A US official said Sunday that Washington and Tehran agreed to halt attacks after new tit-for-tat strikes strained their interim deal, with the sides planning to renew talks aimed at ending the Middle East war.

The exchanges have underscored the fragility of a Pakistan-brokered agreement to end the conflict that has killed thousands and snarled the flow of oil shipments through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Although a ceasefire took effect in April, sporadic violence has flared up in the Gulf region, with traffic in the strait serving as a regular flashpoint.

NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department to justifyits decision to drop criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, declining to rule immediately on Adani's lawyers' request earlier in the week to formally dismiss the case.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York)

By Rami Ayyub and Maya Gebeily

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, June 26 (Reuters) - Israel and Lebanon are expected to sign a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks aimed at securing an end to fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, Israeli and Lebanese officials said.

The officials did not provide details on the framework deal and did not say how its terms would be different from those included in an April 16 ceasefire deal that preceded several rounds of U.S.-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks.

Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries.

The agreement -- which includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers take control of two areas occupied by Israel, as well as a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah -- is the result of five rounds of talks in the US capital.

June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a framework agreement on Friday between Israel and Lebanon after talks in Washington.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Writing by Christian Martinez; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - The United Nations is working with countries to resume the evacuation of hundreds of ships and thousands of stranded seafarers from the Strait of Hormuz after the effort was halted earlier this week, a top U.N. agency official said on Friday.

The U.N.'s International Maritime Organization said on Thursday it had "temporarily paused" its evacuation initiative after a container ship operated by Taiwan's Evergreen was attacked.

By Jihed Abidellaoui, Zohra Bensemra and Khalil Ashawi

NABATIEH, Lebanon, June 26 (Reuters) - Chanting rhythmically in the summer sun, the men marched through the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh as part of their annual tradition to mark Ashura, the holiest day in the Shi'ite Muslim calendar. This year, they walked through a city in ruins.

Israel's nearly four-month air and ground campaign that it says was targeting armed group Hezbollah has destroyed large swathes of Lebanon's south and left other parts of it under Israeli military occupation.

Traffic levels in the Strait of Hormuz fell back from Wednesday's high, but vessels continued to use a non-Iranian-approved passage despite a ship being struck by a projectile, tracking platforms showed Friday.

At least 42 commodity vessels -- including tankers carrying oil, gas, and dry bulk such as fertilisers -- crossed on Thursday, Kpler's tracking platform showed, down from a high of 57 on Wednesday.

Ten of those vessels entered the Gulf, while 32 exited. Half of the 42 vessels used a southern passageway hugging the coast of Oman.

June 26 (Reuters) - UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on Friday stressed the need to protect maritime corridors and ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz in a call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi.

The exchange, reported by state news agency WAM, marks a rare public contact between Abu Dhabi and Tehran following tensions linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Traffic levels in the Strait of Hormuz fell back from Wednesday's high, but vessels continued to use a non-Iranian-approved passage, despite a ship being struck by a projectile, tracking platforms showed Friday.

At least 42 commodity vessels -- including tankers carrying oil, gas, and dry bulk such as fertilisers -- crossed on Thursday, Kpler's tracking platform showed, down from a high of 57 on Wednesday.

Ten of those vessels entered the Gulf, while 32 exited. Half of the 42 vessels used a southern passageway hugging the coast of Oman.