The United States and a key mediator in the Middle East war expressed new hope of talks leading to a peace deal with Iran on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump halted a plan to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

A container ship owned by French shipping company CMA CGM was the "target of an attack" in the Strait of Hormuz, the major shipping firm said on Wednesday.

"The CMA CGM San Antonio was the target of an attack yesterday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in injuries among crew members and damage to the vessel," the shipping firm told AFP, adding those injured had been evacuated for treatment.

Syrian authorities announced on Tuesday they had arrested a Hezbollah-affiliated cell plotting to assassinate government officials, while the Lebanese group denied the "false accusations".

The Syrian interior ministry said that it had conducted a "series of simultaneous security operations" in the Damascus countryside, Aleppo, Homs, Tartus and Latakia provinces.

Israel's military on Wednesday issued a new evacuation warning for a dozen villages in southern and eastern Lebanon ahead of expected strikes, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt the fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns by at least 1,000 meters into open areas," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, listing 12 villages.

Israel's new air force chief Major General Omer Tischler said on Tuesday that Israel was prepared to deploy its entire fleet of fighter jets against Iran if necessary.

He spoke weeks into a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East war, which erupted when Israel and the United States launched strikes against Iran in February.

Germany's foreign minister Tuesday offered qualified support for Israel's military invasion of Lebanon during a visit of his Israeli counterpart to Berlin, while also criticizing humanitarian conditions in Gaza and "de facto annexation" in the West Bank.

FIFA has invited the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) to its headquarters for talks over the country's participation at this year's World Cup, a source told AFP on Tuesday.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Tuesday that they would respond firmly to any ships that diverge from the Islamic republic's approved route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Hours after the UAE's top oil executive said the country had "emerged stronger" from war and as thousands attended an Abu Dhabi summit to boost the local economy, phones across the country were alerting that missiles were incoming.

The first attacks since a truce came into effect last month were a stark reminder of its fragility, dampening hopes of a quick return to normality, with Iran imposing a new reality: should the United States or Israel strike, the UAE would be the one to pay.

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said on Tuesday that the army was prepared to respond "with force" to any attack by Iran.