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Lebanon Urges US Military to Put Pressure on Israel to Withdraw

This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (C) posing for a picture with outgoing US chairman of ceasefire monitoring committee MG Jasper Jeffers (L) and his successor, newly appointed US MG Michael Leeney (R) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (C) posing for a picture with outgoing US chairman of ceasefire monitoring committee MG Jasper Jeffers (L) and his successor, newly appointed US MG Michael Leeney (R) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
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Lebanon Urges US Military to Put Pressure on Israel to Withdraw

This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (C) posing for a picture with outgoing US chairman of ceasefire monitoring committee MG Jasper Jeffers (L) and his successor, newly appointed US MG Michael Leeney (R) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun (C) posing for a picture with outgoing US chairman of ceasefire monitoring committee MG Jasper Jeffers (L) and his successor, newly appointed US MG Michael Leeney (R) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on April 30, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who met with a US military delegation Wednesday, urged it to pressure Israel to withdraw from areas it still controls in the country and to release Lebanese prisoners.

The delegation was headed by US Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the Co-Chairman of the Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism.

Aoun told the American delegation that the Lebanese army is carrying out its work along the border with Israel, where troops have been confiscating weapons and preventing armed presence.

A statement released by Aoun’s office said that Jeffers, who had held the post since before the Israel-Hezbollah war ended in late November, will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Michael J. Leeney. It added that Leeney also attended Wednesday’s meeting.

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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Seals off the Occupied West Bank

Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians walk by the closed Deir Sharaf checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday.

The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.

The crackdown has also left tens of thousands unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.

Israel launched a wave of strikes across Iran on Friday that targeted its nuclear program and military sites, killing at least two top military officers and raising the prospect of an all-out war between the two bitter adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq.

The strikes came amid simmering tensions over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and appeared certain to trigger a reprisal. In its first response, Iran fired more than 100 drones at Israel. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace, and it was not immediately clear whether any got through.

Israeli leaders cast the attack as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that.