By Pesha Magid

JERUSALEM, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Families on the outskirts of Qusra, the West Bank village where Palestinian homes have been under siege for nearly a week, said they have faced sometimes deadly attacks by militant settlers for months.

The United States wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn militant settlers who have besieged Palestinians in their homes in ​the occupied West Bank, U.S. and Israeli officials said on Friday.

By Eman Abouhassira, Enas Alashray and Humeyra Pamuk

DUBAI/CAIRO/GARDEN CITY, New York, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Iran called on the U.S. to accept defeat on Saturday, while President Donald Trump blasted Tehran as "very evil" and told Americans to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war.

Progress towards peace talks and oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz remained halted, with no sign the warring parties were moving toward ending the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28.

CAIRO, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates said on Saturday Iran had attacked an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessel while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

ADNOC said no injuries were reported and that the situation was under control, according to WAM.

The UAE foreign ministry called on Tehran to halt what it described as unprovoked attacks, end hostilities and fully reopen the waterway.

There was no immediate comment from Iran.

Lebanon said Israeli strikes on the south killed 11 people including three children on Saturday, the deadliest raids since deals in June eased hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanese leaders condemned the strikes, which Israel's military said were in retaliation for an attack by the Iran-backed militant group, with one targeting a Hezbollah commander it accused of using his family as "human shields".

The strikes came as Israel and Lebanon were set to hold an eighth round of US-sponsored direct negotiations early next month in Rome.

Iran on Saturday fired back at US President Donald Trump's claim that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, saying the crucial energy waterway it has blockaded "will remain Iranian".

Trump has repeatedly insisted that the strait, which Tehran effectively closed at the start of the Middle East war in late February, is under US control despite traffic remaining throttled.

"The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X.

By David Lewis

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - An estimated $50 million ransom paid to free a hostage seized by al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali in late 2025 has helped to fund their advances across West Africa and the group's global network, U.N. experts said.

A new U.N. report detailing the use of the ransom did not identify the hostage or say who had made the payment.

By Jonathan Saul, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

LONDON/PANAMA CITY, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Friday after two more ships were attacked there and the United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely.

A senior Iranian source said on Wednesday that there had been no progress in talks to build on a June agreement to end the war. Since the ceasefire renewed in the June deal broke down, Iran has resumed attacks on ships it accuses of trying to transit the strait without its permission.

By David Brunnstrom

Aug 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed to donors on Friday not to cut funding for women's programs in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, saying this would add to suffering in a country where conditions for women are already the worst in the world.

By Pesha Magid and Rami Ayyub

QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 14 (Reuters) - The United States wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn militant settlers who have besieged Palestinians in their homes in the occupied West Bank, U.S. and Israeli officials said on Friday, as settlers pressured residents by pitching a new tent before Israeli soldiers arrived and it was taken down.

President Donald Trump dismissed concerns Friday over living conditions and the mental health of service members on a US aircraft carrier deployed against Iran, while confirming the ship would soon rotate out.

Asked by reporters whether family members were worried about the situation on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Trump said "no, they're not."

Trump also rejected the idea that the ship -- now at sea for nine months -- had been deployed for too long. "No, no, no, not nearly enough," he said.