- Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended -

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks, US President Donald Trump announced Thursday during a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors.

"I think there's a very good chance of having peace. I think it should be an easy one", Trump told reporters, adding that he plans to meet with top leadership from both countries in the next couple weeks.

- Hezbollah fires on northern Israel -

Hezbollah said on Thursday it fired rockets at northern Israel, accusing the country of violating the ceasefire.

"In defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the Israeli enemy's violation of the ceasefire and its targeting of the town of Yater in southern Lebanon," Hezbollah "targeted the Shtula settlement with a rocket salvo", the Iran-backed militant group said in a statement.

- Trump says 'clock is ticking' for Iran -

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States is under no pressure to end the war with Iran, but "the clock is ticking" for Tehran, as disruption from the conflict batters the world economy.

"I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn't -- The clock is ticking!" Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Later in the day, he also ruled out striking Iran with a nuclear weapon. "A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody," the US president told reporters at the White House.

- US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East -

The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East, the US military said Thursday, bringing the number of the massive American warships operating in the region to three.

The Bush was sailing "in the Indian Ocean in the US Central Command area of responsibility, April 23," the military command responsible for the Middle East said in a post on X that included an image of the carrier with its deck packed with warplanes.

- Israel denies Iran attack -

An Israeli security source told AFP on Thursday that the country was not carrying out airstrikes in Iran, following reports in Iranian state media of blasts over the capital Tehran, activating air defence systems.

"Israel is not attacking in Iran," the source said on condition of anonymity.

- Israeli strike kills 3 -

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed three people, the Lebanese health ministry said, the latest attack despite a 10-day truce in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

The attacks came hours ahead of the second meeting between Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors in Washington, where Beirut is expected to ask for a ceasefire extension.

- Israel awaits 'green light' -

Israel's defence minister Israel Katz said the country was "prepared to resume the war" and was awaiting a green light from Washington to return Iran to "the Stone Age".

"We are awaiting a green light from the United States -- first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty... and additionally to return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age," he said in a video statement.

- Trump's Hormuz order -

President Donald Trump vowed the United States would destroy any vessel laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, as he ratchets up pressure on Iran to reopen the crucial sea passage.

"I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be...that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz," Trump posted.

- US forces board tanker -

The US Defense Department said its forces boarded a vessel in the Indian Ocean that was providing material support to Iran, the second time it had done so in three days.

"Overnight, U.S. forces carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran, in the Indian Ocean," it said on X.

- Iran gets first Hormuz toll -

A senior Iranian parliament official said on Thursday that Tehran has received the first revenue from tolls it imposed on the strategic Strait of Hormuz in its war with the United States and Israel.

"The first revenue received from the Strait of Hormuz tolls was deposited into the Central Bank account," said deputy speaker of parliament Hamidreza Hajibabaei, according to Tasnim news agency.

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