The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, slammed comments by visiting U.S. official Morgan Ortagus on Friday as "blatant interference" in Lebanon's affairs.

Ortagus's statement was "full of malice and irresponsibility" and attacked a component of "Lebanese political life", Raad said in a statement, adding that the remarks amounted to "blatant interference in Lebanon's sovereignty".

The Lebanese judge investigating the 2020 Beirut port explosion questioned two people on Friday in connection with the deadly blast after a years-long pause, a judicial official said.

Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation last month, charging 10 people including security, customs and military personnel after a two-year hiatus in the probe into the August 4, 2020 explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated swathes of Lebanon's capital.

Israel said late Thursday it had struck two sites in Lebanon that allegedly contained weapons belonging to the Hezbollah group, despite a ceasefire deal.

Israeli forces "conducted a precise strike in Lebanese territory on two military sites that contained Hezbollah weapons, which were in violation of the ceasefire agreement", the army said on social media.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration appeared to backtrack after his proposal to take over Gaza sparked uproar, with the United Nations warning against "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory.

Facing a wave of criticism from Palestinians, Arab governments and world leaders, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House said there was no commitment to sending U.S. troops.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran "cannot have a Nuclear Weapon", a day after he signed an order reinstating a "maximum pressure" policy against Tehran over allegations that it was trying to develop such weapons.

"I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding: "I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper."

The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement that he was ready for direct talks with Russian counterpart Vladmir Putin to end fighting as "empty words".

"So far this cannot be seen as anything but empty words," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, after Zelensky said in an interview that he would agree to sit at a negotiating table with Putin.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called on Wednesday for the Palestinian Authority to govern the Gaza Strip, hours after President Donald Trump announced a proposal for the United States to take over the territory.

In a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, Abdelatty said Egypt was eager for the Palestinian Authority to "assume its duties in the Gaza Strip as part of the occupied Palestinian territories", according to a foreign ministry statement.

A source in the Palestinian president's office said Mahmoud Abbas travelled to Jordan Wednesday for talks with King Abdullah II shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed to take over the Gaza Strip.

Abbas travelled to Jordan on Wednesday morning, the source told AFP, and is expected to discuss Trump's surprise proposal for the United States to "take over" and "own" the Gaza Strip while its Palestinian residents relocate to Egypt or Jordan.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem as his "representative" in Lebanon, Iranian media reported Wednesday.

"The leader of the revolution in a decree introduced Sheikh Naim Qassem, secretary general of Hezbollah, as his representative in Lebanon," Tasnim news agency said.

Qatar's prime minister said during a visit to Beirut that Doha would help Lebanon rebuild after a devastating Hezbollah-Israel war, but only after a new government is formed.

Reeling from years of crisis and a conflict, Lebanon has pinned hopes on wealthy Gulf states to fund reconstruction, with Qatar having been heavily involved in such efforts after the Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006.