US envoy headed for Switzerland, Israeli strikes on Lebanon threaten talks 

US envoys and Iran’s foreign minister are expected in Switzerland for talks on cementing a peace deal, but more Israeli strikes in Lebanon are putting pressure on the agreement.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of the United States President Donald Trump, were headed for Switzerland, US media reported on Friday, after scheduled negotiations between the US and Iran there were postponed.

Witkoff was on his way to the Alpine nation on Friday, Axios said, quoting an unnamed US official, while CNN reported his trip comes as Washington and Iran work to get technical talks that follow up on an initial peace deal “back on track”.

Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner was also expected to be in Switzerland for talks, CNN said, quoting a US official. Axios said he was already there.

Vice President JD Vance had initially been expected to travel but postponed his trip, the White House announced late on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to travel to Switzerland on Saturday, although those plans could still change, according to sources quoted by Axios.

Citing a source from one of the mediating countries, the report also said Araghchi told several counterparts that Iran views a ceasefire in Lebanon as essential to the diplomatic process and that it could “make or break” the US-Iran talks.

Another source said Iranian officials want to see a ceasefire take hold before heading to Switzerland.

No new date for the negotiations has been announced.

While news from Switzerland filtered through, at least five people were killed in Israeli ⁠air strikes and drone attacks in southern Lebanon, just hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group took effect.

State ‌news agency NNA on Saturday said Israeli warplanes and drones carried out a series of strikes across the Nabatieh area overnight and into Saturday morning, destroying residential buildings ⁠and homes, while Israeli ⁠artillery shelled Nabatieh and its outskirts before dawn.

The attacks come after Israel and Hezbollah announced a renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, and threaten to derail the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war.

Article 1 of the MoU explicitly states that ending the war in Lebanon is an integral part of the broader ceasefire arrangement across all fronts.

Israel and Lebanon held their first in a series of direct talks in April, the first time the countries had formally met since 1993.

Following that meeting and a subsequent round of talks in June, Israel and Lebanon announced pauses in fighting.

However, the talks have not included Hezbollah, hampering any meaningful progress.

Following a ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024, the government in Lebanon has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah as part of a US-backed roadmap. The Lebanese government has also pushed for Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

However, the text of an agreement reached in June called for Hezbollah’s withdrawal to the north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon but did not call for Israel’s full withdrawal.