Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that some Christian villages in southern Lebanon had asked to be annexed by Israel to protect themselves from Hezbollah.

“Christian villages in Lebanon, some of them have actually asked to be annexed to Israel, because we protect them against the Hezbollah, Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them, and we do the same things with Christians everywhere,” Netanyahu told Fox News, without naming which villages had sought annexation.

Earlier on Friday, residents of Christian villages in the Marjeyoun district rejected reports claiming they had sought annexation, saying in a statement that they had “no power nor the legal right” to make decisions of such magnitude.

The villages reaffirmed their “loyalty to their national identity” and their “attachment to their Lebanese flag”.

Under terms agreed by the UN Security Council, the ‘blue helmets’ will begin to withdraw from the war-torn region at the end of this year. Experts tell Oisin Mcilroy that a lack of oversight will see the area plunge further into a cycle of bloodshed

Hardline Iranian newspapers have called for avenging Ali Khamenei’s killing in their editions published this morning.

The Asr-e Iranian newspaper devoted its front page to the demand, using the headline: “Blood for blood”, according to Iran International.

It said that the revenge was “the right of the people and the duty of officials.”

Nobonyad newspaper asked: “Why shouldn’t we kill the one who killed our leader?”

Iran has completely shut the airspace above Tehran today for the funeral procession of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Regular flights at Mehrabad airport and Imam Khomeini airport will be suspended during public ceremonies in the capital, according to Iran’s civil aviation organisation.

Mehrabad airport is expected to resume normal operations tomorrow, while Imam Khomeini airport will remain closed.

Oil prices inched lower this morning after OPEC+ agreed to further increase its output targets from August, while exports from key producers via the Strait of ​Hormuz are recovering, potentially adding to global supplies.

Brent crude futures slid 24 cents, ‌or 0.33 per cent, to $71.88 a barrel after settling 0.45 per cent higher on Friday. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $68.58 a barrel, down 11 cents, or 0.16 per cent.

Iran began a procession this morning through its capital, Tehran, for the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei’s flag-draped coffin, and those of his family killed on 28 February in an airstrike at the start of the war launched by Israel and the US, will be carried on board a truck.

They will be taken through the streets of Tehran on their way to Mehrabad International Airport.

Authorities have shut down streets, airspace and daily life for the mourning, which will end Thursday as the 86-year-old Khamenei is buried at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

As Ali Khamenei’s body is transported to cities in Iran and neighbouring Iraq, talks over reaching a permanent end to the US conflict appear to be on hold until the end of the funeral.

The funeral was in part a show of unity and defiance as Iran demands a measure of control over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy that it shut down during the war.

The US has rejected those demands, and the sides are divided on other key issues, including the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran’s nuclear program.

The US assisted 70 transits of the Strait of Hormuz over the past 72 hours, including 18 on Saturday, a multinational maritime body overseen by the US Navy said Sunday.

It called traffic steady along routes near Oman and Iran but still below prewar levels. The threat level remained “substantial” and mine clearance and surveying work continued.