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'Have mercy on our south': Salam tells Iran to stop treating Lebanon as 'bargaining chip'

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Friday urged Iran to stop treating his country, where Israel and the Tehran-backed Hezbollah are at war, as a "bargaining chip" in its negotiations with Washington on the Middle East conflict.

"If I may address a word to Iran, it is this: have mercy on our south, stop treating it and its people as merely a bargaining chip to improve the terms of your negotiations," Salam told a press conference for a U.N. aid appeal for Lebanon.

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Ireland bans two Israeli ministers from entering country

Ireland on Friday barred Israel's national security minister and finance minister from entering the country over the war in Gaza.

Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan "has instructed immigration officers to refuse entry to Itamar Ben-Gvir - Minister for National Security of Israel, and Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance of Israel - should they seek to enter the state," said a justice ministry statement sent to AFP.

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Iran army says fired 'warning missiles' at US destroyers in Gulf of Oman

Iran's army said Friday it had fired "warning missiles" at two US destroyers in the Gulf of Oman, forcing the vessels to leave the area, according to state media.

"In continuation of operations to counter maritime misconduct and harassment, as well as the hijacking of commercial vessels and oil tankers by the terrorist naval forces of the United States, following the firing of warning missiles, the hostile destroyers DDG-103 and DDG-8 have left the Gulf of Oman towards the Indian Ocean," the army said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.

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Lebanon sentences activists in absentia for inciting Israeli attacks

Lebanon's judiciary has charged two anti-Hezbollah activists in absentia with inciting Israeli attacks against the Iran-backed group and sentenced them to 15 years in prison, a judicial official told AFP on Friday.

It is the harshest sentence yet against activists expressing support for Israel, which has officially been at war with Lebanon for decades.

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UN doubles appeal for Lebanon aid to nearly $640 mn amid Israel war

The U.N. on Friday more than doubled its aid appeal for Lebanon as the country reels from Israel's war against Iran-backed Hezbollah, saying nearly $640 million was needed over six months.

"The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is severe and deteriorating," the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in a revised appeal for the country.

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Russian strikes kill 7 in Ukraine, destroy children's food plant

Russia fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine between late Thursday and early Friday, killing seven people and destroying a factory that produces milk for children.

A Russian drone strike on the food production facility near Ukraine's capital Kyiv killed four people early Friday, the region's governor said.

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Israeli strikes kill 7 in Tyre, warns 9 villages north of Litani

Israeli strikes overnight in the south Lebanon city of Tyre killed seven people, a source from Lebanon's civil defense told AFP on Friday, despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

One strike near the Jabal Amel hospital killed four people, wounded seven and lightly damaged the facility, while another elsewhere in the city killed three and wounded five, including two children.

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Israeli army says soldier killed in south Lebanon

The Israeli military said on Thursday that one of its soldiers was killed in southern Lebanon, the first fatality since the announcement of a new ceasefire plan.

Captain Eitan Shmuel Lemberg, 21, "fell in combat" the military said in a brief statement. A military source told AFP that he was killed by a missile fired by Hezbollah at an Israeli tank.

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8 killed, 15 hurt in Israeli strikes on Lebanon hours after new ceasefire

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon and West Bekaa killed eight people and wounded 15 others on Thursday, hours after a new ceasefire was announced between Lebanon and Israel, the Health Ministry said.

An Israeli strike in on Sohmor in West Bekaa killed five people, while another attack near the southern city of Tyre killed three more, the ministry said.

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UN chief condemns killing of Serbian peacekeeper in Lebanon

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the latest killing of a peacekeeper in southern Lebanon and demanded those responsible be brought to justice, his spokesman said Thursday.

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