Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon on Thursday, putting the US-Iran ceasefire into further jeopardy after the biggest Israeli attacks on its neighbour of the war killed more than 250 people and threatened to torpedo Donald Trump's truce.
In Pakistan, authorities locked down the capital Islamabad in anticipation of the war's first peace talks. Access was blocked from a zone 3 km around the luxury Serena Hotel, where both the US and Iranian delegations are expected to stay. Guests were told to check out until Sunday as it had been "requisitioned" for "an important event".
But there was no sign Iran was lifting its near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history. Tehran said there would be no deal as long as Israel was striking Lebanon.
In the first 24 hours of the ceasefire, just a single oil products tanker and five dry bulk carriers sailed through a strait that typically accommodated 140 ships a day before the war.
Israel, which invaded Lebanon last month in parallel with the war on Iran to root out the Hezbollah, says its actions there are not covered by the ceasefire announced late on Tuesday by Trump.
Washington has also said Lebanon is not covered by the truce, but Iran and Pakistan, which acted as mediator, say it was explicitly part of the deal. A host of countries, including Britain and France, said the truce should extend to Lebanon.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, expected to head the Iranian delegation opposite US Vice-President J D Vance, tweeted that Lebanon and the rest of Iran's 'axis' of regional allies were inseparable parts of any ceasefire.
A Pakistani source said Pakistan was working on ceasefires for Lebanon as well as Yemen, where Israel has also hit forces: "It will be discussed during the (upcoming) talks and we will settle it."
The Israeli military said it had killed the nephew of Hezbollah's Secretary-General Naim Qassem and struck river crossings in southern Lebanon overnight. Israel hit Beirut's southern suburbs just before midnight and at dawn, and hit towns across the south on Thursday morning, Lebanese state media said.
Israel expanded its evacuation orders for areas on Beirut's outskirts, telling residents in the Jnah district to leave immediately. Orders also covered areas near Beirut airport and the Camille Chamoun stadium, Lebanon's largest, now converted into a shelter for the displaced.
Hezbollah announced at least 20 military operations on Thursday, saying it had targeted Israeli vehicles on Lebanese territory as well as firing into northern Israel.
DIRECT TALKS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he ordered his cabinet to open direct talks with Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah and establish "peace relations" between the two countries.
"In light of Lebanon's repeated requests to open direct negotiations with Israel, I instructed the cabinet yesterday to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible," his office wrote in a statement.
Israeli media outlets reported that Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the US, would represent the country in the talks.
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