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US vows to protect ships in Hormuz Strait after Iran says it’s closed
Fears grow of further US-Iran escalation after largest tit-for-tat attacks yet during the ceasefire.

Fears grow of further US-Iran escalation after largest tit-for-tat attacks yet during the ceasefire.



![Adnan Istanbuli, an employee at the Directorate General of Antiquities, inspects a Roman-era column after part of its capital was knocked off and fell to the ground at an archaeological site lightly damaged in an Israeli strike nearby last week, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026. [AP Photo/Hassan Ammar]](https://aljazeeranews-mggx1uo47w.edgeone.app/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1783715535.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)





After Netanyahu’s statements on Lebanese Christians were denounced in Lebanon, analysts call Israel’s PM a liar.
Israel continues to strike targets in southern Lebanon despite US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
With relations between Israel and the US fraught, some are speculating whether special relationship may be at an end.
In a congratulatory message on US Independence Day, Aoun says he hopes Lebanon can ‘open a new page of hope’.
Human rights and media freedom organisations warned that the agreement prevents ‘recourse to international courts’.