00:02Well, despite Donald Trump's insistence there had been positive signs towards reaching some
00:06sort of deal, it does still seem to be a long way off.
00:10Pakistan is acting as the go-between here, presenting a US-drafted plan to end the war
00:16to Iran.
00:17And Iranian state media has reported that's been rejected, Iran seeing this as too unfairly
00:23weighted towards the United States' interests, not including key issues such as guarantees
00:28the war will not be restarted sometime in the near future, and also demanding that there
00:34be an acknowledgement of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
00:40That is the key global shipping route which has been choked by the Islamic Revolutionary
00:45Guard Corps in recent weeks, sending shockwaves through global energy markets, considering
00:50how much oil and gas travels through that area, that's of course been compounded by Iranian
00:55attacks on oil and gas facilities right across the Gulf.
00:59Earlier this week, Donald Trump had walked back his threats to start bombing Iranian power
01:04plants if it didn't reopen the Strait without any restrictions there.
01:09That's where this rhetoric around there being positive signs in negotiations started to emerge.
01:15But that was ridiculed by Iran, saying that if Donald Trump was having such talks, he was
01:19having them with himself.
01:20Both sides may well be looking for an off-ramp here, but it does appear an exit is still kilometres
01:27down the road.
01:28And none of that takes into account how Israel will behave here.
01:32We know Israel has taken a dim view of the talks to end the war at this point.
01:38Benjamin Netanyahu saying that the military offensive in terms of how Israel is acting is still continuing
01:44in earnest.
01:45And he's also said that that is the case in Lebanon, where we are here as well.
01:50Benjamin Netanyahu saying that the world is watching the dismantling of the Iranian-backed
01:55militant group Hezbollah here.
01:57Over the last three weeks, Israel has launched an intense bombardment of southern Lebanon and
02:03also the southern suburbs of Beirut.
02:05As a result of that, almost 1,100 people have been killed.
02:08More than 3,000 have been injured, and 1 million are now displaced across this country.
02:15We also heard yesterday from the Israeli Defence Minister that Israel intends to occupy southern
02:21Lebanon from the border right up until the Latani River there.
02:26That is only going to compound this situation, and that harks back to the memories many Lebanese
02:32have of the last period of Israeli occupation from 1982 to the year 2000.
02:37That was when Hezbollah was born as a resistance movement.
02:41Many have said it has strayed, it has become an Iranian puppet, it has dragged Lebanon into
02:47this broader conflict by firing upon Israel in solidarity with the Iranian regime.
02:53But its leader Naeem Qassem, in his first comments since the Defence Minister Israel Katz
02:58announced those plans, Naeem Qassem says Hezbollah has been left with no choice.
03:03It will either surrender or it will fight, discounting the first option as a way forward there.
03:09While all of this has been happening, Lebanon's army has been pouring over pieces of a missile
03:14which landed north of Beirut yesterday after being intercepted.
03:18It says this investigation suggests that this missile was constructed in Iran.
03:24There's no clear idea as to exactly where it was being fired towards.
03:28It is the first Iranian missile to be intercepted over Lebanese airspace.
03:33Perhaps it was being fired towards Cyprus, given that that Mediterranean island does host
03:39a number of British military bases.
03:42We have heard over the course of the last few hours from the Cypriot President.
03:47He says discussions with the UK about the future of those sites are underway.
03:52country at the end of our home.
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