Iran live updates: US shoots down 2 Iranian drones attempting to strike ships in Strait of Hormuz

The Israel Defense Forces claimed the area north of the Saluki River in Lebanon is now under its control saying it is working to clear the area.

"The operation was part of the effort to strengthen positions in southern Lebanon and remove the direct threat to the communities of the Galilee Panhandle and Metula. The Saluki River area has been used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization as a prime location for operating explosive drones and launching indirect fire attacks against IDF soldiers operating in the area," the IDF said.

"During the operation, the troops, in cooperation with the Israeli Air Force, dismantled hundreds of terrorist structures and eliminated more than 50 terrorists. In addition, several weapons were located, including explosive devices, anti-tank missiles, and anti-tank launchers," the IDF said.

President Donald Trump said he has "cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran" Thursday evening based on discussions with Iran that have been approved by "the highest level of Iranian leadership."

"Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others. The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly," Trump said in a post on social media.

Elon Musk's companies and assets in the region have now been added to the target list of the Iranian military, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency said Thursday.

The news agency, which is linked to the IRGC, added that the decision follows alleged proof that the U.S. and Israeli militaries have used infrastructure managed by Elon Musk, including Starlink.

"The Starlink ground stations located in the occupied territories, Qatar, Jordan, the UAE, and Oman, alongside SpaceX shareholders, including the infrastructure of the two companies, 'Al-Fazabi' and 'Mubadala,' are among the new locations on Iran's target list," Fars wrote.

The IRGC and Iranian authorities have not confirmed or denied Fars's report. However, Wall Street Journal reporting on SpaceX was repeatedly circulated by Islamic Republic media outlets over the past few days, which appears to be the basis for Fars News's claim.

President Donald Trump confirmed that the U.S. will continue to bomb Iran on Thursday but speculated that Americans may not have the "appetite" for a ground operation which would see the U.S. seize pieces of Iranian territory.

"Yeah, there will be more bombing tonight. It'll be a bigger, bigger, more powerful," Trump said, in an interview with Fox News.

Trump said that his preference was “always” to try to take Kharg Island, a major Iranian oil processing site in the Persian Gulf but said that he did not want to have boots on the ground and wondered if Americans would accept such an operation.

"But, you know, look, my preference has always been take Kharg Island," Trump said. Adding, "I don't know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with you."

Trump noted that the process of seizing Iranian territory would be "a little longer process."

“I'm not sure that America has a long time. It's a little longer process. Something that's a guarantee if I want to do it. But I'm not sure the country has the appetite for it,” he explained.

Later during the interview, Trump said that he didn’t want to use ground troops, but said that the U.S. would “walk in” to Iran tomorrow and “take over the whole place.”