Oil will flow through Hormuz with or without Iran help, says Trump

Israel-Lebanon peace talks in Washington

A US State Department official confirmed that Washington will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire efforts involving Israel and Lebanon. Lebanese officials had urged a ceasefire ahead of any talks, but Netanyahu dismissed that notion, telling residents in northern Israel: “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon,” reported BBC.

Israeli strikes continued across Lebanon on Thursday, targeting what the military described as Hezbollah rocket launch sites in the south. The intensity of attacks appeared to ease overnight.

Trump said Israel would reduce its military operations to support diplomacy. “I spoke with Bibi and he’s going to low-key it. We need to be a little more low-key,” he was quoted as saying by NBC. He also said that Israel was “scaling back” its military operations in Lebanon.

Evacuations in Beirut

Thursday’s strikes triggered fresh evacuation warnings in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The World Health Organization said the affected Jnah area includes two major hospitals.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said around 450 patients, including 40 in intensive care, could not be safely moved due to a lack of alternative facilities. Some of the wounded were among the 1,150 people injured in Wednesday’s large-scale strikes, which also left at least 303 dead, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

He also noted that the health ministry’s headquarters, which shelters more than 5,000 people, lies within the evacuation zone.

Peace talks remain suspended over Lebanon: Iran media

Confusion has persisted over whether Lebanon was included in the ceasefire arrangement. Iranian officials and mediators from Pakistan have said it was, while US and Israeli officials maintain it was not.

On Friday, Iraninan news agency Fars, citing officials, reported that the Islamabad peace talks scheduled for Saturday.

Trump, however, told NBC, Iran is “agreeing to all the things that they have to agree to”. “Remember, they’ve been conquered. They have no military,” he said.