Iran Strikes Continue Despite Ceasefire as Bahamas Disappearance Suspect Arrested

A fragile two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran buckled almost immediately after it was announced, as Israel launched what it called its largest coordinated assault on Lebanon since the start of the conflict, killing at least 254 people and prompting Iran to halt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The ceasefire, which Iran's Supreme National Security Council accepted after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif acted as intermediary, was built around a 10-point plan that President Donald Trump described as "a workable basis on which to negotiate." It promised a halt to U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and, critically, called for the resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway whose disruption has sent global oil and gas prices surging. Within hours, those terms were in open dispute.

Israel's military called Operation Eternal Darkness a strike on more than 100 Hezbollah command centers and military sites across Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa valley, hitting them within a 10-minute window using fifty fighter jets. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the strikes hit "peaceful, unarmed civilians." Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the attack a ceasefire violation, and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf went further, citing three specific breaches: the Lebanon strikes, a drone's unauthorized entry into Iranian airspace, and the U.S. refusal to guarantee Iran's right to enrich uranium. "In such a situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations is unreasonable," Ghalibaf said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump both insisted the ceasefire was never meant to cover Lebanon or Israeli operations against Hezbollah. Sharif and French President Emmanuel Macron said the opposite, that Lebanon was fully included. The contradiction left the truce effectively undefined and the Strait of Hormuz still blocked, with Iran's IRGC suspending tanker passage in response to the Lebanon attacks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the closure "completely unacceptable" and said Trump wants the waterway open to all tankers without limitations or tolls.

Despite the breakdown in terms, direct diplomacy moved forward. Vice President JD Vance is set to lead a delegation to Islamabad that includes special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for talks scheduled to begin Saturday morning local time.

Separately, Bahamian authorities arrested Brian Hooker, 59, on Wednesday evening in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Lynette Hooker, 55, of Michigan. The Royal Bahamas Police Force said he was taken into custody shortly after 7 p.m. "based on some probable cause," according to Assistant Commissioner statements, and is being questioned. His attorney, Terrel A. Butler, confirmed the arrest and said Hooker "categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing."

Lynette Hooker was reported missing after the couple departed Hope Town on the Abaco Islands for Elbow Cay around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday aboard an 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy bound for their yacht, named "Soulmate." Brian Hooker told police that rough currents swept her overboard; authorities noted she was holding the boat key at the time, causing the engine to cut out automatically. The search has since been reclassified as a recovery operation by the Royal Bahamian Defense Force.

Lynette's daughter, Karli Aylesworth, described her mother as an experienced mariner and strong swimmer and said she found it implausible that she would "just fall" overboard. Aylesworth called for a "full and complete investigation." The U.S. Coast Guard has opened a parallel criminal inquiry into the case. Lynette's mother, Darlene Hamlett, said she was "glad to hear" of the arrest, adding she had not heard from her son-in-law in nearly two days.