By John Irish and Parisa Hafezi

PARIS/DUBAI (Reuters) -Britain, France and Germany are likely to begin the process of reimposing U.N. sanctions on Iran on Thursday, but hope Tehran will provide commitments over its nuclear programme within 30 days that will convince them to defer concrete action, four diplomats said.

The trio, known as the E3, met Iran on Tuesday to try to revive diplomacy over the nuclear programme before they lose the ability in mid-October to restore sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under a 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.

Iran said Wednesday that the return of UN nuclear inspectors did not represent a full resumption of cooperation, which was suspended in the aftermath of June attacks by Israel and the United States.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency began work at the key nuclear site of Bushehr in southwestern Iran, the nuclear watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi said, the first team to enter the country since Tehran formally suspended cooperation with the UN agency last month.

DUBAI (Reuters) -UN nuclear inspectors have returned to Iran for the first time since it suspended cooperation with them in the wake of Israel's attacks on its nuclear sites, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told lawmakers Tehran had still not reached an agreement on how it would resume full work with the UN's IAEA watchdog, parliament news agency ICANA reported.

But he said the inspectors would supervise the changing of fuel at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, according to the report.

ROME (Reuters) -Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a speech on Wednesday that her government condemned the "unjustifiable" killing of journalists in Gaza.

Israel struck Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.

"It is an unacceptable attack on press freedom and on all those who courageously risk their lives to report on the tragedy of war," she said during a political conference in the beach town of Rimini.

Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar urged Madrid to cut all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel Wednesday over the war in Gaza, calling the conflict a "genocide".

The "All About My Mother" director called on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to convince other European leaders to do the same in a video posted on Instagram by his production company.

Lebanese state media said US envoy Tom Barrack cut short a visit to the south on Wednesday, amid protests in two planned stops against US pressure to disarm Hezbollah.

The official National News Agency (NNA) reported that Barrack arrived by helicopter at a Lebanese army barracks in Marjayoun near the border, with soldiers deploying in the area.

The news agency later reported that the envoy had cancelled planned stops in nearby Khiam, which was pummelled by Israel during its latest hostilities with Hezbollah, and in the coastal city of Tyre.

Dozens of Israeli soldiers stormed the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, witnesses and Palestinian officials said, with the Red Crescent reporting at least seven people wounded in the raid.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military confirmed that its forces were conducting an operation in the northern West Bank city, without specifying its purpose.

The raid began at around 3:00 am (0000 GMT), residents said, with soldiers in armoured vehicles storming several neighbourhoods of Nablus's old city, which has a population of around 30,000 people.

By Jason Lange

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Most Americans support a bid to sanction Russia's trading partners as a way to put pressure on Moscow to end its war with Ukraine, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The three-day poll, which concluded on Sunday, showed 62% of respondents back sanctioning Russia's trading partners, a strategy that U.S. President Donald Trump has partially embraced and has threatened to expand to include China.

The Israeli military pressed operations around Gaza City on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump hosted a meeting on post-war plans for the shattered Palestinian territory.

Israel is under mounting pressure both at home and abroad to end its almost two-year campaign in Gaza, where the United Nations has declared a famine.

Mediators have circulated a truce proposal which has been accepted by Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack triggered the devastating war. But Israel has yet to give an official response.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) -Israeli tanks pushed into a new area on the edge of Gaza City overnight, destroying houses and prompting residents to flee, witnesses said, ahead of an expected meeting on the war to be chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Tanks late on Tuesday entered into the Ebad-Alrahman neighbourhood on the northern edge of Gaza City and shelled houses, wounding several people and forcing many others, who had been taken by surprise, to move deeper into Gaza's largest city, residents said.