Paris (France) (AFP) – The latest developments in the Middle East war:
**Iran demands Lebanon ceasefire**
Iran’s parliament speaker demanded a truce in Lebanon and the release of his country’s blocked assets on Friday as US Vice President JD Vance warned Tehran not to “play” Washington in talks scheduled to start in Pakistan. “We’re going to try to have a positive negotiation,” Vance told reporters as he left for Pakistan, where he is expected to arrive Saturday.
**Lebanon toll mounts**
Lebanon’s health ministry said the death toll from Israeli strikes across the country on Wednesday had risen from 303 to 357, with 1,223 people wounded. It said the figure was not final and raised the overall toll in Lebanon since the war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2 to 1,953 dead and 6,303 wounded. Lebanon’s State Security agency said that one Israeli strike in the southern city of Nabatiyeh had killed 13 of its personnel. Israel claimed it had killed 180 Hezbollah militants in Wednesday’s strikes.
**Trump warning**
President Donald Trump stated that Iran has “no cards” in upcoming talks with the United States, aside from its effective stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping channel. In a separate interview with the New York Post, Trump mentioned that US warships are being reloaded with weaponry to strike Iran if the talks in Pakistan fail to produce a deal. “We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made — even better than what we did previously, and we blew them apart,” the Post quoted Trump as saying.
**Thousands at Al-Aqsa Mosque prayers**
More than 100,000 people attended the first Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem since it reopened after a truce was agreed between the United States and Iran, according to the holy site’s Islamic authority.
**Hezbollah fires on Israel**
The Israeli military reported that Hezbollah fired around 30 projectiles into Israel, with some strikes causing damage. Air-raid sirens were heard across northern Israel. The Israeli military also claimed it had “dismantled” more than 4,300 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon since fighting with the militant group began on March 2.
**Hezbollah warns Beirut govt**
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem urged the Lebanese government to stop giving “free concessions” to Israel ahead of negotiations between the two governments that are scheduled to begin in Washington next week. “We will not accept a return to the previous situation, and we call on officials to stop offering free concessions,” Qassem said in a written message broadcast on the party’s Al-Manar TV, where he also condemned Israeli strikes that killed more than 300 people in Lebanon on Wednesday as “bloody criminality.”
**Lebanon in food crisis**
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) stated that the entire food system in Lebanon was reeling from conflict, with prices surging and supply chains disrupted as Israel continues its offensive. “What we’re witnessing is not just a displacement crisis: it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis,” said Allison Oman, the WFP’s country director in Lebanon.
**Israel urged to stop Beirut attacks**
European and Arab states have pressured Israel to stop targeting Beirut, a Western diplomat told AFP. The diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss sensitive matters, stated that there was “ongoing diplomatic pressure from European states, Gulf states, and Egypt on Israel to prevent renewed Israeli airstrikes on Beirut” following Wednesday’s attack.
**Turkey aid to Iran**
The Red Cross and Turkey’s Red Crescent have dispatched an aid convoy to Iran, as the organization warned of a “desperate” humanitarian situation. “Humanitarian needs in Iran are extremely high,” International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) spokesperson Scott Craig told AFP shortly before the convoy departed from the outskirts of Ankara.
**Saudi refinery shut**
French energy giant TotalEnergies announced that it had shut down a major refinery on the eastern Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia after it was damaged during the war. The Saudi energy ministry had reported “multiple attacks” recently on its oil and gas sites, including the SATORP refinery, a joint venture owned by TotalEnergies and the Saudi state-owned Aramco group.
© 2024 AFP
