EU reaches political agreement on further sanctions against Hamas, West Bank settlers

The European Union on Monday (June 24) reached a political agreement on imposing further sanctions against Palestinian militant group Hamas and violent Israeli settlers.

"It has been a political agreement on proceeding on the sanctions against Hamas and also violent Israeli settlers. This political agreement will be converted into concrete measures to be adopted soon by written procedure," the European Union's chief diplomat Josep Borrell said.

Ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg, Borrell told reporters that the Middle East was close to witnessing the expansion of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Lebanon in the coming days.

His remarks came just days after the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group threatened Cyprus.

"The risk of this war affecting the south of Lebanon and spilling over is every day bigger," Borrell said. "We are on the eve of the war expanding."

Israeli offensive into Lebanon risks Iranian response, says US military

United States top military official on Sunday (June 23) warned that any sort of military offensive by Israel against Lebanon could lead to a response from Iran in defence of the Hezbollah group which would pose challenges for Washington to strengthen Tel Aviv's air defence.

Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that Iran would be more inclined to support Hezbollah than the Palestinian militant group Hamas especially if they felt that "Hezbollah was being significantly threatened".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his forces would be deployed along the northern border with Lebanon, where the fighting with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has intensified, once the intense phase of the ongoing war in Gaza comes to an end.

Netanyahu further stated that Israel would return its displaced citizens to their evacuated northern border communities amid fears of a full-scale war in Lebanon.

"After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north. And we will do this. First and foremost for defensive purposes. And secondly, to bring our (evacuated) residents home," the Israeli PM stated in an interview with Israel's Channel 14.

He then said that he would try to fix this 'diplomatically' but would solve it 'in another way' if needed.

"If we can we will do this diplomatically. If not, we will do it another way. But we will bring (the residents) home," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)