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Trump will welcome envoys of Lebanon and Israel at the White House for talks
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Talks planned for Thursday between Israel and Lebanon will now be held at the White House, where President Trump will greet the countries' ambassadors.
That's according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about it publicly.
The talks come amid a shaky temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and another ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. Both truces have come under heavy strain with attacks from the different sides.
Iran dismissed Trump's ceasefire extension this week as meaningless. Iran says the continued U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports is a violation of the deal and Iranian negotiators will not return to the table until the blockade is lifted. The U.S. Central Command said it has directed 31 vessels to change course since imposing its blockade earlier this month.
The U.S. military on Thursday said it seized a tanker transporting oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean, a day after Iran took control of two commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump said on social media he ordered the Navy to "shoot and kill any boat" laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. He added that the U.S. would triple the level of minesweeping in the strait.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard swiftly responded saying Trump's directive to shoot at the Guard's boats is an "overt breach of the ceasefire."
Brent crude oil, the international standard, was trading at over $105 a barrel as the impasse continues to disrupt shipping through the strait, a chokepoint for roughly a fifth of the world's crude oil and natural gas.
The latest regional turmoil coincided with another shakeup at the Pentagon, where U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan was dismissed following months of tension with senior Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Here are further developments on Day 55 of the Middle East war:
Israel-Lebanon talks | Navy secretary dismissed
Second round of Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington
Israel and Lebanon are set to hold a second round of ambassador-level talks at the White House on Thursday, as both sides explore extending the fragile 10-day ceasefire that took effect last week.
The talks follow the first high-level contact between the two countries in decades and come as Lebanon seeks to stop the fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Lebanon is also trying to secure the withdrawal of Israeli troops still occupying parts of the country's south, where Israel says it wants to establish a "buffer zone" to keep Hezbollah from launching strikes into northern Israel.
The Israeli government has called on the Lebanese government to do more to pressure Hezbollah into disarming.
Salman Harb, a Hezbollah spokesperson, told NPR that the group maintained its "right to resist" if Israel refused to withdraw from Lebanon.
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed at least five people, including Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil. Lebanese officials said Khalil and another journalist took shelter in a house after a nearby vehicle was targeted, but the building was then struck as well. Medics said they were able to rescue a wounded journalist accompanying her. They then came under fire and were forced to retreat before they could save Khalil, who later died under the rubble. The Israeli military said it was responding to an "imminent threat" and was reviewing the incident.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of targeting journalists.
"Israel's targeting of media workers in the south while they carry out their professional duties is no longer isolated incidents, but has become an established approach that we condemn and reject, as do all international laws and conventions," Salam wrote in a post on social media.
At least eight journalists have been killed by Israel in Lebanon since the start of the conflict, according to the Committee to Project Journalists.
U.S. Navy secretary dismissed
The latest regional turmoil coincides with another shakeup at the Pentagon, where Navy Secretary John Phelan was dismissed on Wednesday.
The Pentagon said only that Phelan was "departing the administration, effective immediately," and said that Undersecretary Hung Cao would serve as acting Navy secretary.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Phelan's dismissal "another example of the instability and dysfunction that have come to define the Department of Defense under President Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth."
Phelan, a billionaire investor with no naval experience, was the service's top civilian official who oversaw the Navy's budget, personnel and effort to build more ships. He was not, however, responsible for day-to-day operations taking place in the Middle East.
Phelan's departure puts him on a list of over 30 Pentagon officials who have been ousted since Hegseth's arrival at the Pentagon, many of them generals and admirals.
A former deputy commander of U.S. Central Command spoke about the dismissal on NPR's Morning Edition on Thursday.
"Well, all political appointees in every administration come and go. Did he meet his objectives? Are there new objectives? So it's just indicative of political leadership and the time and somewhat inconsistency or fluid situation all political appointees are in," retired Navy SEAL and Vice Adm. Robert Harward said.
Jane Arraf in Amman, Jordan, Kat Lonsdorf and Jawad Rizkallah in Beirut, Lebanon, Rebecca Rosman in London and Greg Myre Washington contributed reporting to this story.
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