Gut Vuch & Shavuah Tov to all!

Iran has reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz after briefly signaling it was open, and AP reports Iranian forces fired on commercial vessels while the U.S. says it is still enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports. That has turned the shipping lane back into the main flashpoint in the war and raised the risk of another escalation tied to oil transit and maritime traffic.

On diplomacy, the U.S. is still publicly signaling that negotiations with Iran are possible, but the two sides are clearly not on the same page. President Trump said the U.S. will keep the Strait of Hormuz blockade in place until a final deal with Iran is reached. He also said the U.S. will work with Iran to recover its enriched uranium and return it to the U.S., stating: “The U.S. will work with Iran to recover its enriched uranium and will bring it back to the U.S. We will go in at a leisurely pace to recover the uranium”.

Trump said Iran agreed to suspend its nuclear program indefinitely, would not receive frozen U.S. funds, and had agreed to stop supporting groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. He also said U.S. and Iranian negotiators would probably meet soon and that any final deal would “make Israel safe” and that “Israel is going to come out great” at the end of the war.

Iranian officials publicly rejected these claims. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said there is no plan to transfer 60% enriched uranium to the U.S., and Iranian officials said Tehran is not ready for a new round of talks, arguing that Washington has maintained excessive demands and has not abandoned its hardline stance.

For Israel specifically, the Israel-Lebanon front remains active even with the newly announced 10-day cessation framework. The U.S. said the ceasefire began April 16 and is meant to create space for direct Israel-Lebanon talks, the first such high-level engagement in decades, but fighting has not fully disappeared. On Saturday, Israeli strikes in Lebanon were reported again, with the IDF saying it targeted Hezbollah operatives under the agreement’s self-defense provisions.

One of the most serious weekend-related developments on that front is the killing of a French UN peacekeeper in southern Lebanon. AP says France and UNIFIL blamed Hezbollah for the attack, while Hezbollah denied responsibility. That incident has added new strain to an already fragile ceasefire environment involving Israel’s northern border.

Inside Israel, the broader wartime posture has been easing in some areas compared with earlier this month, but not uniformly. Earlier Home Front Command changes had relaxed restrictions in much of the country as the Iran ceasefire appeared to hold, though northern areas remained more constrained and later adjustments were made as the Lebanon situation stayed volatile.

U.S.-facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon are now openly on the table, including discussion of border demarcation and longer-term security arrangements. That does not mean peace is close, but it is one of the clearest diplomatic openings involving Israel since this phase of the regional war intensified.

Israel is still watching the Iran file closely even as the center of gravity has shifted from direct large-scale strikes to coercive diplomacy and maritime pressure. Times of Israel’s latest roundup reports Trump saying talks are “really well” despite accusing Iran of getting “a little cute” over Hormuz, which captures the current moment: active crisis, no final settlement, and a high risk of sudden reversal.

Besuros Tovos.