Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week, a State Department official said Thursday, amid mounting international concerns that Israel's bombing campaign could shatter an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire.
Israel's heaviest strikes on Lebanon since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March killed hundreds on Wednesday, rattling the uneasy truce between Washington and Tehran less than 48 hours after it came into force.
"We can confirm that the Department will host a meeting next week to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon," the US official said.
The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct talks with Lebanon focused on disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah. But a Lebanese government official told AFP that Beirut required a truce before entering any negotiations with Israel.
Neither Israel nor Lebanon have publicly confirmed the US talks for next week, and Israel's latest strikes drew sharp rebuke from Iranian and Pakistani officials ahead of talks in Islamabad that are expected to focus on a key US demand: reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Hezbollah said it was engaged in close quarters combat against Israeli forces on the ground in southern Lebanon on Thursday, a day after Lebanese authorities said Israeli strikes killed at least 303 people and wounded 1,150.
Israel's army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir visited ground troops inside Lebanon on Thursday, telling them Hezbollah had suffered a "heavy blow" from the strikes a day earlier.
In a sign that the violence could continue, Israel's military on Thursday issued a new evacuation order for Beirut's southern suburbs and said it was striking Hezbollah launch sites in Lebanon.
- 'They're wrong' -
Israel's refusal to halt operations in Lebanon has cast a shadow over expected peace talks in Pakistan.
The two-week truce was agreed to allow negotiations between US and Iranian officials aimed at ending a conflict that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.
Iranian officials said Israel's strikes had rendered the Pakistan talks "meaningless" and that Lebanon was an "inseparable part of the ceasefire."
Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan meanwhile deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country on Thursday, and an official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad told AFP the post was removed "because of some issues," refusing to say whether the delegation was still expected.
Still, Vice President JD Vance is due to lead the US delegation on Saturday, joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Fresh fractures in the mediation process emerged when Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif posted a sharp criticism of Israel's strikes on Lebanon Thursday evening.
"Israel is evil and a curse for humanity -- while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon," he wrote on X, adding that he hoped "people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land" would "burn in hell".
The Israeli Prime Minister's office called the remarks "outrageous", saying: "This is not a statement that can be tolerated from any government, especially not from one that claims to be a neutral arbiter for peace."
Pakistan does not formally recognize Israel -- a fact that could complicate its mediatory role -- and has insisted the ceasefire includes Lebanon, which Israel disputes.
Fearing the truce may be in jeopardy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz -- echoing worries in other capitals -- warned that the destruction in Lebanon could cause "the peace process as a whole to fail."
"Let's be really clear about it, they're wrong," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told ITV News when asked about Israel's insistence that Lebanon was not covered by the ceasefire.
Netanyahu, who insists Lebanon is not covered by the ceasefire, said his message was clear: "Anyone who acts against Israeli civilians, we will strike them. We will continue to hit Hezbollah wherever necessary."
Trump told NBC News that Israel was "scaling back" strikes in Lebanon and that Netanyahu had assured him its attacks would become more "low-key."
- 'Poor job' -
If the Pakistan talks go ahead, a key point of contention remains the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil as well as vast quantities of natural gas and fertilizer pass in peacetime.
Trump on Thursday accused Iran of doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the strait and of breaching the terms of their ceasefire agreement.
In a barrage of social media posts that sparked fresh fears for the shaky truce, he also warned Tehran against imposing a toll on ships passing through the crucial waterway.
"Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said on Truth Social. "That is not the agreement we have!"
MarineTraffic data showed that the Gabon-flagged MSG passed through the strait on Thursday, the first non-Iranian oil tanker to do so since the ceasefire was announced.
- Iran leader issues new written message -
Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in his latest written message that the Islamic republic did not want war with the United States and Israel, but would protect its rights as a nation, state television reported.
"We will not renounce our legitimate rights under any circumstances, and in this respect, we consider the entire resistance front as a whole," he added, in an apparent reference to Lebanon where Israel is fighting with Tehran's ally Hezbollah.
Khamenei has still not been seen in public since being appointed to succeed his father, who was killed in the initial wave of strikes on February 28.
- Israel issues evacuation order for Beirut -
Israel's military warned residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, long a stronghold of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, of imminent strikes and called for them to evacuate.
The World Health Organization urged Israel to cancel the evacuation order, saying the district it intends to target is home to two hospitals.
The announcement came a day after Israel carried out its largest wave of strikes since the start of its war with Hezbollah on March 2, killing more than 300 people and wounding over 1,000, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
- Trump, Starmer seek 'practical plan' on Hormuz -
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump called "for a practical plan" to get shipping moving again through the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Iran ceasefire, the UK leader's office said.
The two leaders "agreed that now there is a ceasefire in place and agreement to open the Strait, we are at the next stage of finding a resolution," according to Downing Street.
"The leaders discussed the need for a practical plan to get shipping moving again as quickly as possible," and agreed to speak again.
- Netanyahu threatens Hezbollah -
Earlier, Netanyahu said Israel would keep hitting Hezbollah "wherever necessary".
"We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force, precision, and determination," the prime minister said on his personal X account.
- Khamenei tributes -
Thousands of Iranians rallied in a tribute to former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed on the first day of the war.
Holding portraits of their deceased leader and waving the Islamic republic's flag, Khamenei supporters took part in rallies across the country after he died in the US-Israeli attack on February 28.
Spain called on Iran to negotiate in 'good faith'
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".
Albares once again slammed Israel for continuing its attacks on Lebanon, where it has been fighting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
"Lebanon is a disgrace on the conscience of humanity. The level of violence, the violation of international law and international humanitarian law by Israel is unacceptable," Albares said.