US commander visits USS Lincoln as Gaza and Lebanon tensions sharpen

US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper visited the USS Lincoln as Israel struck southern Lebanon and Hamas held Gaza talks in Cairo. The parallel moves underlined how the regional war remains volatile, with military pressure and diplomacy advancing together.

In Short

• Lincoln's crew faced mental health and supply worries after record deployment
• US blockade followed Iran's move to assert control over Strait of Hormuz
• Lebanon strikes were the deadliest since June's truce between Israel and Hezbollah

The top US military commander in the Middle East visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea as part of a 10-day regional tour that ended on Saturday, US Central Command said. Separately, Israel said its strikes in southern Lebanon that killed at least 11 people had targeted two Hezbollah commanders, while a Hamas delegation was in Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire-related talks with Egyptian officials.

In another development, Iran said Qatar was holding three of its pilots whose jets were downed in March, a claim Doha denied. These were among the latest developments on Sunday in the Iran war and the wider Middle East.

Admiral Brad Cooper visited the USS Lincoln amid reports of mental health and supply problems on board the long-deployed aircraft carrier. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the US war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. Its deployment has included more than 240 uninterrupted days at sea, setting a record.

Extended carrier deployments, with more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board, have raised concerns about the effect on both the ships and service personnel. In a statement released on Saturday, Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group, "History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era." Central Command said he also visited Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to meet civilian and military leaders.

The US Navy's blockade followed Iran's assertion of control over the Strait of Hormuz after the war began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes. Before then, about one-fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Talks between the US and Iran have stalled, while Iran is in discussions with Oman on how to manage the strait between them, which had been considered an international waterway.

In southern Lebanon, Israel's military said it had targeted two Hezbollah commanders in strikes on Saturday, described as the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and the Iran-backed group came into effect in June. Lebanon's Health Ministry and state news agency said at least 11 people were killed in two strikes.

Early on Sunday, Israel's military said the later strike killed Abu Hassan Alaa, whom it described as a "senior commander" for Hezbollah who had taken part in attacks on Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and had led militants who targeted Israeli soldiers and civilians over several years. Earlier, the military said the strike on Ansar killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, also described as a Hezbollah commander, and added that his family was with him but was not targeted.

In late June, Israel and the Lebanese government announced a framework agreement that set out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament. The plan envisages steps towards an eventual peace agreement between the two countries, which remain technically at war nearly 80 years after Israel's establishment. Hezbollah has refused direct talks and was not part of the US-mediated deal.

A Hamas delegation led by the group's leader Khalil al-Hayya was in Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire-related talks, the group said. Egyptian state-run media reported that al-Hayya met Major General Hassan Rashad, the head of Egypt's intelligence service. Al-Qahera News television reported that al-Hayya reiterated Hamas' commitment to implement US President Donald Trump's peace plan in Gaza "to end the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip and to begin the reconstruction process".

The talks came as mediators pushed for the implementation of a roadmap calling for the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area, and the transfer of power to Palestinian technocrats. Israel's Netanyahu has rejected Trump's latest plan to move the stalled ceasefire forward, saying Israel will not withdraw from any of the roughly 60 per cent of the territory it controls until Hamas has been completely disarmed, something the group controlling the other 40 per cent has long resisted. It was not immediately clear whether al-Hayya would meet Trump's son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner, the Board of Peace's high representative Nickolay Mladenov, or executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who are due to travel to Israel and Egypt this week.

Iran's Armed Forces General Staff's Missing Persons Committee said Qatar's armed forces had captured and were holding three Iranian pilots who went missing in March when their jets were downed, but Qatar denied this. Iran's state television said on Sunday that the committee's commander had urged Qatar to allow Iranian Air Force experts to carry out a field investigation. In a statement on Saturday, the committee said the pilots had not been allowed to meet or communicate with their families or Iranian officials handling their cases. Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari denied the claim and said on X that the pilots had been shot down and that Qatar's search and rescue teams had found the remains of one. Sunday's developments included Cooper's visit to the USS Lincoln, Israel's account of the Lebanon strikes, Hamas' Cairo talks on Gaza, and the dispute between Iran and Qatar over the missing pilots.

With PTI Inputs

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