Mourners gathered Sunday in Beirut to pay their respects to a much-loved Lebanese conservationist who died after succumbing to wounds sustained in an Israeli strike on her home on the country's southern coast.

Mona Khalil, who spent more than two decades protecting sea turtles along Lebanon's coastline, was critically injured in the strike on her home in the village of Mansouri earlier this month and died of her wounds Friday. She was 76.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Fox News that a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon cannot be reached if Iran is “trying to squeeze themselves into this conflict” via the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.

Wearing a yellow scarf showing her son killed fighting for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Iman Dilbani wept during a religious sermon in the battered southern city of Tyre during the Islamic holy month of Muharram.

Tyre, Lebanon's fourth largest city, has been devastated by the Israel-Hezbollah war that reached a reported ceasefire Friday, with damaged buildings and structures reduced to rubble seen on almost every street following intense Israeli airstrikes.

Israel carried out deadly strikes in south Lebanon on Saturday and Hezbollah maintained it had the right to respond, hours after the United States announced a renewed ceasefire in fighting that had strained a fledgling deal with Iran.

The American push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag Friday, just days after the signing of an agreement that opens a two-month window for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program and returning oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels.

Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that Israel strikes on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants Lebanon must stop before the talks can take place, according to three regional officials and a person familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing mediation to try to get the talks rescheduled and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Israel and Hezbollah have agreed a ceasefire that begins 4pm Friday Beirut time, a U.S. official said Friday, after deadly new exchanges in Lebanon put the deal to end the Middle East war under strain.

European Union leaders have been unable to agree on setting up a back-channel with Moscow to ensure that the bloc's interests are protected should progress be made in negotiations to end Russia's war on Ukraine, some of them said on Friday.

European Council President António Costa, who chaired their two-day summit, had directed his office to reach out to the Kremlin and proposed a senior official to make contact. Costa said his aim was not to mediate or set up a parallel negotiating track to the one led by the United States, which is making little progress.

Iran has informed Hezbollah that it will not continue the negotiations with the US without a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said.

Israel’s military struck targets throughout southern Lebanon overnight into Friday and Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area, threatening the nascent agreement between Iran and the United States to end their war. Lebanese media reported at least 18 people killed in the strikes, and Israel said four soldiers died, vowing to make Hezbollah pay a heavy price.

The Israeli military said strikes were ongoing on Friday after four of its soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, were killed in an attack on a tank in a village near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh. An explosive drone attack wounded another five, it added.

Israel then launched multiple strikes against "Hezbollah infrastructure sites" in Nabatiyeh and other areas, according to a military statement, which accused the militant group of "blatant ceasefire violations."

Israel's military said Friday its forces struck targets throughout southern and eastern Lebanon overnight into Friday as Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area, threatening the nascent agreement between Iran and the United States to end their war.

Talks planned for Friday in Switzerland between Iran and the United States, which Vice President JD Vance had been scheduled to attend, found themselves postponed as the fighting intensified. Mediators worked to reschedule the meetings crucial for starting talks over a permanent end to the Iran war, with much of the attention focused on Lebanon, regional officials said.