Macron urges halt to Israel-Hezbollah fighting

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged the Lebanese militant group to stop attacking Israel and warned Israel against a ground operation in Lebanon. ''Hezbollah must immediately cease its fire toward Israel. Israel must refrain from any ground intervention,'' Macron wrote on X. He said he spoke with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese leaders in what is apparently the first diplomatic initiative to try to end the conflict in the tiny country. Operations at WHO's crucial Dubai hub temporarily on hold ----------------------------------------------------------------- The World Health Organisation says the pause is due to insecurity, airspace closures and restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz. It's looking into possible land-based alternatives. Its eastern Mediterranean chief, Dr Hanan Balkhy, said the disruption is preventing access to $18 million worth of humanitarian health supplies, while $8 million in shipments cannot reach the hub. More than 50 emergency supply requests from 25 countries are affected, while $6 million in medicines for Gaza and $1.6 million in polio laboratory supplies are also held up, she said. WHO has not received any formal requests from Iranian authorities for specific supplies because Iran's system is ''withstanding the current situation,'' she said. The hub last year fulfilled over 500 emergency orders for 75 countries worldwide. Israel's UN envoy on calls to end Iran war: 'Not yet' --------------------------------------------------------- Israel's ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday it is too soon for diplomacy, as calls grow to end the widening war with Iran. Danny Danon told reporters Israel must first eliminate Iran's nuclear program, ballistic missiles, regional proxies and naval threats. ''I think diplomacy will come into action - not yet, not yet,'' Danon said. ''We have to finish the job.'' He said Israel must continue ''to hammer, to dismantle'' Iran's capabilities before turning to diplomacy, adding that he expects the war to last days or weeks, not months. Danon also said the 2015 Iran nuclear deal failed and that new ''effective mechanisms'' are needed to prevent Iran from becoming a threat again. Around 20,000 Americans have left the Middle East -------------------------------------------------------- US State Department has said around 20,000 Americans have left the Middle East and nearly all made their own way out, without government assistance. The department said the first charter flight it arranged for private citizens who want to leave departed Wednesday, with several more expected Thursday. Officials did not say where they would depart, but the department asked Americans in Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to fill out an online form for information. Officials said they have responded to requests for information from more than 10,000 Americans in the region, but did not say how many want to leave. Americans seeking help were urged to contact an emergency task force at +1-202-501-4444. Iranians trickle across the border with Turkey -------------------------------------------------- A steady stream of Iranians were crossing the border into Turkey on Thursday after the frontier was closed for much of the day before. Most already had links to Turkey. Elyar Akbari, a 22-year-old from Tabriz, Iran, is a student in Turkey's western city of Izmir. He cut short a visit home, leaving his family behind. ''I don't believe that Iranians will leave their country,'' he said. ''Only students or people who already work in Turkey will come for now.'' Kadir Ozel, 40, a Turkish citizen living in Tabriz, crossed to drop off his children, who will stay with their grandmother and uncle in Ankara. ''They were very scared. But I have to go back for work,'' he said. A woman who asked to be identified only by her first name, Fariba, out of security concerns, crossed to wait out the war with her son in Izmir. But her neighbours have no money, ''so they stay home, and they are scared,'' she said. Nearly 25,000 flights cancelled since the start of the war -------------------------------------------------------------- That's more than half of the roughly 44,000 flights scheduled to fly in and out of the Middle East between Saturday and Thursday, according to the latest numbers from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported about 2,050 flight cancellations worldwide as of around 11 am ET Thursday, following more than 2,600 cancellations on Wednesday. Dubai International Airport, a major hub, continued to see the largest number of disruptions.