Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel under fire would amount to "surrender", as the Iran-backed group launched attacks and Israel said it was expanding a "buffer zone" inside Lebanon.

Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon for around two decades until 2000, has kept up strikes on its northern neighbour and sent ground troops to take control of a strip up to the Litani River, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border.

BEIJING, March 24 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Tuesday on parties to seize all opportunities to start peace talks as soon as possible in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi, according to a statement from Wang's ministry.

Talking is always better than fighting, Wang told Araqchi, adding that "all hotspot issues should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation, not by using force".

According to Iranian state media on Wednesday, Araqchi had responded by saying:

March 24 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday evening, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Starmer reiterated support for Saudi Arabia during the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, and updated the Saudi crown prince on the deployment of further UK defensive military equipment, the spokesperson said.

"Iran's ongoing attacks, including on critical national infrastructure, were appalling," Starmer said.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it would keep hitting Iran's ability to make and launch missiles, as more than a dozen people were injured during Iranian attacks throughout the day.

A woman was also killed in northern Israel following rocket fire from Lebanon, where Israeli forces are fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

By late Tuesday, the Israeli military had issued 12 alerts warning of incoming Iranian missiles since midnight.

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY, March 24 (Reuters) - Pope Leo expressed concern on Tuesday about a rising tenor of animosity in the expanding Iran war, repeating calls for a ceasefire amid reports the U.S. is planning to send thousands of soldiers to the Middle East in a military buildup.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, lamented that "hatred is increasing, and the violence is getting worse and worse."

March 24 (Reuters) - Colombia's attorney general on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for the top leadership of the Segunda Marquetalia rebel group over the 2025 assassination of senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe.

The warrants target seven individuals, including veteran guerrilla leaders Ivan Luciano Marin Arango and Gener Garcia Molina, better known by their aliases Ivan Marquez and Jhon 40, respectively, for their alleged roles in what authorities termed a "magnicide" aimed at destabilizing the country's democracy.

March 24 (Reuters) - Iran has told International Maritime Organization member states that "non-hostile vessels" may transit the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with Iranian authorities, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing a letter.

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has all but halted shipments of about one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil supply disruption.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran gave him a "very big present" related to the Strait of Hormuz, boosting his confidence that he was talking to the right people in Tehran to end the war.

The cryptic announcement came a day after Trump unexpectedly postponed threatened attacks on Iran's power plants and said Washington was in negotiations with unspecified figures in Iran.

Tehran has denied being part of any talks to end the war, which is now in its fourth week and has disrupted global oil supplies passing through the strategic Hormuz Strait.

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States was talking to "the right people" in Iran in order to reach an agreement to end hostilities, adding that the Iranians want to reach a deal very badly.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said "we're in negotiations right now" over Iran but would not provide details, particularly on whether U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner planned talks this week.

Pakistan has said it is willing to host talks between the United States and Iran.

By Samia Nakhoul

DUBAI, March 24 (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s abrupt pause in his showdown with Iran followed warnings from Gulf states that the war was veering into a far more perilous phase and rising fears among officials in the region that Washington had misjudged Tehran’s readiness to escalate, regional sources and analysts said.