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Israeli Forces Will Occupy Swathe of South Lebanon After War: Defense Minister

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday said Israel's military would occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon even after the end of the current war against the Hezbollah armed group. "At the end of the operation, the IDF will establish itself in a security zone inside Lebanon, on a defensive line against anti-tank missiles, and will maintain security ...

Lebanon Bans Hezbollah’s Military Activities, But Stops Short of Terrorism Label

In an unprecedented move, Lebanon’s government on March 2 banned all Hezbollah’s military and security activities and instructed the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to immediately move forward with its plan to disarm the militia. The decision came hours after a Hezbollah rocket barrage into Israel, which triggered a widescale military ...

Iran Accuses U.S. and Israel of Seeking to Divide the Country as War Escalates

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday accused the United States and Israel of attempting to weaken and divide the country as the regional war continues to intensify, while insisting that Tehran’s military actions are defensive and warning that international institutions have failed to intervene. During a press ...

Pro-Iran Iraqi Armed Group Says Will Stop U.S. Embassy Attacks, Under Conditions

An influential pro-Iranian armed group in Iraq pledged early Thursday to stop attacking the US embassy for five days, subject to several conditions including that Israel stop strikes on parts of Beirut. AFP reported no drone or rocket attacks so far on the US embassy in Iraq's capital Baghdad between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The ...

U.S. Moves Missile Defense Components From South Korea to Middle East Amid Escalating Iran War

The United States has begun transferring components of its advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system from military bases in South Korea to the Middle East, according to a report published Tuesday by The Washington Post, citing two U.S. officials familiar with the operation. The move comes as Washington seeks to ...

Iran Strikes Gulf Energy Infrastructure as Regional War Drives Oil Prices Higher

Iran launched a new wave of strikes across the Gulf on Monday, targeting energy infrastructure and military-linked facilities in several countries as the regional conflict triggered by the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran continues to widen. One of the most significant attacks struck Bahrain’s Al Ma’ameer oil facility, a major petroleum ...

U.S. Intelligence Says Iran’s Late Leader Had Doubts About Son’s Succession

U.S. intelligence assessments presented to President Donald Trump suggest that Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had reservations about his son Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding him as the country’s top authority, according to sources familiar with the briefings. Officials told CBS News that intelligence agencies recently briefed Trump and a ...

Fresh Strike on Base in Western Iraq Kills Seven

A new strike in western Iraq killed seven security personnel, the defence ministry said Wednesday, a day after a deadly attack on the same base targeted the former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi. Iraq has been unwillingly pulled into the war sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, and which has since engulfed much of the ...

Israel Pounds South Beirut as Hezbollah Launches New Rocket Attack

Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs late Wednesday night, while militant group Hezbollah fired rockets and missiles at northern Israel in a new operation, as the death toll in Lebanon climbed past 630. Earlier on Wednesday, Israel had struck the heart of the capital for a second time since the country became a front in the wider conflict ...

Israel Strikes Iran’s Caspian Supply Routes, Targeting Russian-Linked Arms Corridor

Israel has expanded the geographic scope of its war against Iran, carrying out a rare strike in the Caspian Sea region targeting what officials describe as a critical maritime corridor used to transport Russian-supplied weapons to Tehran. According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, the operation struck facilities at Iran’s Bandar ...

Washington and Tehran Disagree on the Status of Negotiations

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Washington and “representatives” from Tehran had held “very good and productive conversations” over the past two days, and he had subsequently instructed the Department of Defense to postpone military strikes on Iranian power plants for five days—emphasizing that current ...

Israel Maintains High Pressure in West Bank Amid Iran War

As war with Iran and its proxies touches most of the region, Israel maintains pressure in the West Bank as violence mounts, while the Knesset approved a bill setting the death penalty on charges of deadly acts of terrorism.  On Monday, 2 Palestinians in the West Bank were killed by Israeli soldiers in separate incidents, according to ...

War in the Middle East: Casualty Figures from Across the Region

Since the United States and Israel unleashed strikes on Iran on February 28, war has spread across the Middle East, with casualties reported in countries across the region. AFP has not been able to independently verify all of the following tolls. The figures are based on numbers released by governments, militaries, health authorities and rescue ...

Iranian Strikes on Arab Countries Continue Into Seventh Day of Regional War

The war between Iran and the U.S.-Israeli alliance continues to spill across the Middle East, with several Arab countries reporting missile and drone attacks as Tehran expands its retaliatory campaign across the region. Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia all reported interceptions of Iranian projectiles on Saturday, while ...

Yemen Claims Joint Strike with Iran and Hezbollah on Southern Israel

Yemen’s armed forces on Wednesday announced a new round of attacks targeting what they described as “sensitive Israeli positions” in southern Israel in coordination with Iran and Hezbollah.  The operation, described as the third phase of an ongoing military campaign, involved the launch of ballistic missiles, according to a ...

Hormuz Alternative Oil Routes Inadequate to Cope with Demand

Iran's threats against oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz -- a chokepoint through which some 20 percent of global exports pass in peacetime -- has forced countries in the region to seek alternative routes. But analysts warn those routes are not yet sufficient to deal fully with global oil demand. "Saudi Arabia and the UAE can reroute ...

The Lebanese Army Goes Rogue

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), under its commander Rodolphe Haykal, has defied the state it is sworn to serve, effectively siding with Hezbollah at a moment when Lebanon teeters on the edge of the abyss. After Hezbollah drew Lebanon back into war on March 2, the Lebanese cabinet rushed into an emergency meeting and banned the militia’s ...

Israel Strikes Palestinian Camp and Southern Beirut Suburbs

An Israeli strike on Thursday targeting a car on the Zahle–Karak highway in the central Bekaa killed two people and wounded two others, Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry said in a statement. Beirut’s southern suburbs An Israeli drone strike targeted two cars late Wednesday at the southern entrance of the city along the Ziad ...

European Countries Seek Non-Involvement in Hormuz Strait as U.S. Pushes International Participation

The U.S. has encouraged its allies in Europe and the Gulf to increase their military participation in the Strait of Hormuz amid Iranian threats to close the waterway, prompting European countries to establish positions of non-involvement. On Monday, U.S. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called on the Gulf and Europe to do more to help ...

Reports of Ghalibaf–Trump Channel Trigger Political Turmoil in Tehran

Reports suggesting potential backchannel contacts between U.S. officials and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf have ignited a political storm in Tehran, exposing deep sensitivities within Iran’s leadership as the war continues. The controversy followed remarks by former U.S. President Donald Trump and subsequent ...

Roots of Radicalization: The Lebanese Immigrant Behind the Michigan Attack

A Lebanese immigrant to the U.S. last Thursday drove a truck laden with explosives into a synagogue in Michigan, as Israel fought a war with Hezbollah thousands of miles away, a group to which the assailant’s brother reportedly has ties. The FBI described Ayman Ghazali’s attack as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” ...

UAE Signals Willingness to Join Military Effort in Hormuz: Report

The United Arab Emirates is preparing to support a potential military operation led by the United States and its allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Arab officials told the Wall Street Journal. If confirmed, the move would mark the first time a Gulf state has formally entered the conflict with Iran. Emirati officials are pushing for a United ...

U.S. Temporarily Lifts Sanctions on Iranian Oil, Two Tankers Load at Kharg Island, Sources Say

The U.S. has lifted sanctions on some Iranian oil for 30 days to ease surging oil prices driven by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The U.S. treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the waiver would bring about 140 million barrels of oil to global markets and help relieve pressure on energy supply. In a statement on X, Bessent said “In ...

Ron Dermer: ‘It Is Possible to Talk about Potential Peace Agreement’ with Lebanon

Ron Dermer, recently-appointed head of the Israeli negotiating delegation with Lebanon, expressed that he is “making progress with Lebanon” regarding a political agreement between the two countries. On a deal with Lebanon, he expressed that “it is possible to talk about a potential peace agreement, but for a deal to be ...

Mossad Chief Tells Israeli Leadership Regime Change in Iran is Possible, Sources Say

Mossad Director David Barnea reportedly assessed in meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government prior to the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that it could be possible to topple the Iranian regime, according to Israeli media. Citing multiple unnamed sources, Barnea outlined that if the operation achieved ...

Israel Strikes South Lebanon, Beirut Suburbs as Hezbollah Keeps Up Attacks

Israel launched strikes on south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday, Lebanese state media said, as Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said it kept up attacks on Israeli troops. Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme ...

One Week of Escalation between Israel and Hezbollah

On the morning of Monday March 2, Hezbollah opened fire against Israel, reigniting the Israel-Hezbollah front in support of Iran.  Israel Strikes Targets in Lebanon The Lebanese Health Ministry’s casualties toll for the week totaled at least 486 people killed and at least 1313 people injured since last Monday’s ...