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Israel issues evacuation orders for several Beirut neighbourhoods
In a post on X, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned several neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate “immediately” ahead of Israeli attacks.
He said the warning especially applies to residents of Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry, Laylaki, Bourj el-Barajneh, Ghadir Perimeter and Shiyah.
“The defense army will not hesitate to target anyone present near Hezbollah elements, their facilities, or their combat means. You are putting yourselves and your lives in danger – therefore, evacuate the area immediately,” Adraee said.
At least 826 people, including many children, have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes, according to the ministry of health. The ministry says 31 health workers have been killed. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes by sweeping Israeli evacuation orders in the devastating Israeli-US assault on the country.
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US energy secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that he expects the US-Israel war with Iran to end within “the next few weeks,” with oil supplies rebounding and energy costs declining afterwards.
“I think that this conflict will certainly come to the end in the next few weeks – could be sooner than that. But the conflict will come to the end in the next few weeks, and we’ll see a rebound in supplies and a pushing down in prices after that,” Wright told ABC’s This Week show, in what could be seen as attempt to calm markets and placate US voters.
The conflicting messaging comes just after Donald Trump warned he is not ready to seek a deal to end the war, saying that though he thought Tehran was keen to negotiate a ceasefire, the US would fight on for better terms.
Trump, speaking on Saturday to NBC News, said the US may bomb targets on Kharg Island, which is the site of Iran’s principal oil export facility, once more “just for fun”, after US warplanes targeted military installations there on Friday.
“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” Trump said, adding that US forces would step up attacks on the Iranian coast north of the strait to clear a path for oil shipments.
Israel’s government is considering cancelling a gas agreement with Lebanon, GLZ radio reported on Sunday, citing the country’s energy minister, Eli Cohen.
The UAE’s Ministry of Defence says it has intercepted several ballistic missiles and drones launched from Iran.
“UAE air defenses intercept 4 ballistic missiles and 6 drones,” it said in a statement shared on social media.
It added that air defences have “intercepted 298 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,606 drones” since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran.
In the UAE, at least six people have been killed and 142 injured in Iranian attacks during the war.
Five people arrested in Bahrain on suspicion of giving information to Iran
Bahrain’s Ministry of the Interior say five people have been arrested for their involvement in collecting and passing on “precise and sensitive information” to the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).
Officials say the arrests were also for “recruiting terrorist elements” to carry out terror plots against Bahrain:
These acts were intended to undermine the state’s sovereignty, target security authorities and economic entities, spread fear and panic among citizens and residents, and risk the country’s security and safety.
Hamas official killed in Israel strike in south Lebanon’s Sidon - report
An Israeli strike in south Lebanon’s Sidon area early Sunday killed a Hamas official, a source from the Palestinian militant group told AFP.
The source, requesting anonymity, said the strike killed Hamas official Wissam Taha, after state media earlier reported a strike on an apartment in a residential building in a northern district of Sidon.
The coastal city is home to Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, which Israel has previously struck in recent months, saying it was targeting Hamas.
NBC News’ analysis of video and satellite images show many Iranian drone strikes appearing to successfully reach US and allied targets across the region, including at military bases, transportation hubs and energy infrastructure.
The outlet says the videos expose inadequate protection at strategically important locations which have been targeted by a steady stream of cheap Iranian drones.
The US is being put under strain as it is forced to counter the threat with expensive, hard-to-replace interceptors.
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza reaches 72,239, says health ministry
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have continued even as Israeli jets carry out attacks in Iran and Lebanon.
Gaza health authorities now say the direct death toll from Israeli attacks since 7 October 2023 is at least 72,239 Palestinian people, including 663 killed since a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025.
These figures are generally seen as reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Most of the people killed in these Israeli attacks have been civilians, many of whom were women and children.
At least four Palestinian people, including two boys and a woman pregnant with twins, were killed earlier today in Nuseirat, a refugee camp in central Gaza, according to hospital authorities.
As my colleague Julian Borger notes in this story, progress in the so-called Gaza peace plan has stalled over disagreements on how Hamas should be disarmed, with Israel threatening to go back to its full-scale war if the condition is not carried out quickly.
Injuries suffered after Iranian missiles reportedly fired at Israel
There have been reports of missile and drone activity across Israel, with sirens reported in northern towns as well as central and southern areas including Tel Aviv.
The IDF said earlier on X that it had detected Iranian missiles being fired at Israel.
The Times of Israel is reporting that five people have been injured from seven separate Iranian missile attacks on Israel since midnight. We have not been able to verify these figures or reports.
In a post on Telegram, Iran’s Fars news agency has quoted the education spokesperson as having said that “school activities” will be virtual until the end of March, with school re-openings kept under review amid the US-Israeli war.
We reported in an earlier post that Israel’s foreign minister denied a report in Semafor that said Israel was running low on ballistic missile interceptors to repel incoming Iranian missile attacks. Here is an extract of that Semafor report – which was published on Saturday -for a fuller context:
Israel had reportedly entered the current war already low on interceptors that were fired during last summer’s conflict with Iran.
Israel’s long-range defense system has strained under Iran’s attacks; CNN reported that Iran was adding cluster munitions to its missiles, which may exacerbate the depletion of the stock.
The US has been aware of Israel’s low capacity for months, one US official said: “It’s something we expected and anticipated.”
This official emphasized to Semafor that the US is not running similarly low on interceptors of its own.
The Times of Israel and Hareetz are reporting that the Israeli government, in a late night telephone vote, approved transferring 2.6 billion shekels (£625m; $826m) to the defence ministry for an urgent procurement of armaments and advanced weapons.
The Reuters news agency is reporting that the Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said the government was not planning to hold direct talks with Lebanon in the coming days and had not told the US it was running low on missile interceptors.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported yesterday that Israel and Lebanon were expected to hold direct talks in the coming days. Semafor also reported that Israel had informed Washington it was running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors.
Asked about the two reports, Saar was quoted as having said on Sunday: “For the two questions, the answers is no.”
