Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that planned talks with Israel aim to end hostilities and the occupation in southern Lebanon, even as Hezbollah and its supporters rejected the negotiations.

Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has sharply criticised the Lebanese government's negotiations with Israel, which are set to enter a second round on Thursday.

After the first round of talks last week, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day truce pausing more than six weeks of war between Hezbollah and Israel, an explosive front in the broader Middle East war.

TOKYO/LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) - British foreign minister Yvette Cooper will cut short an intensive diplomatic tour designed to build consensus around making a ceasefire in the Iran war permanent and on the next steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Cooper's department is at the centre of a new crisis over Peter Mandelson's appointment as Britain's ambassador to the United States, after the government last week said foreign office officials had overruled a recommendation that he should not be given the role.

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, April 20 (Reuters) - Israel on Monday told residents of south Lebanon to stay out of a belt of territory running the length of the border and not to approach the area of the Litani River, entrenching its grip over southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah.

The U.S.-mediated, 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday, largely halting the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that spiralled out of the conflict between the United States and Iran.

By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANTALYA, Turkey, April 20 (Reuters) - This year’s U.N. climate summit will seek to turn past decisions into action, with financing the main focus, Turkey’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum told Reuters, as the country prepares to host and chair COP31 in November.

By Maayan Lubell and Maya Gebeily

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, April 20 (Reuters) - Israel's foreign minister and military on Monday condemned the desecration of a crucifix smashed by an Israeli soldier in a southern Lebanese village home to Christians.

A photo that emerged online over the weekend shows a soldier taking the blunt side of an axe to a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross. It was posted by Younis Tirawi, who describes himself as a Palestinian reporter and has also posted images of Israeli soldiers' apparent misconduct in Gaza.

The United States and Iran both warned they were ready for war as the clock ticked down on a ceasefire on Tuesday, with uncertainty over whether talks that President Donald Trump had announced would resume in Pakistan.

The White House said Vice President JD Vance was ready to fly back to Islamabad, which was preparing for a second round of talks on ending the war that has engulfed the Middle East and shaken global markets.

Iran on Monday executed two members of opposition group the People's Mujahedin (MEK) who were convicted of spying for Israel, with the judiciary chief warning of "no leniency".

Mohammad Masoom Shahi, 38 and also known as Nima, and Hamed Validi, 45, were put to death at dawn in Karaj prison outside Tehran, the MEK's political wing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a statement.

They were both members of the MEK, which is banned in Iran, it added.

BEIJING, April 20 (Reuters) - China has expressed concern over the "forced interception" by the U.S. of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, urging relevant parties to abide by the ceasefire agreement in a responsible manner.

"The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is sensitive and complicated," said spokesman Guo Jiakun during a regular press briefing. Parties involved should avoid further escalation and "create the necessary conditions for normal transit through the strait to resume," he added.

DUBAI, April 20 (Reuters) - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that every rational and diplomatic path should be used to reduce tensions with the U.S., but added that vigilance and distrust in interactions with Washington were an "undeniable necessity", according to the state news agency IRNA.

A two-week ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is set to expire on Wednesday, with U.S. representatives set to reach Islamabad for Iran negotiations on Monday while Tehran has yet to announce whether it will send a delegation to Pakistan.

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- US unserious -

Iran's foreign ministry said it has yet to reach a decision on whether to attend the next round of talks with the United States, which it accused of "violations" of their two-week ceasefire. Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he was dispatching negotiators to Islamabad.