US-Iran truce deal details disputed, Netanyahu eyes 70% control of Gaza

The United States and Iran appear to have the draft text of an agreement to extend their ceasefire for 60 days and provide a framework to negotiate longer-term peace.

According to US Vice President JD Vance, the document is now awaiting Donald Trump's signature. But there have been conflicting reports from sources in Washington and Tehran about what might be covered in the initial agreement – and what is off the table.

With oil prices once again dipping on hopes of agreement, US sources confirmed that the sides have agreed a memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

Strait of Hormuz to reopen?

Under the reported deal, Iran, which has been attempting to control maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and charge vessels for passage, would reopen the gateway to the Gulf. Iran would remove any mines it has laid in the waterway within 30 days and, in return, the US Navy would halt attempts to enforce a blockade on shipping to and from Iranian ports.

But Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to Tehran's negotiators, said the text had not been finalized and that mediator Pakistan would be informed if a deal was reached. Iranian sources said any deal would be complete only when announced by Tehran, while Vance countered that the final decision to approve it or not would rest with Trump.

Iran had earlier said it was preparing a 14-point framework agreement prioritizing an end to the war "on all fronts" – including Lebanon, where Israel has stepped up its campaign, citing attacks from Hezbollah.

Unfreezing Iranian assets

The Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran was seeking the release of around $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets abroad as part of the agreement. Around $12 billion "should be made available at the start of the announcement of the memorandum," it said.

There is no official figure for Iran's frozen overseas assets, though Iranian media outlets have recently estimated the total at between $100 billion and $123 billion.

Iranian officials have said details related to Iran's nuclear program, a major sticking point for Washington, would be deferred to a later stage after agreement on the framework.

Iranian media reported that nuclear enrichment levels and the fate of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile would be negotiated in the 60-day period after the memorandum. But Trump insisted in a social media post that he expected Iran to surrender its enriched uranium to the United States for destruction, or destroy it inside Iran under international supervision.

It is not yet clear what the initial framework memorandum will say on the nuclear issue.

One of Tehran's key demands has been guarantees that Washington will honor any agreement - after the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal during Trump's first term in office.

If the sides reach an agreement, the final text would be put before the United Nations Security Council for approval, the highest level of guarantee recognised in international law.

Kuwait intercepts missile

Earlier, US Central Command said its forces had shot down five Iranian attack drones and struck a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a sixth. Kuwaiti forces then intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the country, which hosts a large US base.

A US official also said no American aircraft were shot down near Bushehr, Iran, contradicting a report by Iran's state television that a US aircraft had been downed there.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted the US base responsible for the Bandar Abbas attack, and that any repeat would lead to a "more decisive response," Tasnim news agency reported.

Kuwait condemned the attack and demanded that Iran immediately halt what it called a serious escalation.

Netanyahu orders 70% control of Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the country's military to take control of 70% of the Gaza Strip, in defiance of the terms of a fragile ceasefire that took effect in October.

"We are currently squeezing Hamas. We now control 60% of the territory in the strip," he said at a conference in an occupied West Bank settlement, according to a video aired by Israel's Channel 12 network.

He said the military had controlled 50% of Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire, adding: "My directive is to move to... 70%."

"We're squeezing them from all (sides). We'll deal with what's left afterwards."

UNICEF alarmed at Israeli forces killing children in Lebanon

Meanwhile, 15 children have been killed in Lebanon and 62 injured over the last seven days, the United Nations said, despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, called the figures "staggering" and stressed that under international humanitarian law, children had to be protected at all times during conflict.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel over the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli attacks, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion.

"Fifteen children killed and 62 injured in seven days. That's an average of 11 children every 24 hours," UNICEF spokesman Ricardo Pires told a media briefing in Geneva.

Since the ceasefire was announced, a total of 55 children have been killed and 212 wounded, Pires said.

Pires called for all parties to respect the ceasefire in full and to comply at all times with international humanitarian law, under which "children and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times."

Lebanon's heritage sites in 'serious danger'

Lebanon's culture minister said that Israeli strikes on the country's south were putting heritage sites in "serious danger," adding that a castle was directly hit.

"Bombings fell very close to the ruins of Tyre," a UNESCO World Heritage site, Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said. The medieval Beaufort castle overlooking Nabatieh was "directly hit... we know that several bombs fell on this fortress," he added. 

"The intensification of the battles means that these sites are in serious danger."

In recent days, Israel has issued repeated evacuation warnings to swathes of the southern coastal city of Tyre and carried out heavy strikes.

The region around the Beaufort castle is "the epicenter of the battle being waged for the control of localities" close to it, in the Nabatieh region, Salame said.

He asked UNESCO to "appoint a special commissioner" to assess the impact of the violence on the sites, and said he would request a "UNESCO commission of inquiry to visit the area" once the fighting was over.