Israel steps up campaign in Lebanon as war rages in the Middle East

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The war in the Middle East raged on multiple fronts Monday, as the U.S. and Israel pummelled military targets in Iran’s capital, Israel stepped up its campaign against Iran-backed militants in Lebanon and Iran retaliated with a drone strike that temporarily closed Dubai’s airport, a crucial hub for travellers.

Fears of a global energy crisis continued, even as a small number of ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally travels.

Iranian strikes on commercial ships in and around the strait – and even just the threat of attacks – have slowed shipping to a trickle, dramatically increasing oil prices and pressuring Washington to do something to ease the pain for consumers and the global economy.

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Brent crude, the international standard, remained over US$100 a barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump said he had demanded that roughly a half-dozen countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. But his appeals brought no immediate commitments.

Speaking of the strait, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “From our perspective it is open” – just not for the United States, Israel and its allies. On social media, Araghchi also rejected as “delusional” claims that Iran was looking for a negotiated end to the war, saying it was seeking neither “truce nor talks.”

Since the United States and Israel attacked Iran more than two weeks ago, Tehran has regularly fired drones and missiles at Israel, American bases in the region and Gulf Arab countries’ energy infrastructure.

Strikes continued early Tuesday, with the Israeli military reporting a salvo of Iranian missiles. Sirens sounded just south of the Sea of Galilee. No injuries were reported.

Massive explosions were heard in Beirut Monday as Israel launched new attacks on the Lebanese capital, saying it was striking infrastructure related to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel after U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran began Feb. 28.

The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for many neighbourhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon.

Israel’s strikes have displaced more than one million Lebanese – or roughly 20 per cent of the population, – according to the Lebanese government, which says some 850 people have been killed. Some Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon, and there are fears Israel is preparing a large-scale invasion.

In southern Lebanon, seven people were killed in Israeli air strikes, according to authorities and news reports Monday.

Explosions also sounded in Tehran and outlying areas soon after Israel’s military announced it had launched new strikes on Iran’s capital.

A Tehran resident said while driving he witnessed an air strike turn a police station to dust and heavily damage shops and cars. The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the government, said it “felt like the end of the world.”

More details were not immediately available with information coming out of Iran severely limited by internet outages, round-the-clock air strikes and tight restrictions on journalists.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes on Iran, knocking out 85 per cent of its air defences and 70 per cent of Iran’s missile launchers, military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said.

In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed.

Analysis: The war comes home in the form of higher energy prices

Starmer rules out NATO mission to open Strait of Hormuz, says Britain is working with allies on a plan

The virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is unnerving the world economy, driving up energy and fertilizer prices, threatening food shortages in poor countries, destabilizing fragile states and complicating efforts by central banks to drive down prices for consumers.

On Monday, Trump said “numerous countries” have told him “they’re on the way” to help police the Strait of Hormuz. But he also suggested some countries’ reluctance showed a lack of reciprocity in defence agreements with the United States.

Europeans have been critical of the U.S. and Israel for failing to provide clarity on their objectives in the war.

“The level of enthusiasm matters to me,” Trump said. He didn’t specify the countries, but has previously appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain.

Brent crude fell to US$100.21 per barrel Monday, but remained up roughly 40 per cent since the war began.

Officials have been scrambling to ease prices. Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said its 32 member countries still have additional reserves of 1.4 billion barrels on top of the record 400 million they agreed to release last week to address supply constraints.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, said in a video posted on X that American forces are zeroing in on Iran’s threats to freighters carrying oil and natural gas.

Ahead of a meeting in Brussels, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s foreign ministers would discuss possibly extending a naval mission that protects ships in the Red Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, without giving any details.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels that his country favours strengthening anti-piracy and defensive missions in the Red Sea, but said he didn’t believe in expanding their role in the Strait of Hormuz.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, which is not an EU member, told reporters that Britain and allies were working on a plan to reopen the strait. Starmer said Britain might deploy mine-hunting U.K. drones already in the region, but insisted it “will not be drawn into the wider war.”

Japan and Australia both said Monday they had not been asked to help protect the strait and had no current plans to do so.

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A drone hit a fuel tank early Monday near Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic, causing a large fire. No injuries were reported, but the airport suspended all flights for several hours.

A person was killed in the capital of the United Arab Emirates when an Iranian missile hit a vehicle, the Abu Dhabi media office said. Authorities said drone strikes Monday caused fires at two UAE oil facilities, in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah.

In Israel, an intercepted Iranian missile attack sprayed shrapnel through Jerusalem’s Old City, hitting the rooftop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, just metres from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on what is revered by many Christians as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Shrapnel also fell near the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, and within the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the third-holiest site in Islam. Missile strikes on Jerusalem have been rare in the past.

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