Lebanon's leaders issued pointed calls for Iran to stop interfering in their country's affairs on Friday, as Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah traded attacks after a new truce deal was flatly rejected by the group.

Lebanese state media reported fresh Israeli strikes on more than 40 locations Friday, while Hezbollah claimed new attacks on Israeli troops who have invaded the south.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 to avenge the February 28 killing of Iran's supreme leader.

By Alexander Cornwell, Rami Ayyub and Steve Holland

JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - Benjamin Netanyahu has long portrayed himself to the Israeli public as being uniquely adept in dealing with Donald Trump, capable of winning and sustaining the U.S. president's backing.

But an acrimonious phone call this week where the president called the prime minister "fucking crazy", first leaked to the media and later publicly confirmed by Trump himself, laid bare the strains that have at times emerged between the two leaders.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, June 5 (Reuters) - The Middle East conflict is pushing millions of people closer to hunger, as rising fuel and transport costs drive up food prices while funding shortfalls force aid agencies to scale back assistance, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday.

Joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February triggered a regional conflict stretching across the Gulf and into Lebanon, disrupting key shipping routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, forcing vessels to reroute and sharply constraining global energy flows and supply chains.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, June 5 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Friday said it is doubling the amount of money it says it needs to help Lebanon meet surging humanitarian needs, as the war enters its fourth month.

Lebanon was drawn into the wider regional war in early March when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia fired rockets at Israel in solidarity with Iran, which was under U.S.-Israeli attack, prompting a major Israeli air and ground campaign.

The UN on Friday more than doubled its aid appeal for Lebanon as the country reels from Israel's war against Iran-backed Hezbollah, saying nearly $640 million was needed over six months.

Three months into the war, the United Nations warned that a "humanitarian catastrophe" was looming in Lebanon, with a quarter of its population needing aid.

"Communities across Lebanon have faced an appalling situation due to the escalation of hostilities," Imran Riza, the UN's resident humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Beirut.

June 4 (Reuters) - EU ministers on Thursday broadly supported a proposal to limit access to temporary protection for Ukrainian men of military age, Sweden’s migration minister said.

The European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine to manage large-scale arrivals of displaced people.

The scheme, which has been extended three times and is due to expire in March 2027, grants beneficiaries residence permits, access to the labour market and social welfare.

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he believed progress was being made between Israel and Lebanon and that Lebanon deserved to have peace.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "I actually spoke to Hezbollah about it."

He continued: "And I think progress is made. It's been going on for a long time, you know," he said.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson and Steve Holland;Editing by David Ljunggren)

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Washington did not need a deal with Iran to get enriched uranium from the country.

"We could get it right now. I don't think they could stop us if we wanted, but there's no reason to. It's entombed," he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump also said that he did not want to meet with Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

But he added that if Washington and Tehran reached a deal, it was possible that the two would meet and added: "If it happened ... I'd be respectful".

TRIPOLI, June 4 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Libyan demonstrators blocked off the office of the U.N. refugee agency in the capital Tripoli on Thursday during a protest against migrants who have travelled to the country in search of work or passage to Europe.

The demonstrators gathered in front of UNHCR's main office in Tripoli's Sarraj neighbourhood, chanting slogans such as "No, No to settlement, Libya only for Libyans" and "Get out of Libya,

take them all out of Libya."

Despite living just 300 metres from the border wall separating Israel from Lebanon, Sigalit Levin has little enthusiasm for the new ceasefire deal meant to bring a lasting end to fighting with Hezbollah.

"We can't keep doing this," the 60-year-old told AFP from her home in Shlomi, a small town in Israel's far north.

"We can't just keep taking blows, turning the other cheek, taking more blows, and then turning the other cheek again," she added.

"This is not a life."