(AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war on Monday:
– **Iraqi group extends pause in US embassy attacks**
Kataeb Hezbollah — an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq — says it will extend its five-day pause on attacking the US embassy in Baghdad, announced Thursday. Since the start of the war in the Middle East, pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for near-daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups.
– **Lebanon says Iran commanding Hezbollah operations**
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are commanding Hezbollah’s operations in the group’s war against Israel. In an interview with the Al Hadath network, Salam once again lashed out at Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets on Israel.
– **Israel to expand Lebanon ground ops**
Israel’s military will expand its ground operations in Lebanon against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, its army chief said, warning that the offensive “has only (just) begun.” “We are now preparing to advance the targeted ground operations and strikes according to an organised plan,” Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in a statement.
– **’Weeks’ more war**
Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the country faces “weeks” more fighting against both Iran and Hezbollah, in a televised briefing.
– **Iraq strikes**
Three strikes targeted an influential pro-Iranian armed group in its stronghold south of Baghdad, Iraqi authorities said. The group is a former paramilitary coalition called Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF). It is part of Iraq’s regular armed forces, but also includes some pro-Iranian groups. The strikes came after an attack targeted a US diplomatic and logistics centre at Baghdad International Airport, Iraqi officials told AFP.
– **Israel probes civilian death**
Israel’s military said it was investigating whether its own fire killed an Israeli civilian near the Lebanese border, in an area where Hezbollah claimed an attack. Israeli emergency workers said earlier a man was killed in a “direct hit” on his car by a rocket from Lebanon, making him the first fatality in the country’s north since the latest round of fighting with Hezbollah broke out. But the Israeli army later said it was “conducting a comprehensive investigation,” including “the possibility that the incident involved fire originating from IDF soldiers.”
– **West Bank arson**
Palestinian residents said Israeli settlers had torched buildings and cars in attacks on several villages in the occupied West Bank, the latest violence after a spate of killings of Palestinians by Israelis in the area since the start of the war.
– **Lebanon condemns Israeli strikes**
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun slammed Israeli strikes on bridges and other infrastructure in the country’s south, calling such attacks a “prelude to a ground invasion.” Israel’s defence minister said he ordered bridges in the area to be hit after alleging they were used by Iran-backed Hezbollah.
– **Iran threatens Hormuz**
If Trump acts on his threats to target Iran’s power plants, the Strait of Hormuz “will be completely closed,” the Iranian military’s operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said in a statement on state television.
– **Netanyahu vow**
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to pursue senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “personally,” during a visit to an Israeli town struck by an Iranian missile the previous day. “We’re going after the regime. We’re going after the IRGC, this criminal gang,” Netanyahu said as he inspected the damage in the southern town of Arad.
– **WHO warning**
The World Health Organization warned that strikes around nuclear sites in Iran and Israel had pushed the Middle East war to a “perilous stage.” “I urgently call on all parties to exercise maximum military restraint and avoid any actions that could trigger nuclear incidents,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
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