The Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said talks between Syria and Israel “have not reached a dead end” but were facing “great difficulty” due to what he described as Israel’s insistence on remaining in Syrian territory.

In an interview with Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, Sharaa stressed that Syria was “serious about reaching a security agreement that preserves regional stability”.

“The negotiations have not reached a dead end, but they are progressing with great difficulty due to Israel’s insistence on maintaining a presence on Syrian soil,” he said.

Israeli forces have pushed into a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 and conducted incursions deeper into southern Syria. Israel previously said it sent troops as the Assad regime fell to protect the security of its borders.

Hezbollah has warned that its fighters “will keep their fingers on the trigger” if Israel violates the ceasefire in Lebanon.

In a short statement carried by the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar TV, the Iran-backed group said: “These mujahideen [fighters] will keep their hands on the trigger, ready to defend against the enemy’s treachery and betrayal.”

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has expressed concern that the ceasefire announced by Lebanon and Israel “may already be undermined by the continuation of military operations”.

“I call for the safety of civilian populations on both sides of the border between Lebanon and Israel. Hezbollah must renounce its weapons. Israel must respect Lebanese sovereignty and stop the war,” Macron said in a post on X.

Local media reports suggest the ceasefire is largely holding, although Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported Israeli machine gunfire at an ambulance belonging to the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Authority in the southern Lebanese town of Kounin.

The Lebanese army also reported “a number of violations” of the ceasefire this morning. In a statement it said it “renews its call for citizens to refrain from returning to the southern villages and towns, in light of a number of violations of the agreement. A number of Israeli attacks have been recorded, in addition to intermittent shelling affecting a number of villages”. The Israeli military has not immediately commented on the reports.

The Lebanese army said it also arrested nine people in Beirut for firing shots into the air last night after the ceasefire went into effect.

In case you’re just joining us, here are the latest developments in the Middle East to bring you up to speed. It’s 9am in Beirut and Jerusalem, 9.30am in Tehran and 2am in Washington DC.

• A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect, pausing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,100 Lebanese people and displaced more than 2.1 million. The agreement was announced earlier by Donald Trump, who said he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, and invited both leaders “for meaningful talks” at the White House. Both leaders welcomed the agreement.

• Israel and Hezbollah both maintained their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken – here’s our full report.

• Netanyahu called the ceasefire a “historic” opportunity for peace but refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting. “We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” he said, due to the “danger of an invasion” and to prevent fire into Israel. “That is where we are, and we are not leaving.”

• UN chief António Guterres welcomed the ceasefire, which took effect at midnight on Thursday (2100 GMT) in Lebanon, and urged “all actors” to fully respect it. He hoped the halt in fighting would “pave the way for negotiations”.

• The Lebanese army warned people displaced from southern Lebanon about returning home because of intermittent shelling that was reported after the ceasefire came into effect.

• The Israeli military warned residents of southern Lebanon not to return south of the Litani River despite the truce.

• Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson welcomed the ceasefire and stressed it was already part of the original Iran-US agreement brokered by Pakistan.

• Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire in the hours before the truce took effect.

• Asian stocks were poised for a second week of strong gains and oil prices were pinned below $100 a barrel with investors hopeful for a near-term resolution to war in the Middle East.

• The UK and France will chair a meeting of about 40 countries on Friday aimed at signalling to the US that some of its closest allies are ready to play a role in restoring freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz once conditions allow.

• European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and France have mine-clearance capacity that could help secure passage through the strait, France’s defence minister has said.

• Turkey is hosting a forum on Friday bringing together the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as Islamabad pushes diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war.

Asian stocks were poised for a second week of strong gains and oil prices were pinned below $100 a barrel with investors hopeful for a near-term resolution to war in the Middle East.

With the Lebanon-Israel truce coming into effect and Donald Trump saying the next US-Iran meeting might take place over the weekend, oil prices were pushed lower, with Brent crude futures falling more than 1% to $98.14 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.6% to $93.15 a barrel.

In stocks, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.6% but remained close to its highest since 2 March, the first trading day after the Iran war broke out.

The index is up 14.5% in April after dropping 13.5% in March, Reuters reports. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.9% in early trading after hitting a record high on Thursday.

Almost all stock markets are back to levels before the war erupted in late February.

However, equity markets needed “some concrete evidence that peace is going to last”, said ATFX Global’s chief market strategist, Nick Twidale.

And to me, that is a full reopening of the strait [of Hormuz], or we could see some substantial corrections in global stocks in the coming days and weeks.”

The UK and France will chair a meeting of about 40 countries on Friday aimed at signalling to the US that some of its closest allies are ready to play a role in restoring freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz once conditions allow.

British prime minister Keir Starmer is expected to say the reopening the strait of Hormuz is a “global responsibility”.

The talks come as the 10-day Israel-Lebanon truce agreement could boost efforts to extend the US ceasefire with Iran.

Starmer will reportedly arrive in Paris late on Friday morning to co-host the virtual meeting with Emmanuel Macron and then have lunch with the French president.

Iran has largely shut the Hormuz strait in response to US-Israeli airstrikes and this week Donald Trump imposed a naval blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports. The US president has called on other countries to help enforce the blockade and has criticised Nato allies for not doing so.

The initiative being discussed on Friday doesn’t yet include the US or Iran, but according to a note sent to invited nations and cited by Reuters, the meeting aims to reaffirm full diplomatic support for full freedom of navigation through the Hormuz strait and the need to respect international law.

The meeting will also address economic challenges facing the shipping industry and the safety of more than 20,000 stranded seafarers and trapped commercial vessels.

Starmer is expected to tell the summit:

The unconditional and immediate reopening of the strait is a global responsibility, and we need to act to get global energy and trade flowing freely again.

Emmanuel Macron and I are clear in our commitment to establish a multinational initiative to protect freedom of navigation.”

PA Media also reports that British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and defence staff chief Richard Knighton will join Starmer.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.

United Nations chief António Guterres has welcomed the ceasefire announced on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon, urging “all actors” to fully respect the truce.

“The secretary general welcomes the announcement of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and commends the role of the United States in facilitating” it, Guterres spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding he hoped the temporary halt to fighting would “pave the way for negotiations”.

The ceasefire took effect at midnight on Thursday (2100 GMT) in Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting devastating airstrikes aimed at wiping out the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

The Lebanese army warned people displaced from southern Lebanon about returning home because of intermittent shelling that was reported after the ceasefire came into effect.

The terms of the truce, as provided by the US state department, prohibit Israel from offensive military actions in Lebanon. But they appear to leave more room for “self-defence”, including “against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”.

We’ll bring you more on this soon. Here is a summary of key developments:

• A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has come into effect, pausing fighting in a devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 2,100 Lebanese people and displaced more than 2.1 million. The agreement was announced earlier by Donald Trump, who said he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, and invited both leaders “for meaningful talks” at the White House. Both leaders welcomed the agreement. But how long the ceasefire will hold is the key question, as both Israel and Hezbollah have maintained their right to defend themselves if the truce is broken. Here’s our report.

• Netanyahu called it a “historic” opportunity for peace, though he refused to withdraw his troops from southern Lebanon during the pause in fighting. “We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” he said, due to the “danger of an invasion” and to prevent fire into Israel. “That is where we are, and we are not leaving.” The Israeli prime minister maintained that his key demand was dismantling Hezbollah. He has previously declared his intention to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River – about 30km from the border – while Lebanon demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and for displaced residents to be able to return to their homes.

• Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei welcomed the ceasefire and stressed it was already part of the original Iran-US agreement brokered by Pakistan. Baghaei said Iran emphasised “from the outset” the need for a “simultaneous ceasefire throughout the region, including Lebanon”, and expressed his “solidarity” with the people and government of Lebanon. He called for the return of displaced residents to their homes and emphasised the necessity of the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the south of the country – which, as mentioned, Israel has refused to do.

• The Lebanese army urged residents to “exercise restraint” in returning to their villages and towns in southern Lebanon ahead of the ceasefire coming into effect. The army added that even then residents should avoid areas that remain occupied by Israeli forces. It was followed by a similar statement issued by Hezbollah, urging caution amid Israel’s history of “breaking covenants and agreements”.

• The Israeli military issued an urgent warning to the people of southern Lebanon not to return south of the Litani River despite the ceasefire coming into force.

• In the hours before the truce took effect, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire. Just as the ceasefire came into force, the Israeli military said it had hit more than 380 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, including rocket launchers, headquarters and Hezbollah members themselves. Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Lebanese towns and villages killed dozens of people, including an attack on the town of Ghazieh which killed at least seven people and wounded 33, the health ministry said on Thursday.