A UNITED NATIONS agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman. The alleged strike followed the passage of several tankers via a route backed by the UN.

The head of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said moving stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for ships on the evacuation list and in the region.

The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route without Tehran’s permission. The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the UN agency’s secretary-general.

Following reports of the attack, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority — a new government agency established to control shipping —wrote on social media that transit outside its own designated routes “will not be covered by the guarantee of safe passage.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem demanded that Israel remove its troops from Lebanon immediately.

In a televised address on the Shia Muslim holy day of Ashura, Mr Qassem said: “Israel has no option but to withdraw completely from every inch of our Lebanese land. Israel must leave unconditionally.”

But, on Friday morning, the Israeli military launched air strikes on the western town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and reportedly killed two people in an earlier raid on Mayfadoun in the south.

IDF aircraft also dropped leaflets on the southern town of Masouri, calling on residents to leave..