Middle East
Lebanon urges DNA tests to identify missing in Israel strikes
Lebanese authorities on Monday urged the families of people who went missing in Israeli strikes to conduct DNA tests at specialised centres to identify the remains of loved ones
Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen, killing four people
Israel said it bombed Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday in response to missile fire by the Iran-aligned militants at Israel over the past two days, marking another front in fighting in the Middle East
Who is Nasrallah?
Slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, whose death was confirmed yesterday by his Iran-backed movement, wielded great power in Lebanon but led a life in hiding to avoid assassination by his group’s arch-enemy, Israel.
Khamenei moved to a secure location
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location inside the country with heightened security measures in place, two regional officials briefed by Tehran told Reuters.
12 dead in air strikes on pro-Iranian fighters in Syria
Twelve pro-Iranian fighters have been killed in air strikes of unknown origin in eastern Syria, a war monitor said yesterday, adding that a large number of people were wounded.
Tens of thousands protest against Lebanon 'bloodbath' in Iran, Yemen
Tens of thousands protested in Iranian cities and in the rebel-held Yemeni capital on Friday to condemn Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, AFP journalists and state media reported
Israel hits Hezbollah HQ in Beirut with heavy airstrikes
The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs yesterday in an attack that shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city.
Over 30,000 crossed into Syria from Lebanon
Well over 30,000 people, mainly Syrians, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 72 hours, the UN refugee agency said yesterday, amid an escalating conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that has killed hundreds of people in Lebanon.
Iran’s main gas pipeline hit by sabotage: minister
Two explosions along Iran’s main south-north gas pipeline network yesterday were caused by sabotage, the Iranian oil minister told state TV, without naming any suspects.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill 4 civilians
Israeli strikes in south Lebanon yesterday killed four civilians including two children and wounded nine other people, a Lebanese security source said, after Israel said it “began a series of strikes in Lebanon”.
Global conflicts herald ‘dangerous decade’
The Israel’s offensive in Gaza, ongoing fighting in Ukraine and rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific and Africa herald “what is likely to be a more dangerous decade,” a British military think-tank warned yesterday.
Israel launches heavy airstrikes on Rafah
Israel freed two Israeli-Argentinian hostages in Rafah yesterday under the cover of heavy airstrikes which local health officials said killed at least 67 Palestinians and wounded dozens in the southern Gaza city that is the last refuge of about a million displaced civilians.
Iran’s court sentences man to death
An Iranian court has sentenced a man to death over the killing of renowned filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui and his wife months ago at their home near Tehran, the judiciary said yesterday.
WHO head concerned at attacks on Gaza’s Rafah
The World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday reiterated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and expressed particular concern at Israeli attacks on Rafah where most of enclave’s inhabitants fled.
Offensive in Rafah will ‘blow up’ hostage talks
Any Israeli ground offensive in Rafah on the Gaza border will “blow up” the hostage exchange negotiations,” Hamas-run Aqsa Television channel quoted a senior Hamas leader as saying yesterday.
‘Death to Israel’
Hundreds of thousands of people chanted “Death to Israel” in rallies across Iran to mark the Islamic Revolution’s 45th anniversary yesterday, with some burning US and Israeli flags amid the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Palestinians brace for Rafah assault
Israeli air strikes killed 17 people in Gaza’s Rafah overnight, medics said yesterday, as over a million Palestinians cramming into the border city await a full-blown offensive with the rest of their enclave in ruins and nowhere left to run.
Aid groups warn of Rafah ‘bloodbath’
Any Israeli military advance into southern Gaza’s Rafah area could cause mass deaths among the more than a million Palestinians trapped there, with humanitarian aid in danger of collapse, aid workers said yesterday.