Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, center, flanked by his security detail, approach the entrance to Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, which Jews revere the site as the Temple Mount, believed to be the location of the First and Second Temples, and it is a holy site for Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary, in the Old City, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP)
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, center, flanked by his security detail, approach the entrance to Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, which Jews revere the site as the Temple Mount, believed to be the location of the First and Second Temples, and it is a holy site for Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary, in the Old City, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP)
Britain strongly condemns Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound known to Jews as Temple Mount, British foreign minister David Lammy said on Wednesday.
"The UK strongly condemns Minister Ben-Gvir's deliberately provocative visit to Jerusalem's Holy Sites," Lammy wrote on X.
"Such actions undermine the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's role as custodian of the sites and the longstanding Status Quo arrangements."
Germany also condemned Ben-Gvir's visit, saying it expects the Israeli government to halt deliberate provocations.
"We reject unilateral steps that jeopardize the historical status quo of the holy sites in Jerusalem," the Foreign Ministry in Berlin posted on social media platform X.
Israeli Defense Minister Says Lebanon's Hezbollah Chief is Now 'Target for Elimination'https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5246499-israeli-defense-minister-says-lebanons-hezbollah-chief-now-target-elimination
Supporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP)
Israeli Defense Minister Says Lebanon's Hezbollah Chief is Now 'Target for Elimination'
Supporters watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a rally to show their solidarity with Iran, in the southern suburb of Beirut on January 26, 2026. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP)
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem was now a "target for elimination", after the Iran-aligned militant group fired at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
On Sunday, Qassem said in a statement: “We will undertake our duty of confronting the aggression," adding that his movement would not leave "the field of honor and resistance".
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 31 people on Monday, authorities said, following rocket fire from Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah after the killing of Khamenei.
Israel's military vowed to intensify its attacks on the country and make Hezbollah pay a "heavy price" after launching several strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and south Lebanon, areas where Hezbollah holds sway.
Lebanese authorities, who have been trying to spare the country from any repercussions of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, said Hezbollah's rocket fire gave Israel "excuses" to ramp up its attacks.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said attacks from the country's territory risked drawing the country into regional conflict.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, whose government has pushed for Hezbollah's disarmament, called Monday's rocket fire "irresponsible".
He vowed to "stop the perpetrators and protect the Lebanese people".
Israel Army Chief Says Lebanon Fighting Could Take 'Many' Dayshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5246458-israel-army-chief-says-lebanon-fighting-could-take-many-days
TOPSHOT - A man walks past a building damaged after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb neighborhood of Haret Hreik on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
Israel Army Chief Says Lebanon Fighting Could Take 'Many' Days
TOPSHOT - A man walks past a building damaged after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb neighborhood of Haret Hreik on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir said fighting against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which began early Monday, could take "many" more days.
"We have launched an offensive campaign against Hezbollah," Zamir said in a video shared by the military on Monday, hours after rocket fire claimed by Hezbollah prompted a wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon. "We must be prepared for several days of fighting, many."
Israel carried out the airstrikes in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched missiles and drones towards Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
More than a dozen explosions rocked Beirut, in the most intensive strikes on the southern suburbs since a war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024.
People fled on foot and by car, clogging the roads, after the series of strikes began around 2:40 a.m. (0040 GMT).
The Israeli military said it had begun striking Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including senior Hezbollah members in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Iran War Spreads Across Regionhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5246444-iran-war-spreads-across-region
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Israel bombarded Lebanon on Monday, expanding conflict across the region after the massive Israel-US attack on Iran.
Israeli forces pounded targets across Lebanon, including Beirut’s southern suburbs, after Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have urged Iranians to overthrow the government in Iran.
In a video address, Trump urged Iranian security forces "to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death."
"It will be certain death," he repeated. "It won't be pretty."
In this image provided by US Central Command, an F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 37, lands on the flight deck of the world's largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while operating in support of Operation Epic Fury, on March 1, 2026. (US Navy via AP)
As the American and Israeli airstrikes kept hitting the country, top Iranian security official Ali Larijani said on X: “We will not negotiate with the United States.”
Iran's first retaliatory strikes on Saturday hit all the Gulf states apart from mediator Oman.
On Sunday, Oman's commercial port of Duqm was hit by two drones, injuring a foreign worker, the Oman News Agency said.
Three ships were also attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday after Iran had previously declared the strategic waterway was closed, sending global oil prices spiking.
The Revolutionary Guards claimed to strike the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, but the Pentagon said the "missiles launched didn't even come close."
Trump said that US military strikes had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels and partially destroyed its navy headquarters.
Iran's retaliatory strikes in the Gulf have killed at least four people and wounded dozens of others.
More than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes that killed Khamenei and other senior leaders, Iranian leaders have said.
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