US-Iran war live updates: Israel and Lebanon enter 10-day ceasefire; Netanyahu says Israeli military will stay in southern Lebanon; Trump criticises Australia over Strait of Hormuz

Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the war in the Middle East.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• US President Donald Trump has renewed accusations that Australia has not done enough to help him in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, while ignoring Canberra’s recently announced hike in defence expenditure.
• Israel and Lebanon entered a 10-day ceasefire at 7am Friday AEST, Trump announced, but it is not clear how the ceasefire will work in practice, as Israel is fighting the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah rather than the Lebanese state.
• Trump said he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for talks, but did not say whether they had agreed to come.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to the ceasefire “to advance” peace efforts with Lebanon, but that Israeli troops would stay in an expanded security zone in southern Lebanon, where they are engaged in battles against Hezbollah.
• US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to strike Iranian energy infrastructure if a deal is not reached, describing the current US naval blockade as an example of “polite” behaviour during the ongoing ceasefire with Iran.
• A major fire at Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery, one of Australia’s two remaining oil refineries, is adding fuel to the fire of our national anxiety.

The US president made the assertion that Iran agreed to hand over its “nuclear dust” in an exchange with reporters before departing for an event in Las Vegas on Thursday (Washington time). If true, it would be a major concession from Iran, and would lock in a key demand of the US to end the conflict.

“They’ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that’s way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers,” said Trump, using a term he’s adopted as shorthand for the roughly 970 pounds of enriched uranium buried under Iranian nuclear sites damaged by strikes on the country last year.

Albanese finished the press conference by thanking the workers at the Viva Energy plant in Geelong after a “distressing” two days following the blaze.

“I want to thank all the workers for showing us first hand what they do for the efforts that they’ve made over the last 48 hours, and thank the emergency workers who’ve been here as well on site and continuing to make sure that the place is got safe,” the prime minister said.

Albanese returned to Australia from Malaysia overnight, cutting short his oil diplomacy blitz to visit the energy plant. He started the trip in Brunei, following a tour of Singapore last week.

The federal budget is continuing to be drafted and will be settled later than usual, the prime minister said, to respond to the “turbulent times” brought by the war in the Middle East.

“There are different announcements every day from overseas about the circumstances of what is happening in the Middle East,” Albanese said. “One of the themes of the budget on May 12 will be resilience.”

Albanese has welcomed the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which came into effect at 7am this morning (AEST). The agreement was brokered by the US and announced by Donald Trump.

“We want to see a de-escalation. We want to see the Strait of Hormuz open. We want to see the freedom of navigation that is so important for global trade that we all rely upon around the world, we want to see that continuing to be available in the future,” the prime minister said.

Talks between Israel and Lebanon are expected to continue over the next week, including at the White House.

Albanese has batted away several questions probing Donald Trump’s latest criticism of his government.

Trump told reporters a few hours ago he was “not happy” with Australia following its perceived reluctance to assist US efforts in the Middle East.

Albanese has said it was his job to “engage constructively” with the Trump administration, and that Australia’s position on the conflict remained unchanged.

He also made several references to the way in which the question was posed to Trump, noting that the president only made the remark following several questions from reporters on the ground.

The prime minister says BP has signed up to Australia’s export finance scheme, in which Australia agrees to underwrite fuel supplies bought by the companies at the current soaring prices.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said BP was “raring to go” and was particularly important as a supplier for Western Australia, a state already buying in its own separate diesel reserves.

Yesterday, Albanese announced that Viva Energy had bought 100 million litres of diesel – a little more than a day’s national supply – through the scheme.

Albanese says the Geelong refinery fire won’t move Australia to the third stage of its national fuel security plan, which would prompt the adoption of practical measures limiting fuel use.

“The event here will not lead to any change,” he confirmed. “We’ll give an update tomorrow about fuel supplies that are on hand. Fuel is continuing to come in.”

Albanese has used the press conference to thank Indonesia for its support for a deal that will supply 250,000 tonnes of additional agricultural grade urea for Australian farmers, claiming it has come “directly from the warm relationship” with Indonesian counterparts.

“More than 20 per cent of Australia’s urea needs, in addition to what was already available, has been agreed to be supplied,” he said.

The deal between Incitec Pivot Fertilisers and PT Pupuk Indonesia is supported by the Australian and Indonesian governments, and will support farmers in the current season.

Urea, an economic and highly concentrated nitrogen source, is widely used as fertiliser.

Anthony Albanese is speaking at the Viva Energy plant in Geelong this morning, one day after a fire erupted at the refinery. The prime minister said the fire was “regrettable” considering its timing, but most fuel production continued despite the incident.

“The advice that we’ve received today is that 80 per cent of diesel production is continuing, 80 per cent of aviation fuel is continuing. It’s been slowed down just slightly because of the circumstances which in there, but 60 per cent of petrol production is proceeding,” Albanese said.

There are hopes the refinery can “ramp up” production following the fire. Albanese’s press conference follows an oil diplomacy blitz in Brunei and Malaysia, following a whirlwind trip to Singapore last week.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is visiting the scene of the massive blaze at one of Australia’s last remaining oil refineries along with his deputy, Richard Marles, and Energy Minister Chris Bowen. Watch through the video player below.