At a cemetery in southern Lebanon, Ghada Hussein clutched images of her son, a Hezbollah fighter killed in an Israeli strike and buried in a temporary grave because the family cannot return to her border village.

In a section just above the regular cemetery in Haret Saida, dozens of graves have been dug into the gravelly earth, many lined with cement blocks and holding coffins made with construction board.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a "great settlement" with Iran to end the Middle East war, saying he expected a deal to be signed in Europe in the coming days.

"We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, saying that they would "subject to finalization of documents, which should get done, over the next few days, probably have a signing, maybe in Europe."

Iran's Fars news agency, citing an unnamed source, said on Thursday that Tehran has not yet approved a text for any deal with the United States.

"No text has been approved for an initial memorandum of understanding with the United States," said Fars, quoting what it said was an informed source close to Iran's negotiating team.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was calling off strikes on Iran that he had planned for Thursday, and flagged the signing of a possible deal with Tehran after top-level talks.

Trump's latest sudden reversal on the war came after what he said were the agreements of "final points" by numerous countries -- except Iran.

U.S. forces struck and disabled a third commercial oil tanker attempting to bypass their blockade of Iranian ports this week, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Thursday, adding that it was the ninth such attack since the blockade began.

American forces "acted against Guinea-Bissau flagged M/T Jalveer as it attempted to transport oil from Iran through the Gulf of Oman," CENTCOM said. "A U.S. aircraft fired two Hellfire missiles into the ship's engine room after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from US forces."

Radio France Internationale (RFI) condemned Thursday Israel's entry ban on French reporter Alice Froussard, who freelances for the station and other outlets, as "an obstacle to press freedom".

"Israeli authorities have not provided any justification to RFI for this decision," the broadcaster said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia condemned on Thursday overnight Iranian attacks on Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, and called for renewed negotiations under Pakistani and Qatari mediation to end the Middle East war.

In a statement, the Saudi foreign ministry called for "de-escalation and restraint, urging all parties to priorities wisdom by returning to diplomatic efforts and resuming the constructive negotiations sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, along with the efforts of the State of Qatar".

Qatari negotiators have departed Tehran following discussions on the Middle East war, a diplomat told AFP on Thursday, as the US and Iran traded strikes once more.

"The Qatari delegation departed from Tehran this morning following talks with Iranian officials... that lasted into the early hours of this morning," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity, adding the discussions were "conducted in coordination with the United States".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called on the Lebanese people to join Israel's fight against Hezbollah, saying their country had been taken "hostage" by the militant group.

"Israel is not at war with you. We are at war with Hezbollah, that has taken your country hostage... We yearn for peace with you, with Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a video statement directed at the Lebanese people.

Hundreds of people rallied on Wednesday evening in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, in support of Iran and its allies in the Middle East war, AFP correspondents said.

The rally came despite the ongoing war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, with Israel pounding south and east Lebanon daily and still occasionally striking Beirut's southern suburbs, known locally as Dahieh, most recently on Sunday.