US-IRAN WAR: TRUCE AND TALKS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed on Wednesday a row with US President Donald Trump, saying they both were aligned on the goal of disarming Hezbollah in order to achieve peace between Israel and Lebanon.

Trump confirmed in an interview published on Wednesday in the New York Post that he had a tense exchange with Netanyahu two days prior, in which he reportedly berated his close ally with expletives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he and US President Donald Trump agree on the main things concerning Iran, CNBC reported on Wednesday.

Netanyahu acknowledged there are occasional tactical disagreements between the two leaders but said these are managed and resolved.

He also said that many of those targeting Israel are based in Beirut.

Kuwait said on Wednesday that its territory and airspace were not used to attack "any country", denying Iranian claims that the United States launched strikes from there.

The denial came as Kuwait summoned Iran's charge d'affaires, with Deputy Foreign Minister Hamad Suleiman Al-Mashaan issuing "Kuwait's categorical rejection of the use of its territory or airspace in any hostile acts against any country, emphasising that the false Iranian claims are baseless and do not rely on evidence", a ministry statement said.

Hezbollah claimed an attack on Israeli troops in northern Israel on Wednesday as Israeli and Lebanese officials began a second day of direct talks in Washington that Hezbollah opposes.

In a statement, Hezbollah said that "in response to the Israeli enemy army's violation of the ceasefire", its fighters targeted "a gathering of Israeli enemy army soldiers" in northern Israel with a rocket barrage.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, edging closer to $100 a barrel while stocks fell as further attacks between the US and Iran dented hopes of an imminent peace deal.

Wall Street indexes opened lower and European stocks were mostly in the red, following a mixed showing in Asia.

The dollar mostly firmed as oil prices flared amid the Mideast escalations despite a purported ceasefire, with a drone strike on a passenger terminal in Kuwait's international airport killing one person and wounding dozens of others.

The war has hit economic growth prospects worldwide, with a more severe shock likely should no effective ceasefire be agreed before 2027, the OECD warned Wednesday.

At least two paramedics have been killed in the latest Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Public Health said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency that the pair were killed when an "Israeli enemy strike directly targeted an ambulance" that belonged to the Al-Risala Association in Shouhour, in the Tyre district.

Kuwait said it detected 30 ballistic missiles and drones launched as part of a "heinous Iranian aggression" on Wednesday.

"Since dawn today, the armed forces have detected and engaged 13 hostile ballistic missiles within Kuwaiti airspace. These missiles were intercepted over several residential areas, resulting in some debris falling. The armed forces also detected and engaged 17 hostile drones. This heinous Iranian aggression targeted civilian and vital facilities," defence ministry spokesman Saud Abdulaziz al-Atwan said.

Lebanon's army said two personnel were wounded when an Israeli strike hit a military vehicle in the country's south on Wednesday, as Israel pounds the region in its ongoing war against Hezbollah.

"An Israeli enemy drone targeted an army vehicle on the Deir Zahrani-Nabatieh road, wounding an officer and a soldier," an army statement said, decrying "the deliberate targeting of army personnel, vehicles and positions".