Middle East crisis live: Netanyahu says ability to counter 'threats' from Lebanon is key to any ceasefire deal | Israel

Hello and welcome to the Guardian's ongoing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.

Benjamin Netanyahu supposedly told US Messenger that Israel Ability to counter threats to its security Lebanon and the return of displaced people to the north were key elements of any ceasefire agreement.

The comments came hours before Israel carried out airstrikes early Friday Beirut The southern suburbs saw the first strikes in almost a week, according to Reuters witnesses.

“The main issue is … Israel's ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon,” Netanyahu's office quoted two US envoys as saying.

The envoys, Brett McGurk And Amos HochsteinIsrael was on a new push to secure ceasefires in both Lebanon and Gaza. The Lebanese prime minister expressed hope on Wednesday that a ceasefire agreement was imminent.

• Hochstein and McGurk met with the Israeli prime minister on Thursday to discuss a ceasefire proposal for Lebanon. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said negotiators had made “good progress” toward an agreement. “We are confident that things will change in Lebanon in the not too distant future,” said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

• Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who earlier on Thursday expressed optimism about a quick solution “in hours or days”, said that Israel's “continued escalation” in his country “does not inspire optimism.” Netanyahu's office said the prime minister “made it clear that this is not about this or that agreement on paper, but about Israel's ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon in a way that “returns our residents safely to their homes.”

• Thursday marked the highest number of civilian deaths since October 2023 in both Israel and Lebanon. Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli attacks had killed 45 people in the past 24 hours, with bombings in the northeastern Bekaa Valley and infantry battles in the south. Eight people from the same family were killed in a village in Bekaa. Rocket fire from Lebanon killed seven people in northern Israel, including four Thai farm workers.

• The Israeli army's evacuation call for several areas in southern Lebanon on Thursday also included a Palestinian refugee camp. The areas listed included the Rashidieh camp, which houses thousands of Palestinian refugees. Israel issued its second evacuation order for the town of Baalbek and two surrounding villages in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday afternoon and carried out a series of airstrikes on the village of Durous a few hours later. The evacuation orders had led to a mass exodus of residents from the city, which is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• According to the UN Children's Fund (Unicef), at least one child was killed and ten others injured in Israeli attacks every day in Lebanon. Citing the Lebanese Health Ministry, Unicef ​​said 166 children had been killed and at least 1,168 injured since October 2023. It was emphasized that the war in Lebanon “inflicts severe physical wounds and deep emotional scars” on many of the country’s children. Six Lebanese health workers were killed and four injured in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the Health Ministry said in a statement.