Israel pounded Lebanon with its heaviest strikes yet on Wednesday, killing hundreds of people and drawing a threat of retaliation from Iran, which suggested it would be "unreasonable" to proceed with talks to forge a permanent peace deal with the United States.
Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, killing more than 250 people on Wednesday, as the Iran-aligned group resumed rocket attacks on northern Israel after a brief pause under the two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
As global attention centres on the conflict between Iran and the U.S., violence in Lebanon is intensifying, with Israeli strikes hitting residential areas, causing mounting civilian casualties and deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it had stopped firing on northern Israel and Israeli forces on Wednesday as part of a two-week ceasefire in the Middle East brokered between the United States and Iran. However, a Hezbollah lawmaker warned that the pause could collapse if Tel Aviv does not adhere to it.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged the world on Sunday to step in and help halt the ongoing war between Israel and Lebanon, warning that diplomacy is the only way to end the conflict and ease civilian suffering.
Israeli airstrikes on the town of Kfar Hatta in Lebanon have reportedly killed six people and injured two, according to Lebanese media.
One U.S. crew member has been rescued after two American warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, as the search continues for a missing pilot, while President Donald Trump has given Tehran 48 hours to agree to a deal to end the war.
More than 1.1 million people have been forced from their homes in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, as the UN spokesman says the humanitarian situation is worsening. Israel recently announced it intends to annex part of Southern Lebanon.
One U.S. crew member has been rescued after Iran downed a warplane, while the search continues for a second. At the same time, Iran has officially told mediators it will not meet U.S. officials in Islamabad in the coming days, calling U.S. demands unacceptable, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Iran is “essentially… no longer a threat,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (1 April), signalling what he described as the final phase of the war with Iran. In a televised address from the White House, Trump stated the U.S.-led campaign "Operation Epic Fury" was nearing completion.
Fears of wider escalation grow despite President Donald Trump saying U.S. strikes on Iran could end within weeks. Meanwhile missile attacks, tanker incidents and rising casualties across Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf heighten risks to regional stability and energy routes.
President Donald Trump said the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and Tehran did not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict to wind down.
Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medics were killed in Israeli strikes.
The Middle East conflict has entered a new phase, with Israel expanding its operations into southern Lebanon and tensions with Iran escalating. Analysts warn that the collapse of traditional deterrence and rising nuclear risks could trigger a global arms race.
The war in Iran has rapidly upended regional security, triggering spillover across the Middle East and raising fears of wider economic disruption that could threaten globalisation.
Lebanon has expelled Iran’s ambassador and declared him persona non grata, ordering his departure by 29 March, as tensions surge across the Middle East following intensifying cross-border violence.
Israel said on Monday its own forces had misfired artillery that killed an Israeli farmer near the Lebanese frontier, the first Israeli civilian killed in a border conflict being waged in parallel with the war in Iran.
China has announced it will provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as a widening conflict in the Middle East drives increasing civilian suffering and displacement across the region.
Israel is set to approve the mobilisation of up to 450,000 reserve troops at the request of the military, as Israeli forces begin further ground attacks in southern Lebanon against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
A wave of attacks across Israel and southern Lebanon escalated on Wednesday (11 March), with authorities reporting up to 12 incoming missile and drone alerts over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Officials in Azerbaijan have said they have stopped terror attacks in Azerbaijan including on an Israeli Embassy, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and a Synagogue. Tensions between regional and global powers escalate. Military activity, security alerts and travel disruptions continue.
Lebanon's Hezbollah warned Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5 km (3.11 miles) of the border between the countries in a message posted on its Telegram channel in Hebrew early on Friday.
Trump tells Axios he wants direct involvement in who takes over as Iran's next leader, rejecting Khamenei's son as "unacceptable" and citing the need for a figure who can bring "peace and harmony".
Israel has warned residents to leave a significant area in southern Lebanon, instructing them to move north of the Litani River as hostilities with the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah intensified on Wednesday.
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