June 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday elected Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe to the 15-member U.N. Security Council for two-year terms starting on January1, 2027.

A third round of voting was being heldto determine who would take the fifth available seat, the Philippines or Kyrgyzstan.

Germany, which had lobbied hard for a seat, came third for the two places contested by the Western European and Others Group, with 104 votes, against 134 for Portugal and 131 for Austria.

CAIRO, June 3 (Reuters) - Israeli strikes killed three Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, health officials said, and the Palestinian militant group Hamas said an end to such attacks was crucial to further talks on safeguarding a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

Medics said one Palestinian was killed in an airstrike near the Mughraqa area in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said it had struck a person acting suspiciously near forces operating in an Israeli-controlled area to remove the threat.

By Allison Lampert

June 3 (Reuters) - Lebanon's aviation regulator has carried out a safety audit of Middle East Airlines as pilot groups raised concerns that crews were being asked to fly close to airstrikes and penalized for reporting safety incidents, letters seen by Reuters show.

The audit puts scrutiny on Beirut-based flag carrier MEA, which has kept Lebanon connected through war and financial collapse even as many foreign airlines have avoided large parts of Middle East airspace because of missile and drone risks since the Iran war began on February 28.

By Benjamin Raab

JERUSALEM, June 3 (Reuters) - Israel's hardline finance minister announced on Wednesday a major expansion by more than 2,000 homes of three Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank that Palestinians hope will be part of a future independent state.

Most nations consider Israeli settlements there to be illegal under international law and a major obstacle to a two-state solution for long-term peace.

By Samia Nakhoul

DUBAI, June 3 (Reuters) - The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran was meant to break the Islamic Republic. Instead, the warring sides are edging towards an interim agreement that would leave Iran battered but not broken.

As the outlines of a potential deal emerge from sources familiar with the discussions, Iran looks set to emerge economically shattered and with its military-industrial base severely degraded, but with hardline Revolutionary Guard dominance more firmly entrenched than before.

WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged having called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crazy in an expletive-filled phone exchange over fighting in Lebanon while the U.S. was trying to negotiate an end to hostilities with Iran.

In an interview broadcast Wednesday, Trump was asked whether he had called the longtime Israeli leader "effing crazy" and accused him of ingratitude, paraphrasing a report by Axios.

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, June 3 (Reuters) - Israeli drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon and targeted a car just south of Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, while Israel said it intercepted a hostile aircraft likely fired by Hezbollah.

Hostilities have continued despite a U.S.-mediated agreement announced on Monday that led Israel to step back from attacking the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Iran-backed group to halt cross-border strikes.

BRUSSELS, June 3 (Reuters) - The European Union's diplomatic service has proposed that the bloc's Aspides naval mission take "the primary role" in clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz “when conditions allow” as Europe’s contribution to a Franco-British-led initiative, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The European External Action Service wrote in a note dated May 26 that “the situation requires the Union to provide a meaningful contribution” to an ad hoc coalition led by France and the UK “to be materialised once conditions allow and separated from the belligerents”.

June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran has agreed to not have a nuclear weapon and that Iran's Ayatollah is involved in negotiations with the United States.

"They've already agreed they're not going to have a nuclear weapon," Trump told a podcast interview on Wednesday, while speaking about Iran.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

DUBAI, June 3 (Reuters) - The Israeli military said it intercepted a "hostile aircraft" that crossed into northern Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday.

It did not link the drone to Hezbollah, and the Iran-backed group has not claimed responsibility for the incident.

Lebanon had announced a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel that would see Israel halt strikes on Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled suburbs and Hezbollah stop attacks on Israel, though the agreement does not end the conflict, according to Lebanon's embassy in Washington.