The Israel Defense Forces issued an “urgent” warning for residents of southern Lebanon, south of the Zahrani River, urging them to move north as airstrikes continued with “significant force.” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arab-language spokesperson, posted that “Hezbollah’s terrorist activities are forcing the Israel Defense Forces to act against it forcefully in that area, and it has no intention of harming you.” (A photograph showed smoke rising over the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit after an Israeli strike on April 15, 2026.)
The IDF told residents south of the Zahrani to relocate “immediately,” warning that remaining in place “may endanger your lives and the lives of your families.” Similar evacuation notices have been issued across much of southern Lebanon in recent weeks as Israel conducts strikes targeting the Hezbollah militia, which it views as an Iranian proxy.
In separate developments, President Donald Trump posted late-night social media messages criticizing Pope Leo and NATO over the conflict with Iran. In his posts, Trump said the pope “needed to be informed” that Iran had killed tens of thousands of protesters and called it “absolutely unacceptable” for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. He followed with a message aimed at NATO allies, saying the alliance “wasn’t there for us, and they won’t be there for us in the future,” a refrain he has repeated in recent weeks.
U.S. Central Command said the blockade of Iranian ports had been “fully implemented.” In a social media post late Tuesday, CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper wrote that “in less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.” Cooper added that an estimated 90% of Iran’s economy is fueled by international trade by sea. The U.S. military began enforcing the blockade on Monday after President Trump announced the measure over the weekend, following the collapse of peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
Speaking separately in an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, President Trump said he viewed the war with Iran as “very close to over.” He also claimed that if the U.S. were to withdraw now, “it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country,” and said, “I think they want to make a deal very badly.”