The Deputy Prime Minister of Economic Affairs’ office says the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has prioritized the growth of trade, the modernization of commercial land ports and the development of infrastructure.

The Deputy PM’s office said that in today's world, trade plays an important role in the economic development of countries, the social well-being of society, and the development of trade requires the creation of a single trade system and the removal of existing barriers and the

reduction of customs tariffs.

“Our ports with a number of neighboring countries are active 24 hours a day. We are trying to make our ports with all neighboring countries active 24 hours a day because we want our business to expand both in the export and import sectors. Therefore, we also have plans to

standardize ports so that our ports can export and import according to standards with all countries,” said Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzadah, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Deputy PM’s office stated the IEA has intensified its efforts in this field, an example of which is the increase in the country's export level.

It added that the level of trade deficit is still high, but detailed plans have been drawn up to eliminate the existing deficit in the trade sector.

Meanwhile, the installation of electronic scanners at 12 customs points at border crossings of the country is one example of work being done to modernize the land ports.

Torghundi, Islam Qala, Zaranj, Spin Boldak, Ghulam Khan, Torkham, Aqina, Hairatan and Shir Khan are important land ports through which thousands of tons of goods are moved through daily.

Michael Kugelman, a US-based foreign policy expert and the Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, said on Thursday that president-elect Donald Trump may be more willing than incumbent President Joe Biden to engage with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

Kugelman said in a post on X that Trump will praise the IEA for its operations against Daesh and it will be something that will have his attention, given that he liked to claim credit for curbing Daesh.

Kugelman has in the past said that Trump, as president, would be less likely to focus on the state of women’s education and human rights in Afghanistan.

The IEA has expressed hope that under Trump, significant progress can be made in relations between Kabul and Washington.

In a post on X on Wednesday, the IEA’s foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said the government hopes the future Trump administration "will take realistic steps toward concrete progress in relations between the two countries and both nations will be able to open a new chapter of relations".

He underscored that during former president Trump's first term in power he presided over a peace deal with the Islamic Emirate that paved the way for the US withdrawal in 2021 "after which the 20 year occupation ended".

The Doha agreement was signed on February 29, 2020, in Qatar between the IEA and the United States under Trump, but excluded Afghanistan's then-ruling government.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed 40 people around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, according to the country's health ministry, and at dusk more strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs, Reuters reported.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged fire for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war but fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops intensifying bombing of Lebanon's south and east and making ground incursions into border villages.

Israeli strikes on Baalbek and the Bekaa Valley killed 40 people and wounded 53, the health ministry said. The Israeli military did not comment.

Israel has repeatedly battered strongholds of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.

The Israeli military ordered residents in the southern suburbs to evacuate several locations on Wednesday. Two waves of bombing followed, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday.

Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV reported there were at least four strikes on Thursday. There was no immediate report of casualties or details on what was hit.

Hezbollah secretary general Naim Qassem on Wednesday said he did not believe that political action would bring an end to hostilities, read the report.

He said there could be a road to indirect negotiations if Israel stopped its attacks.

"When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined - indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and speaker (of parliament Nabih) Berri," Qassem said.

U.S. diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal, faltered last week ahead of the U.S. election on Tuesday in which former President Donald Trump recaptured the White House.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the last year, the vast majority in the past six weeks.

Lebanese rescuers scoured a destroyed apartment building in the town of Barja, south of Beirut, for bodies or survivors after an Israeli strike on Tuesday evening killed 20 people there, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Moussa Zahran, who lived on one of the upper floors of the building, returned to sift through the ruins of his home. His burned feet were wrapped in gauze and his son and wife were in hospital after being wounded in the strike.

"These rocks that you see here weigh 100 kilos; they fell on a 13-kilo kid," he said, referring to his son and the apartment wall that collapsed on him during the strike.

It was not clear whether the strike targeted a member of Hezbollah. There was no evacuation warning ahead of the air raid.

Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had fired missiles at an Israeli military base near Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli media reported a rocket had landed near the airport.

Later, the Israeli military said dozens of projectiles had crossed into Israel from Lebanon, some of which were intercepted, Reuters reported.

Efforts to bring a diplomatic end to the conflict have stalled. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday appointed Israel Katz as defence minister, who vowed to defeat Hezbollah so people displaced from northern Israel could return home.

Berri - a Hezbollah ally and diplomatic interlocutor - met the U.S. and Saudi ambassadors to Lebanon on Wednesday to discuss political developments, his office said, without providing further details.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, meanwhile, congratulated the U.S. president-elect.

Netanyahu hailed Trump's election, while senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump would be tested on his statements that he can stop the Gaza war in hours as president.