US President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that Iran was taking part in peace talks, suggesting Tehran's denials were because Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side.

"They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly. But they're afraid to say it, because they figure they'll be killed by their own people," Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress.

"They're also afraid they'll be killed by us."

The US leader's comments came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that "we do not intend to negotiate".

Here are the latest key facts about impacts from the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route virtually paralysed by the Middle East war.

Around a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passes through the waterway in peacetime.

The war erupted on February 28 when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate with strikes across the region and restrict access to the strait.

- LNG tankers U-turn -

While Washington has signalled a diplomatic off-ramp from its war with Iran, Israel is preparing for the opposite in Lebanon -- an open-ended military campaign against Hezbollah.

Analysts said the message from Israel was a blunt one: Hezbollah must be disarmed, and that will take time.

"I suppose that (Israel's military) would like to have some more time to deal with Lebanon after the ceasefire with Iran," Orna Mizrahi, from the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, told AFP.

By Amina Ismail and Andrew Gray

BRUSSELS, March 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations' refugee chief urged donors on Wednesday to provide more funds to manage the humanitarian fallout from the widening war in the Middle East, saying his agency had so far received less than 10% of the money it needs.

Thousands have been killed across the region and millions displaced in Iran and Lebanon since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February  28, prompting Tehran to retaliate with attacks on Israel, U.S. bases and Gulf states.

Filipino Defence Minister Gilbert Teodoro, whose country has declared an energy emergency as a result of the Middle East war, said on Wednesday that the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened "immediately".

Iran has virtually closed the vital strait since the US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28, causing global oil and gas prices to soar.

On Tuesday, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos declared a state of "national energy emergency," citing risks to the domestic fuel supply and energy stability created by the war in the Middle East.

Israeli authorities evicted 11 Palestinian families from their homes in east Jerusalem on Wednesday, an AFP journalist reported, a move that settlers have increasingly used to occupy the vacated properties.

An AFP correspondent on the scene reported that civilians wearing high-visibility jackets were seen throwing mattresses, clothing, children's toys and other personal belongings of Palestinian families out of their homes.

Israeli rights group B'Tselem said Israeli forces had entered the Silwan neighbourhood to carry out the evictions.

By David Brunnstrom

March 25 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday named veteran French diplomat Jean Arnault to be his personal envoy on the conflict in the Middle East, saying it was "out of control" and the "world is staring down the barrel of a wider war."

Guterres told reporters he had been in close contact with many in the region and around the world and that a number of initiatives for dialogue and peace were underway.

By Maayan Lubell and Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, March 25 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to pass a state budget and stave off early elections he would likely lose, with the war in Iran so far doing little to improve his standing in the polls.

In the war's first days, Netanyahu's camp saw a chance for his right-wing coalition to capitalize on the opening salvo that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by holding elections ahead of an expected October date, a source familiar with Netanyahu's political strategy said.

DUBAI, March 25 (Reuters) - Iran's initial response to the U.S. proposal to end the war has not been "positive", a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that Tehran is still reviewing it.

The official said that Tehran's initial response has been delivered to Pakistan to be conveyed to Washington.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi)

By Maayan Lubell and Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, March 25 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to pass a state budget and stave off early elections he would likely lose, with the war in Iran so far doing little to improve his standing in the polls.

In the war's first days, Netanyahu's camp saw a chance for his right-wing coalition to capitalize on the opening salvo that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by holding elections ahead of an expected October date, a source familiar with Netanyahu's political strategy said.