Israel bombed Lebanon’s capital in what it said was retaliation for drone incursions by Hezbollah, escalating tensions as the US and the militia’s patron Iran near an interim peace deal.

Senior U.S. officials say President Trump and Iran's top negotiator have already remotely signed a memorandum of understanding ahead of an expected signing ceremony.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery,” added Oren and Reiss. “It was very unexpected, but somehow, the really big discoveries always turn up on the excavation’s very last day.”

A leaked deployment order shows that troops went to Israel, a detail omitted from Pentagon announcements about a CENTCOM deployment.

The United States and Iran signalled on Friday that an agreement to end their war was close, with a senior US administration official saying both sides had agreed on a text and that Washington expects to sign an initial deal in the coming days.

President Donald Trump promised more attacks on Iran after strikes resumed this week. Earlier this week, he said a deal to end the war was near.

The president promised oil would resume flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, though U.S. and Iranian officials differed over the initial agreement’s terms.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel's military campaign against Iran had prevented Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons in the near term and averted an existential threat to the Jewish state.