Iran demands Lebanon truce, unfreezing of assets ahead of Islamabad talks

An Israeli airstrike hit a police checkpoint in Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip early on Saturday, killing at least six people and injuring several others, medics said.

It was not immediately clear whether all those killed were police members. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

A series of Israeli strikes has killed dozens of Gaza police since October, according to medics and police sources.

Israel refused to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah, but has agreed to begin formal peace negotiations with Lebanon on Tuesday, Israel's ambassador to the United States said on Friday.

US President Donald Trump has said the Strait of Hormuz will be open 'fairly soon', ahead of talks with Iran in Islamabad.

Lebanon presidency says Israel talks to take place Tuesday in Washington.

Iran delegation arrives in Pakistan capital ahead of US talks: state TV

Lebanon's State Security agency said an Israeli strike on the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Friday killed 13 of its personnel, as Lebanon prepared to start ceasefire talks with Israel.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Friday that leaders of both Iran and the United States would attend ceasefire talks set to take place in Islamabad.

"In response to my sincere invitation, the leaderships of both countries are coming to Islamabad. There, negotiations will be held for the establishment of peace," Sharif said in an address to the nation.

US Vice President JD Vance was on his way to Pakistan, but Tehran has said certain conditions must be met before negotiations can occur, casting some doubt

Pope Leo XIV amplified his condemnation of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran on Friday, saying that “God does not bless any conflict” and certainly doesn’t side with those who drop bombs.

Leo spoke during a gathering of top bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, an Eastern Rite Catholic church whose clerics are in Rome to elect a new patriarch.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 1,953 people and wounded a further  6,303 since 2 March, Lebanon's health ministry has said.

Britain will convene a latest round of talks with allies next week over ways to free up the Strait of Hormuz to shipping without resorting to paying tolls to Iran, a British official with knowledge of the planned discussions said on Friday.

The death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday has risen to 357, Lebanese authorities have announced.

President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has "no cards" in upcoming talks with the United States -- apart from Tehran's effective stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.

"The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!" Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Czech Airline Smartwings will restart regular flights to Tel Aviv from 15 April, the airline said on Friday.

Smartwings said it will operate seven flights per week to Tel Aviv while observing the security situation in Israel and following guidance from authorities. Turkey's Pegasus Airlines agreed to buy Smartwings in December last year.

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that 13 state security personnel were killed in an Israeli strike on a governmental building in the southern city of Nabatieh.

In a statement, Aoun condemned continued Israeli attacks and said targeting state institutions would not deter Lebanon from defending its sovereignty.

Kuwait's army said on Friday that an Iranian attack targeted several vital National Guard facilities, wounding a number of personnel and causing significant material damage.

Iran's ‌parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said on Friday that two previously agreed measures, a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran's blocked assets, must be implemented before negotiations begin.

In a post on X on Friday, Qalibaf said the steps were part of commitments made between the parties and warned that talks should not start until they were fulfilled, amid mounting disputes over ceasefire terms and continued hostilities in Lebanon.

Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations.

These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 10, 2026

US Vice President JD Vance warned Iran Friday not to "play" Washington but said he hoped peace talks set to start in Pakistan would have a "positive" outcome.

"We're going to try to have a positive negotiation," Vance told reporters before take-off from Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

"If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive," he said.

Washington and Tehran have agreed to a two-week truce after more than five weeks of war. However, they remain far apart in their public announcements of goals in the peace talks, in which Vance will head the US delegation.

Key sticking points include Iran's de facto control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, US demands that Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and Iran's aim to prevent further US and Israeli attacks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accused Spain of waging a diplomatic campaign against Israel after Madrid was barred from taking part in the work of a US-led centre created to help stabilise post-war Gaza.

"Spain has repeatedly chosen to stand against Israel. Those who attack the State of Israel instead of confronting terrorist regimes will not be our partners in shaping the region's future," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

"I am not prepared to tolerate this hypocrisy and hostility. I will not allow any country to conduct a diplomatic war against us without facing an immediate price."

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday called on the Lebanese government to stop giving "free concessions" to Israel, with the two governments due to begin negotiations 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, in which he also denounced the "bloody criminality on Wednesday," when Israeli strikes killed more than 300 people in Lebanon.

Lebanese official media said Israeli strikes on Friday in the southern city of Nabatiyeh killed eight members of the country's State Security agency.

The state-run National News Agency said "enemy warplanes launched a series of heavy strikes" on the city, including one in the vicinity of the Nabatiyeh government building that hit the nearby State Security office, killing at least eight of its personnel.

An AFP photographer saw extensive damage at the site, where a fire was still raging.

European and Arab states have pressured Israel to stop targeting Beirut, a Western diplomat told AFP on Friday, two days after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon that left more than 300 people dead.

On Thursday afternoon, the Israeli military issued a warning of incoming strikes for large, densely populated areas of southern Beirut, but had not carried out the threat as of midday on Friday.

The Western diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss sensitive matters, said on Friday "There is ongoing diplomatic pressure from European states, Gulf states and Egypt on Israel to prevent renewed Israeli airstrikes on Beirut after 'Black Wednesday'".

More than 300 people, mostly civilians according to a Lebanese military source, were killed in the wave of simultaneous Israeli strikes on Wednesday on Beirut and other areas of Lebanon.

The majority of ships that have sailed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past day were linked to Iran, ship tracking data showed on Friday, with other vessels putting off making voyages despite a two-week ceasefire agreed this week between Tehran and Washington, according to data and shipping sources.

Three tankers – a crude supertanker that can carry 2 million barrels of oil, a bunkering tanker and smaller oil ship – all left Iranian waters in the past 24 hours, based on separate data analysis from Kpler and Lloyd’s List Intelligence platforms.

Four dry bulk ships – including one that loaded iron ore from Iran bound for China – also sailed in the past day, the data showed.

Hezbollah said its fighters targeted the northern Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona with a squadron of attack drones on Friday.

The group added that missile strikes were also continuing against the settlements of Metula, Margaliot and Misgav Am.

US Vice President JD Vance has warned Iran not to “play” the United States as he departed for Islamabad for negotiations aimed at ending the war.

Speaking to reporters before his trip to Pakistan, Vance said President Donald Trump had set “pretty clear guidelines” for how the talks should be conducted.

He added that he was “looking forward” to the negotiations and expressed optimism that discussions with Tehran would be “positive”.

Germany is not facing an oil supply shortage, said an economy ministry spokesperson in Berlin on Friday, adding that parts of a planned release of reserves were not even used.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that he discussed military capabilities and the logistics of moving vessels though the Strait of Hormuz when he spoke to US President Donald Trump a day earlier.

"We've been pulling together a coalition of countries ... working on a political, diplomatic plan, but also looking at military capabilities and ... the logistics of actually moving vessels through the Strait," Starmer said during his visit to the Middle East.

"That was the focus of the discussion last night - reflection on what I've been discussing here, but also that focus on a practical plan in relation to navigation through the Strait."

The World Health Organization said on Friday it has received assurances that two hospitals in Beirut, Lebanon, featured in an Israeli evacuation order will not be targeted.

The estimated 450 patients inside the Rafik Hariri University Hospital and Al Zahraa hospital in Beirut have not been evacuated because it was not feasible, said Dr Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO's Representative in Lebanon.

Lebanon intends to take part in a meeting next week in Washington with US and Israeli representatives to discuss and announce a ceasefire, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters on Friday, saying the exact date had not yet been confirmed.

The official said Lebanon's position was that a ceasefire was a precondition to further talks to reach a broader deal with Israel. 

French oil major TotalEnergies said on Friday that one of the SATORP refinery's processing trains in Saudi Arabia had been damaged after incidents that took place during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, which prompted it to shut down the units as a safety precaution.

Saudi Arabia's oil production capacity has been reduced by around 600,000 barrels per day following attacks on energy facilities.

The Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday, citing an official source at the energy ministry, that throughput along the East-West Pipeline has dropped by about 700,000 bpd. The pipeline, which Reuters reported was attacked by Iran hours after a ceasefire to pause the war with the US and Israel was agreed, is currently the only Saudi export route available for crude oil.

The SATORP site in the eastern Saudi city of Jubail processes 465,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it one of the world's largest refining platforms. Saudi state oil giant Aramco owns 62.5 percent of SATORP, while TotalEnergies holds a 37.5 percent interest.

TotalEnergies said it was carrying out an assessment of the consequences for the refinery's operations, and that no casualties had been reported.

Lebanon is facing a food security crisis as the Iran war disrupts supplies of goods inside the country, the United Nations World Food Programme said on Friday.

"What we're witnessing is not just a displacement crisis, it is rapidly becoming a food security crisis," said World Food Programme country director Allison Oman, speaking via video link from Beirut.

She warned that food was becoming increasingly unaffordable due to rising food prices and rising demand among displaced families. 

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE's president, said on Friday that the UAE would read its regional and global relations and determine who it can rely on, including through economic and financial structuring that further strengthens its model.

Sirens sounded in northern Israel's town of Kiryat Shmona after Hezbollah said it had targeted the town, alongside Misgav Am, with rockets, vowing that "these attacks would continue until the Israeli-American aggression against the country and the people stopped."

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukrainian military experts downed Iranian drones in several Middle East countries.

Kyiv dispatched dozens of anti-drone personnel to at least four countries in the Middle East after US and Israeli strikes on Iran sparked a wave of retaliatory drone attacks.

"We demonstrated to some countries how to work with interceptors. Did we destroy them? Yes, we did. Did we do it in just one country? No, in several," Zelensky told journalists, including AFP reporters, in comments released under embargo on Friday.

"This was not about a training mission or exercises, but about support in building a modern air defence system that can actually work. Yes, they were shooting down Shaheds," he said, referring to the Iranian drones.

Spain's foreign minister said on Friday that he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart and urged him to negotiate in good faith during talks with the United States in Islamabad.

"I encourage Iran - this is what I conveyed to the Iranian foreign minister - to take part in those negotiations and to participate in good faith," Jose Manuel Albares told the press, adding that he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, "the day before yesterday" and had also asked him to halt "all missile and drone launches".