By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS, March 24 (Reuters) - The European Commission will no longer submit a legal proposal to permanently ban Russian oil imports over Moscow's war in Ukraine on April 15 as previously planned, an updated EU legislative agenda showed on Tuesday.

An EU official, however, told Reuters the proposal had not been cancelled and would still be published though no longer by the mid-April date due to "current geopolitical developments".

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on Tuesday of a "deep rift" with traditional ally the United States and said the US-Israeli war on Iran was a "breach of international law".

In unusually strong comments, the German head of state said that just as there was no going back from Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "there will be no going back to before January 20, 2025", when US President Donald Trump entered the White House for a second time.

By Alexander Cornwell and Nazih Osseiran

TEL AVIV/BEIRUT, March 24 (Reuters) - Israel will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River to create a "defensive buffer", Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday, spelling out for the first time Israel's intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a tenth of Lebanon.

At a meeting with the military chief of staff, Katz said Israeli forces would "control the remaining bridges and the security zone up to the Litani," a river that meets the Mediterranean about 30 km (20 miles) north of Israel's border.

March 24 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday and discussed the situation in the Middle East, including the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, U.S. envoy to India Sergio Gor said in a post on X.

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by YP Rajesh)

March 24 (Reuters) - There is no direct Qatari mediation between the United States and Iran, but Doha supports all formal and informal diplomatic channels to end the war, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump ​told reporters on Monday the U.S. ‌had held talks with Iran and that the two sides had "major ​points of agreement". Tehran said no ​negotiations had ​taken place.

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Group of Seven foreign ministers in France on Friday for talks on Russia's war in Ukraine and the Middle East situation stemming from the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, the State Department said.

U.S. allies are dealing with the fallout from President Donald Trump's decision to bomb Iran late last month, which triggered strikes from Iran against its Gulf neighbors and against shipping that have stopped most transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

Thousands of oil contracts -- a far higher volume than normal -- were traded 15 minutes before US President Donald Trump pledged to halt strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, sending prices tumbling, data showed on Tuesday.

Between 1049 GMT and 1050 GMT, 734 oil contracts changed hands, and in the next minute that number surged to 2,168 -- 16 times higher than the average observed through the day up to that time.

Bloomberg estimated the value of oil contracts that changed hands between 1049 and 1050 GMT was $650 million.

By Alexander Cornwell and Maya Gebeily

TEL AVIV/BEIRUT, March 24 (Reuters) - Israel's military will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, defence minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday, the first time Israel has clearly spelled out its intent to seize swathes of territory that make up nearly a tenth of Lebanon.

Katz has previously threatened Lebanon's government it would lose territory if it did not disarm Hezbollah, the militant group backed by Tehran that drew Lebanon into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran when it fired into Israel on March 2.

He is, according to President Donald Trump, a "top person" in the Iranian system who is "most respected" and is in an unenviable position.

But who is the senior figure talking with the United States on the future of Iran after over three weeks of the Israeli-US war against the Islamic republic?

The individual, said Trump, is not supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei who succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, after the killing of the ex-number one at the start of the war on February 28.

At an archaeological site in southern Lebanon's Tyre, small signs bearing a blue and white emblem provide a symbolic shield, meant to protect the ancient ruins from bombardment.

One of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean coast, Tyre is located around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Israeli border, and has been the target of several strikes since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war by Hezbollah's March 2 rocket attack on Israel.