President Trump says US Navy will begin blockade of Strait of Hormuz

At least 1,953 people have been killed, and 6,303 injured, in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since the war began, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Of those killed, 357 were killed in the massive Israeli strikes on Wednesday alone as the death toll continues to rise. Another 1,223 were injured in Wednesday strikes.

"This toll is still not final due to continued search and rescue efforts and presence of a very large amount of human remains, which requires time to complete DNA tests and confirm the identities of the victims, before determining the final toll of the victims of April 8," the health ministry said.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz

President Donald Trump said that U.S. military vessels near Iran are being prepared and reloaded with ammunition in case the peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, fail, according to the NY Post.

“But we’re loading up the ships. We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we used to do a complete decimation … And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively,” Trump reportedly said.

“We have a reset going,” he also said, according to the Post.

When asked by the Post if he believes the upcoming peace talks will be successful, Trump reportedly said, “we’re going to find out in about 24 hours. We’re going to know soon.”

At least 13 state security personnel were killed in an Israeli strike on a government building in Nabatieh, south Lebanon, according to Lebanese State Security.

"The General Directorate of State Security condemns these attacks that target military personnel and civilians on Lebanese soil," Lebanese State Security said in a statement Friday.

As Vice President JD Vance heads to Islamabad, Pakistan, for peace talks with Iran, President Donald Trump is standing firmly by his side.

In a phone interview with the NY Post on Friday, Trump said that his vice president is doing a “very good job” and that he has “nothing to prove.”

“He doesn’t have to prove anything because he’s doing a very good job,” Trump reportedly said, after the NY Post asked if Vance’s negotiating abilities are being tested.

ABC News previously reported that Vance internally expressed reservations about the strikes. Trump has also said that he and Vance are "philosophically a little bit different" when it comes to U.S. war with Iran.

The president continued to cast doubt over the Iranian’s credibility, despite his insistence that regime change has occurred and that the new leaders are more “reasonable.”

“You’re dealing against people that we don’t know whether or not they tell the truth. To our face, they’re getting rid of all nuclear weapons, everything’s gone. And then they go out to the press and say, ‘No, we’d like to enrich,’” Trump said to the NY Post.

“So we’ll find out. But no, he’s done a great job. He has nothing to prove,” Trump added.

-ABC News' Emily Chang