The escalating conflict in West Asia widened on Monday as Israel launched airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, following projectile fire from Lebanese territory into northern Israel. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) said in a series of posts on X that it carried out targeted strikes against senior members of Hezbollah in the Beirut area in response to the projectile fire launched toward Israel, particularly toward the north of the country.
IDF international spokesperson Lt Col Nadav Shoshani said the Israeli military targeted several Hezbollah positions, including command and control centres, launch sites and senior operatives.
A massive wave of Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed 254 people, overwhelming hospitals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called for the opening of direct negotiations with Lebanon, as tensions persist along the border despite a two-week ceasefire aimed at halting hostilities in West Asia.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described Israel's incursions into Lebanon as a blatant breach of the ceasefire and said the continued attacks reflect deception and a lack of commitment to potential agreements.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
A top Iranian intelligence official was killed in an attack, with the Revolutionary Guard blaming the United States and Israel. The incident occurs amid escalating regional tensions, including IDF strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure and ongoing operations in Lebanon.
India has voiced its deep concern over reports of increasing civilian casualties in Lebanon due to Israeli strikes, emphasising the protection of civilians and the importance of international law.
US-Israel air attacks intensified on the seventh day of war, striking Tehran and other Iranian cities.
Amid rising tensions, Israel's Defence Minister has issued a stark warning that any leader succeeding Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will be considered a target, as reports suggest his son Mojtaba may be next in line.
According to Hezbollah, it fired a swarm of drones at radar sites and control rooms at the base on Tuesday, describing the move as retaliation for Israeli strikes.
The logic of war plus the gathering storms in US politics as the midterms loom large leave him with no real alternative but to negotiate, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US President Donald Trump has shared an article suggesting that the option of enforcing a naval blockade was available in the context of Iran, as peace talks ended in a stalemate in Islamabad after differences of opinion arose between the two parties on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear capacities.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday backed Israel's ongoing military operation in Lebanon, stating that Hezbollah "was not included" in the recent ceasefire deal between Washington and Tehran, which halted the conflict in West Asia for two weeks.
Authorities are urging the public to rely on official sources for information and avoid spreading rumours.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'US and Iran have not annulled the ceasefire, and the possibility of continuing negotiations remains open.'
The fragile ceasefire in West Asia between the US and Iran to halt the hostilities in the region for two weeks faces renewed uncertainty as Tehran reportedly moved to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz once again due to Israel's intensified offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to Iranian state media Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), which US President Trump says was "not included" as part of the ceasefire deal.
China and Pakistan have jointly proposed a five-point peace plan to address the ongoing conflict in West Asia, focusing on de-escalation and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
The IRGC said the barrage targeted several US military facilities in the region, including bases at Sheikh Isa in Bahrain, Juffair in Bahrain, Ali al-Salem in Kuwait and Al Azraq in Jordan.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Trump may strike. He may announce productive talks and extend again. He may do both at the same time. Iran will not open the Strait on someone else's terms, so no matter what happens, that problem will remain unsolved. And the IRGC will still be collecting its $2 million toll from every ship bold enough to ask permission to pass.
Amid rising tensions in West Asia following a series of strikes and counter-strikes, the United States Embassy in Muscat on Tuesday instructed its staff to shelter in place.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
The Lebanese army has begun evacuating some of its forward positions along the border with Israel and redeploying troops to other posts, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Tuesday, amid intensified Israeli military activity in the area.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
Tensions escalated dramatically on March 5, 2026, as the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, triggering retaliatory explosions across Tehran, Sanandaj, and beyond.
US President Donald Trump stated that the decision regarding the conclusion of the conflict with Iran will be a 'mutual' decision made in coordination with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
'The entire US ecosystem built over decades at the bases in the Gulf region, especially the UAE, costing trillions of dollars have been decimated, dealing a mortal blow to the US Central Command's war capability,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
When everyone has footage and no one can verify it, the loudest voice wins, notes Prem Panicker who begins a daily blog on the War in the Middle East.
That a country thinks it has the right to randomly invade another country has repercussions that will for sure be played on the global arena in the years to come.
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said, 'Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world.' The IDF said that alongside Nasrallah, the commander of Hezbollah's so-called Southern Front, Ali Karaki, was also killed, along with other commanders, Times of Israel reported.
The IDF said that its target was the Hezbollah commander, who was responsible for the attack at the football ground in Majdal Shams.
Photos from a suburb of Beirut in the south, where Hezbollah is widely supported, according to The Washington Post, showed massive damage to cars and buildings as well as rubble in the streets.
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