Hello and welcome to The Guardian’s continuing coverage of the Middle East crisis.

Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told US envoys that Israel ability to address threats to its security Lebanon and the return of displaced people to the north were key elements of any ceasefire.

The comments came hours before Israel carried out airstrikes early on Friday Beirut southern suburbs, Reuters witnesses said, the first strikes there in almost a week.

“The most important issue is… Israel’s ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon,” Netanyahu’s office quoted him as telling two US envoys.

The envoys, Brett McGurk And Amos Hochsteinwere in Israel engaged in a new attempt to secure a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza. Lebanon’s prime minister expressed hope on Wednesday that a ceasefire is imminent.

• Hochstein and McGurk met with the Israeli prime minister on Thursday to discuss a ceasefire proposal for Lebanon. The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, Negotiators say they have made “good progress” toward a deal. “We are hopeful that in the not too distant future we will see the situation in Lebanon change,” the US Secretary of Defense said Lloyd Austin said.

• Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who earlier on Thursday was optimistic about a quick settlement “in hours or days”, said said Israel’s “continued escalation” in his country “does not inspire optimism.” Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister “has made it clear that the most important issue is not this or that agreement on paper, but Israel’s ability and determination to enforce the agreement and thwart any threat to its security from Lebanon, in a way that will return our residents safely.” to their homes.”

• Thursday marked a day that saw the most civilians killed in both Israel and Lebanon since October 2023. Lebanon’s health ministry said 45 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, amid bombardments in the northeastern Beqaa Valley and infantry fighting in the south. In one Bekaa village, eight people from the same family were murdered. In northern Israel, seven people were killed by rocket fire from Lebanon, including four Thai farm workers.

• The Israeli army’s evacuation call for several areas in southern Lebanon on Thursday also included a Palestinian refugee camp. One of the areas mentioned was the Rashidieh camp, where thousands of Palestinian refugees reside. Israel issued its second evacuation order for the town of Baalbek and two surrounding villages in the Bekaa Valley on Thursday afternoon, and carried out a series of airstrikes on the village of Durous a few hours later. The evacuation orders had led to a mass exodus of residents from the city, which is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Israeli attacks killed at least one child in Lebanon every day and injured 10 others, the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) said. Citing the Lebanese Health Ministry, UNICEF said 166 children have been killed since October 2023, while at least 1,168 have been injured. It made clear that the war in Lebanon is “inflicting serious physical wounds and deep emotional scars” on many of the country’s children. Six Lebanese health workers were killed and four injured in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the Health Ministry said in a statement.