Iran demanded a truce in Lebanon and the release of its blocked assets on Friday as U.S. Vice President JD Vance warned Tehran not to "play" Washington, casting doubt on planned ceasefire talks in Pakistan.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday called on the Lebanese government to stop giving what he called "free concessions" to Israel, with the two governments due to begin negotiations in Washington next week.

The United Nations warned Friday that food insecurity was on the rise in Lebanon, with prices surging and supply chains disrupted as Israel has continued military strikes on the country.

Hezbollah said Friday it had targeted Israel's Ashdod naval base with missiles, two days after deadly Israeli airstrikes on Beirut left more than 300 people dead.

European and Arab states have pressured Israel to stop targeting Beirut, a Western diplomat told AFP on Friday, two days after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon that left more than 300 people dead.

The Israeli army said Thursday it was striking Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, shortly after it had warned that the militant group could expand launches of projectiles across Israel.

The World Health Organization (WHO) called Thursday on Israel to cancel the evacuation order it issued for the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, where there are two hospitals.

Israel's military warned residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, long a stronghold of Hezbollah, of imminent strikes and told them to evacuate.

Rocket alerts rang out across Israel early Friday, including in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv and in the southern coastal city of Ashdod following rocket fire from Lebanon.

Continued fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah is testing a fragile truce reached between the United States and Iran.

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in his latest written message the Islamic republic did not want war with the United States and Israel, but would protect its rights as a nation, state television reported Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Iran of doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the Strait of Hormuz and of breaching the terms of their two-week ceasefire agreement.

In a barrage of social media posts that sparked fresh fears for the shaky truce, Trump also warned Iran against imposing a toll for ships passing through the crucial waterway.