Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged Washington and the international community to help stop Israeli attacks, which killed at least seven people on Sunday despite a truce and a framework deal aimed at halting the violence.

Israel said it had targeted Hezbollah operatives and sites in response to a drone attack a day earlier by the Iran-backed group on its troops in the vicinity of a strategic south Lebanon ridge.

It reported no casualties but accused Hezbollah of a "blatant violation".

At his shop in northeast Syria, Ayaz Ibrahim wiped the dust off bottles of alcohol he said had become too pricey for customers following new regulations from the Islamist authorities.

Residents of the region, which is home to many Kurds, have been feeling the pinch since Damascus took control of the nearby Semalka border crossing with Iraq in April under a deal to integrate Kurdish military and civilian institutions into the state.

DUBAI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - U.S. and Iranian forces fired at vessels in waters around Iran on Saturday, including three Iranian oil carriers struck by the Americans and three tankers that Iran said it targeted while on unauthorized routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command said it struck the three Iranian vessels, including one off the coast ofKharg Island, near Iran's oil export hub, after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at twoU.S. Navy ships.

By Leila Miller

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Argentineshave broadly backed President Javier Milei’s forceful push against oil drilling near the Falkland Islands, underscoring the enduring resonance of Argentina's sovereignty claim over the British-controlled archipelago.

In a televised address on Thursday, Milei said he would submit a bill to Congress to toughen sanctions against companies drilling and participating in "other activities on the islands that impact our natural resources."

The United States said it destroyed three Iranian oil tankers on Saturday in response to attempted missile attacks on naval vessels, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying they targeted US-linked ships in response.

The latest round of clashes, which began with US raids last week, comes amid a deadlock in the six-month war. Iran has maintained its stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz as Washington continues pressing its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

TURMUS AYYA, West Bank, Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday said there was no plan to force Palestinians to leave Gaza after two Israeli ministers this week floated proposals for the mass removal of Palestinians from the coastal territory.

• "I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people out of Gaza against their will," Huckabee told reporters in Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The US ambassador to Israel said Saturday that the Israeli government bore responsibility for West Bank Palestinians' safety and should impose "severe consequences" over violence, as he visited families after a surge in settler attacks.

Mike Huckabee, long known as a staunch supporter of Israel and settlers, visited a Palestinian-American's home in the West Bank that has been repeatedly targeted by settlers and said he wanted to hear the community's "legitimate grievances".

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall

DUBAI, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A U.S. campaign to throttle Iran's economy by blockading its oil exports and stopping sanctions evasion is growing increasingly difficult to withstand, three senior Iranian sources said.

Washington has in recent weeks sought to ratchet up the economic pressure on Tehran, in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiation that six months of conflict have so far failed to secure.

By Alvaro Murillo

SAN JOSE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez said on Friday that U.S. ground operations could strengthen national security in the Central American nation, while emphasizing that nothing concrete was in the works with Washington and any such move would require legislative approval.

By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. military officials say they have disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers, according to letters released on Friday byU.S. Senator Ron Wyden and statements given to Reuters, adevelopment that follows reports that commercially available location data had been used to targetAmerican forces in the Middle East.