Morning update
Good morning Middle East Eye readers,
Israel launched another series of attacks against towns across Lebanon, especially targeting south of the country, in violation of a ceasefire agreement in mid-April.
The shelling and strikes came in spite of peace talks between Tel Aviv and Beirut, with one senior US State Department official commenting that the two countries enjoyed a "full day of productive and positive talks” on Thursday.
Here are some of the other latest developments in the region:
US President Donald Trump said he does not have much patience left with Iran, urging the country to reach a deal. The president also expressed that him and counterpart Xi Jinping "feel very similar" on Tehran, saying: "We we don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open."
China's foreign ministry on Friday stressed that a ceasefire must be reached urgently in the region, with trade routes reopened "as soon as possible".
Israeli and US military officials held meetings on plans to take in the case of renewed military action against Iran over the past week, according to a report by Kan. Tel Aviv reportedly expressed to Washington interest in resuming military action against Iran, arguing that the war on Tehran ended "earlier than it should have".
One Palestinian was killed and another wounded by Israeli forces overnight in a town south of Nablus, occupied West Bank, following an attack by settlers in the same area.
A group of settlers early on Friday set fire to a number of vehicles in a village in Ramallah, occupied West Bank, the latest attack in a wave of escalating Israeli violence. The settlers had also vandalised walls of the village and residents' properties with racist slogans.