Israel moves additional forces deeper into southern Lebanon

The Israeli military deployed additional forces to southern Lebanon overnight, to take up what a military spokesperson on Tuesday (3 March) described as "defensive positions" aimed at protecting Israeli civilians and strategic sites from potential Hezbollah attacks.

"We're only at the borderline area in a defensive manner to prevent attacks against civilians and very strategic important points," Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in an online briefing with reporters.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had authorised the military to advance and take control of additional positions inside Lebanon after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel late on Sunday. Hezbollah said the launches were in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.

Later, several Iranian missiles were launched towards Israel, with fragments landing in various locations but causing no reported injuries. Two drones also struck the U.S. embassy in Riyadh. The embassy there, along with the U.S. embassy in Kuwait, will remain closed on Tuesday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had destroyed a U.S. base in Bahrain, while a pro-Iranian militia in Iraq claimed responsibility for a drone attack on another U.S. base in Erbil.

Amid rising tensions, the U.S. Department of State ordered non-essential personnel and their families to leave Iraq, Jordan and Bahrain, and urged American citizens to depart from around 40 countries across the Middle East.

Iran also announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and warned that it would target any vessel attempting to pass through. The escalation has raised concerns about the scale of Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and the potential for further regional instability.

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