DUBAI, May 10 (Reuters) - Iran has sent its response to a U.S. proposal aimed at ending the more than two-month war to mediator, Pakistan, Iran's IRNA news agency said on Sunday.

According to Iran's proposal, the current phase of negotiations will focus exclusively on the cessation of hostilities in the region, a source familiar with the matter told IRNA.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Israel strikes car near Beirut -

An Israeli strike targeted a car on a major highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon, state media reported, despite a truce in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The attack took place in the Jiyeh area, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the capital, Lebanon's National News Agency said.

- China urges Pakistan to step up -

Israel deported on Sunday two foreign activists seized from a Gaza-bound flotilla, in what a rights group representing them described as a "punitive attack" on a civilian mission.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30.

The pair were seized and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday branded Iran's terms for ending the Middle East war "totally unacceptable," raising the likelihood of renewed conflict after weeks of negotiations.

Iran had responded to Washington's latest peace proposal earlier in the day, while warning it would not hold back from retaliating against any new US strikes or permit more foreign warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump himself provided no details on Tehran's counterproposal, but in a brief post on his Truth Social platform made clear he was rejecting it.

CAIRO, May 10 (Reuters) - Israeli strikes killed at least three Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, including two members of the Hamas‑run police force, health officials said, in violence that underscored the fragility of a U.S.‑brokered ceasefire.

Medics said an air strike killed one person in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, while another killed the head of the criminal police force in Khan Younis, Wessam Abdel‑Hadi, and his aide, according to Gaza’s Hamas‑run interior ministry.

Saudi oil giant Aramco said Sunday its net profit rose by 25.5 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, after the Middle East war sent oil and gas prices soaring.

The result comes as uncertainty plagues global markets over the conflict's trajectory, with Iran restricting the passage of hydrocarbons through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

May 10 (Reuters) - Twelve policemen were dead after a car bombing at a police post in northwestern Pakistan followed by a fight with militants in the city of Bannu, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

Three personnel have been found alive and transferred to hospital, the officer added.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)

By Saud Mehsud and Mushtaq Ali

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan May 9 (Reuters) - A car bombing at a police post killed at least three officers in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday and was followed by an ambush on police personnel rushing to the scene to provide backup, security officials said.

Police official Sajjad Khan said most of the 15 officers who were on duty at the post on the outskirts of the city of Bannu were feared dead and that the installation had been destroyed.

May 10 (Reuters) - Israel deported Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Ávila on Sunday after completing an investigation into their participation in a Gaza-bound flotilla, the foreign ministry said.

Israel's foreign ministry said Abu Keshek was suspected of affiliation with a terrorist organisation and Avila was suspected of illegal activity. Both denied the allegations.

(Reporting by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Kim Coghill)

As fears of renewed conflict hang over Iran, conservationists are shoring up battered historic sites and taking stock of the damage caused by the war with the United States and Israel, though experts warn some repairs could take years.

At Golestan Palace, a defining cultural landmark in central Tehran, shattered mirrors, broken doors and debris from ornate ceilings now lie scattered across parts of the site after shockwaves from strikes on the capital following the outbreak of war on February 28.