US-Israel-Lebanon Framework Signed, Iran Immediately Tests the Deal

The United States, Israel, and Lebanon signed a trilateral framework agreement in Washington on Friday, establishing a roadmap for IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon conditioned on Hezbollah disarmament and Lebanese army deployment. Within hours of signing, Iran attacked a Singapore-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz; US forces struck Iranian missile, drone storage, and radar sites in retaliation. Hezbollah and Iran both rejected the deal, with Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem calling it “null” and warning it crosses “red lines.” Iran then launched retaliatory drone attacks against Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

• Secretary Rubio called it ‘the beginning of the beginning’ — the agreement sets pilot IDF withdrawal zones, mutual sovereignty recognition, and a US-overseen trilateral monitoring mechanism. Full Hezbollah disarmament is the prerequisite for full Israeli withdrawal.
• $130 million in US aid is planned for Lebanon under the framework, with reconstruction funds blocked from reaching armed groups.
• Iran attacked a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on June 25 — the IRGC drone strike on the M/V Ever Lovely prompted CENTCOM to strike Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites Friday.
• Hezbollah vowed to block implementation, with Qassem calling the Lebanese government ‘illegitimate’ and supporters rioting in Beirut and torching vehicles after the announcement.
• Netanyahu stated the IDF will remain in southern Lebanon’s security zone until Hezbollah is fully disarmed — signaling no automatic withdrawal under the framework.

This is the first formal diplomatic structure for ending the Israel-Lebanon front since Hezbollah's October 2023 mobilization — and Iran's immediate ceasefire violation reveals the fault line: Tehran views any deal that conditions Iranian proxy disarmament as existential, not negotiable. The test now is whether the US-Israel-Lebanon trilateral mechanism can sustain implementation pressure against an Iran that is simultaneously testing limits in the Strait and signaling it will fight the deal through Hezbollah proxies on the ground.

Melat Kiros, the DSA-backed challenger to 30-year Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), is surging ahead of Tuesday’s Colorado primary — and this week said she’s ‘unsure’ whether the 2025 firebombing that killed Karen Diamond, 82, a Jewish woman, in Boulder was antisemitic. Sanders-endorsed Kiros has called Hamas’s October 7 attack ‘the inevitable consequence of apartheid’ and has attracted backing from Justice Democrats, DSA, and Sunrise Movement. A Kiros win would extend the DSA House sweep beyond New York.

• Kiros told 9News Denver she could not say the Boulder firebombing was antisemitic, framing it as ‘a debate in the Democratic Party about what is anti-Semitism.’
• DeGette has held CO-1 (Denver) since 1997 — a Kiros upset would be the most significant DSA primary victory against an incumbent outside New York.
• Kiros has DSA, Justice Democrats, Sanders, and anti-Israel organizational backing; DeGette has a reported fundraising advantage but her supporters are ‘incredibly nervous.’

The Colorado primary on Tuesday is the DSA wave's immediate stress test outside its New York home turf. Whether Kiros can replicate the NYC sweep against a 30-year Denver incumbent — on a platform that cannot name the murder of a Jewish woman as antisemitic — will determine whether Tuesday's results were a local phenomenon or a national realignment in Democratic primaries heading into the midterms.

The 29,000-member California Faculty Association — the teachers union for all 23 California State University campuses — is sponsoring AB 2551, which would repeal the time, place, and manner restrictions enacted across the CSU system following the 2024 anti-Israel encampments. Authored by Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, the bill would dismantle every restriction CSU put in place after protesters shut down multiple campuses. The move comes as CSU was already under fire for reinstating a professor fired over pro-Palestinian activism.

• AB 2551 would repeal statewide CSU rules enacted specifically to address the 2024 anti-Israel encampments that disrupted commencements and shut down library access at multiple campuses.
• The 29,000-member CFA is sponsoring the bill — giving it union institutional muscle and lobbying infrastructure across all 23 campuses.
• A separate arbitrator simultaneously ordered San Jose State to reinstate a professor fired for pro-Palestinian activism, citing excessive discipline — handed the faculty union a parallel victory.

The CFA's AB 2551 maneuver is a structural counter-offensive: the faculty union, not student protest groups, is now the legislative vehicle for dismantling campus security policies built specifically to protect Jewish students. If it passes, it preempts Trump administration Title VI enforcement at every CSU campus simultaneously — 23 institutions across California, 480,000 students.

House Democrats will hold an unusual Sunday caucus call before a floor vote on a Thomas Massie (R-KY) amendment that would cut $3.3 billion in US military aid to Israel and block additional Israel aid in the FY2027 State Department funding bill. The caucus is expected to be sharply divided — with the DSA-aligned incoming class likely to support the cut and moderates scrambling to oppose it. The vote, if it comes, puts every House member on the record on Israel aid at a moment when Quinnipiac polling shows a plurality of Americans believe the US is ‘too supportive’ of Israel.

• Massie’s amendment would strip $3.3 billion in foreign military financing and prohibit any Israel-related aid from the State Department’s FY2027 appropriations bill.
• The Sunday Democratic caucus call is described as ‘unusual’ — signaling leadership is deeply uncertain how members will vote and needs to organize opposition before the vote.
• New Quinnipiac polling shows a growing plurality of Americans believe the US is ‘too supportive’ of Israel, providing political cover for defections.

This is the most direct legislative threat to US military aid to Israel since the current cycle began. A Massie amendment victory — even if ultimately non-binding in conference — establishes a House majority-of-record against Israel military assistance at a moment when the DSA wave is expanding its House footprint. The Sunday call reveals that Democratic leadership is not confident it can hold its caucus against the cut.