the lifting of precautionary measures put in place on February 28 at the start of the war in Iran.

This decision follows a thorough assessment of operational and safety conditions, carried out in coordination with relevant entities, added the General Authority of Civil Aviation.

🔎 Read again: our analysis of the consequences of the United Arab Emirates' withdrawal from OPEC

With AFP, Reuters and AP

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