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Iran's Acting FM Dismisses US-Proposed Gaza Ceasefire Deal in Visit to Lebanon 

Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani attends a joint press conference with the Lebanese foreign minister after their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 03 June 2024. (EPA)
Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani attends a joint press conference with the Lebanese foreign minister after their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 03 June 2024. (EPA)
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Iran's Acting FM Dismisses US-Proposed Gaza Ceasefire Deal in Visit to Lebanon 

Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani attends a joint press conference with the Lebanese foreign minister after their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 03 June 2024. (EPA)
Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani attends a joint press conference with the Lebanese foreign minister after their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, 03 June 2024. (EPA)

Iran’s acting foreign minister dismissed a Gaza ceasefire deal proposed by US President Joe Biden and warned Israel against launching an all-out war on Lebanon during a visit to Beirut Monday, his first official diplomatic visit since his predecessor died last month. 

Ali Bagheri Kani replaced Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-liner close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19 in a mountainous area near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan, along with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and a delegation of other officials. 

Tehran, a key backer of the Palestinian armed group in the Gaza Strip, backs a number of armed factions in the region, of which Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah is widely seen as the most powerful. Hezbollah would be Tehran’s first line of defense in case of a direct conflict between Iran and Israel. 

Hezbollah has been clashing with Israeli forces along the Lebanon-Israel border since October, against the backdrop of Israel’s war against the allied Hamas group in Gaza. The cross-border fighting has intensified in recent weeks, since Israel’s incursion into the key town of Rafah in southern Gaza. 

"If the Americans are honest, then instead of proposing plans under the name of ceasefire, they must take one step, which is end all aid to the Israeli entity," Bagheri Kani said in a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Beirut. "Only once the aid is cut from the Israeli entity, the entity won't have the tools and ability to commit crimes against the Palestinians and the war will end." 

Hamas said they received the multi-staged proposal that includes freeing the hostages and pouring aid into Gaza along with a path to a permanent ceasefire "positively", while Israel maintains that Hamas' military wing and ability to govern the Palestinian enclave must be destroyed in order for the war to end. 

Regional meditators Qatar and Egypt have urged both sides to endorse the proposal. 

Bagheri Kani met with Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib as well as Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. He said he also met with Palestinian factions and others, but declined to give further information until official statements are released. 

Bou Habib said Lebanon wants to avoid a wider war and is looking for "sustainable solutions that restore calm and stability to southern Lebanon." 

The Iranian foreign minister said Israel would find itself in a quagmire should it launch an all-out war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a country he described as the "cradle of resistance." 

"The entity which is trapped in the swamp in Gaza, if it had the basic rationality, shouldn’t put itself in a similar situation with the strong Lebanese resistance," Bagheri Kani said. 

The danger of a direct conflict between Iran and Israel has also risen since Oct. 7. 

Bagheri Kani is set to visit neighboring Syria Tuesday, where an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic building in Damascus in April put the Middle East on a knife edge, unleashing series of escalatory attacks that threatened to set off a wider regional war. 

The two regional archrivals have recently seemed to dial back tensions, but fears persist as Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups say they will continue to strike Israel until the war in Gaza ends. 

The fighting along the Lebanon-Israeli border killed more than 400 people on the Lebanese side — most of them militants but also including more than 70 civilians and noncombatant — and at least 15 soldiers and 10 civilians on the Israeli side. 

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Arab World

UN Chief Calls for Israel to Re-Open Gaza Crossings amid Fuel Shortage

Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Chief Calls for Israel to Re-Open Gaza Crossings amid Fuel Shortage

Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for Israel to re-open border crossings into Gaza to allow aid to flow into the war-ravaged territory, his spokesman said.

"Israeli authorities have closed all crossings, including Rafah, and have suspended humanitarian movements in and near areas where Israeli troops remain deployed in Gaza," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"It is imperative that all crossings be reopened... as soon as possible."

Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples may become tight, officials say, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. 

Israel's military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing air strikes on Iran carried out jointly with the United States. Israeli authorities say the crossings cannot be operated safely during war and have not said how long they would be shut. 

FEW DAYS' ‌WORTH OF SUPPLIES 

Gaza ‌is wholly dependent on fuel brought in ‌by ⁠trucks from Israel and ⁠Egypt and a lack of fresh supplies would put hospital operations at risk and threaten water and sanitation services, local officials say. Most Palestinians in Gaza are internally displaced after Israel's two-year war with Hamas. 

"I expect we have maybe a couple of days' running time," said Karuna Herrmann, the Jerusalem director of United Nations Office ⁠for Project Services (UNOPS), which manages fuel distribution in ‌Gaza. 

Amjad Al-Shawa, a Palestinian aid leader ‌in Gaza, who works with the UN and NGOs, estimated fuel supplies ‌could last three or four days, while stocks of vegetables, flour, ‌and other essentials could also soon run out if the crossings remain shut. 

Reuters was unable to independently verify those estimates. 

Israel's COGAT military agency, which controls access to Gaza, said that enough food had been delivered ‌to the territory since the start of an October truce to provide for the population. 

"(The) existing stock ⁠is expected ⁠to suffice for an extended period," COGAT said, without elaborating. It declined to comment on potential fuel shortages. 

The truce was part of broader US-backed plan to end the war that involves reopening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, increasing the flow of aid into the enclave, and rebuilding it. 

Hamada Abu Laila, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza, said the closures were stoking fear of a return of famine, which gripped parts of the enclave last year after Israel blocked aid deliveries for 11 weeks. 

"Why is it our fault, in Gaza, with regional wars between Israel, Iran, and America? It is not our fault," Abu Laila said. 

Arab World

Strikes Hit Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Warning

Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem
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Strikes Hit Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Warning

Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem

Several strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday after Israeli evacuation warnings, as seen on AFPTV's live broadcast, as Israel attacked the country following Hezbollah's dawn missile launches.

Plumes of smoke were rising from the targeted area as state media reported four Israeli strikes on the suburbs.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Lebanon renewed its call for citizens to leave Lebanon immediately.

"We urge US citizens not to travel to Lebanon. If you are in the country, depart Lebanon NOW," the US embassy said on Monday, as Israeli strikes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs, and dozens of villages mainly in south Lebanon.

"The US Embassy strongly encourages US citizens in Southern Lebanon, near the borders with Syria, in refugee settlements, and in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut to depart those areas immediately," the embassy said.

Arab World

Families Take Shelter in Schools as Lebanon’s Government Calls Hezbollah’s Strike on Israel Illegal

A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Families Take Shelter in Schools as Lebanon’s Government Calls Hezbollah’s Strike on Israel Illegal

A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese civilians fled from the country's south and Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, seeking refuge in schools in Lebanon's capital following a new and deadly escalation between Israel and the Iran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least 31 people were killed and 149 wounded in overnight strikes in the Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese government later Monday slammed Hezbollah's decision to enter Iran's war with Israel and the United States, calling the militant group's actions illegal and demanding it hand over its weapons.

Highways were jammed overnight and into Monday with people fleeing after what was Israel's deadliest barrage on Lebanon in more than a year, striking hours after Hezbollah fired missiles across the border for the first time in more than a year.

Ali Hamdan was stuck in gridlock on the road between his village in southern Lebanon, Deir al-Zahrani, and the port city of Sidon. What should have been a half-hour’s drive had taken seven hours, he said.

“I don’t know how long it will take us to reach Beirut," he said. "I’m headed toward Beirut, but I don’t know where yet. We don’t have a place to stay.”

At a public school in Beirut, hastily converted into a temporary shelter, families arrived carrying mattresses, plastic bags, and bundles of clothing. Other families sat on sidewalks beside their belongings, some men smoking as they waited for space to open inside.

Volunteers moved through the crowd, registering names as families filled classrooms and gathered in the school courtyard.

Hussein Abu Ali, who fled a southern Beirut suburb with his wife and children, described the moment the strikes hit.

“My son began shaking and crying," he said. "Where are you supposed to go? I stepped outside, then back in because I was afraid of shooting in the air. I gathered my children and went down to the street.”

Nadia Al‑Salman, displaced from the southern town of Majdal Zoun, said they left their homes "not out of fear or terror of the United States, but to fulfill our religious and legal duty to protect ourselves.”

During the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024, at one point, more than a million people were displaced in Lebanon. Many have been unable to return to their homes in the south, where villages along the border remain in ruins.

Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel a day after the militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war in Gaza. After months of low-level fighting, the conflict escalated into a full-scale war in September 2024 before a US brokered ceasefire nominally halted the fighting two months later.

Since that ceasefire, Israel has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon, saying it aims to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding.

Monday’s escalation also marked the first time in more than a year that Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for firing into Israel. Hezbollah said in a statement that the strikes were carried out in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and for “repeated Israeli aggressions,” describing it as “a legitimate defensive response."

But Lebanon’s government said it considers Hezbollah’s military activities illegal and that the group should hand over its weapons. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said after an emergency Cabinet meeting Monday that only the state should decide on matters of war and peace.

He added that Hezbollah’s military activities were banned going forward and called on security agencies to prevent the firing of missiles or drones from Lebanon and detain those behind the launch. It was the harshest stance the Lebanese government has taken yet toward Hezbollah, which also has a political party with a parliamentary bloc in addition to its armed militants.

Salam also called on the international community to work on getting a “clear and final commitment” from Israel to stop its strikes on Lebanon.

The Israeli military overnight issued a warning for residents of around 50 communities across southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israel is keeping “all options on the table,” including a potential ground invasion of Lebanon and threatened that “Hezbollah will pay a very heavy price."

He said Israel has called up more than 100,000 reservists since the war with Iran began on Saturday.

Hezbollah later condemned the government's decision to ban its military activities, while Israel carried out retaliatory strikes in response to rockets fired by the Iran-backed group.

In a statement, Mohammed Raad, the head of the group's parliamentary bloc, condemned Beirut's "swaggering decisions", saying that "the Lebanese were expecting a decision rejecting the (Israeli) aggression".