BEIRUT, April 8 (Reuters) - A spokseperson for Lebanon's health ministry told Reuters that Israel's strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday had killed "89 martyrs and wounded 700 people."

The spokesperson said 12 medics were among the dead in southern Lebanon.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Editing by William Maclean)

A ceasefire between the United States and Iran has left Israel's principal war objectives largely unmet, analysts say, with Israeli opposition figures quick to denounce a major "strategic failure".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had set the elimination or at least severe degradation of Iran's nuclear programme as a central goal in the conflict, having described it for years as an "existential threat" to Israel.

He had also called for the dismantling of Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, and the weakening or potentially toppling of the Iranian regime.

BERLIN, April 8 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump by telephone on Wednesday afternoon after the latter's ceasefire with Iran, two German government source told Reuters.

According to Germany's Bild newspaper, which first reported the call, the conversation was brief and friendly, with Merz looking to get an overview on the current state of diplomatic affairs.

The two leaders did not address Germany's possible involvement in securing the Strait of Hormuz, reported Bild.

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's personal envoy has arrived in Iran as part of a regional tour aimed at backing "a comprehensive and durable resolution" to the Iran war, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Jean Arnault will hear Iranian perspectives "on the way forward" and reiterate Guterres' commitment to support a peaceful settlement, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Arnault also called on all leaders to "choose the path of peaceful resolution and the protection of civilians," the spokesperson added.

MOSCOW, April 8 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Ukrainian intelligence assessments that Russian and Iranian hackers have joined forces, reported on Tuesday by Reuters, are false.

"Allegations of some kind of joint effort between Russian and Iranian hackers, as you put it, are yet another lie, in this case, perpetrated by the Kyiv regime and Kyiv terrorist groups," Zakharova said when asked by Reuters to comment on the report.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, April 8 (Reuters) - Iran will approach peace talks with the U.S. with greater caution than in the past due to a deep lack of trust, and the war will affect the future legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva said on Wednesday.

The United States and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, suspending a six-week-old war that has killed thousands, spread across the Middle East and caused unprecedented disruption to the world's energy supplies.

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall

DUBAI, April 8 (Reuters) - Iranian authorities see the truce with the United States and Israel as a strategic victory, but they emerge battered and isolated with an economy in tatters, little prospect of rapid recovery and an impoverished, embittered population.

After weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes, many Iranians have lost their jobs. Prices have surged. Factories, power plants, railways, airports and bridges have been destroyed. And the critical trading relationship with Gulf states has been severed - maybe for decades.

Just 10 vessels have passed through Strait of Hormuz since the Middle East war ceasefire took effect, according to maritime tracking data, amid lingering fears about using the strategic waterway.

Iran and the United States said the 167 kilometer (104 mile) strait between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean would reopen after the two-week truce was announced on Wednesday.

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - Wars cause large and persistent economic losses in countries where fighting takes place, with output declining by roughly 7% over five years on average, and economic scars lasting for more than a decade, the International Monetary Fund said in research released on Wednesday.

The ceasefire agreed between Iran and the United States should bring some relief to a world economy that has been roiled since the start of hostilities on February 28, even if not all sectors will rebound at the same pace.

- Oil prices -

The ceasefire sent oil prices tumbling, with the main international contracts falling below $100 a barrel.

That should bring relief for retail customers at the pump, where surging petrol prices in recent weeks have forced many countries to take measures to reduce consumption and protect the most vulnerable.