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Lebanese State Will Not Rest Until Every Inch of Land is Liberated, Minister Says

Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
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Lebanese State Will Not Rest Until Every Inch of Land is Liberated, Minister Says

Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Members of State Security Service stand guard outside a polling station during the municipal elections in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, 4 May 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmed al-Hajjar stressed on Saturday that the Lebanese state is adamant to free all parts of its land occupied by Israel.
“The state will not find rest until all parts of the land are liberated”, the state-run National News Agency quoted al-Hajjar on Saturday.
He stressed that diplomatic channels in that regard are reassuring. “All diplomatic channels are reassuring. We adhere to the sovereignty of the state which stands strongly by its people”, said Hajjar during a visit to oversee the electoral process in the southern town of Shebaa.
The minister hailed “the strong will” of the Lebanese people to make a change in spite of the limited resources.

Israel demands to remain in five southern locations after a February 18 deadline for fully implementing a ceasefire deal that ended more than a year of Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.

The fourth and final phase of the municipal elections kicked off on Saturday in the South Lebanon and Nabatieh governorates, amid tight security measures enforced by the army and Internal Security Forces.
Local municipal elections began on May 4 in the Mount Lebanon Governorate, marking the first such elections in nine years after several postponements.
 

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Arab World

Iraq to Keep Crude Output at 1.4 million bpd amid Hormuz Tensions, Oil Minister Says

Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
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Iraq to Keep Crude Output at 1.4 million bpd amid Hormuz Tensions, Oil Minister Says

Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)
Technicians working at the Majnoon oil field in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters)

Iraq has decided to continue producing crude oil at a level of 1.4 million barrels per day, Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said on Thursday, according to its state news agency, Reuters reported.

The minister said that 200,000 barrels per day are being transported via reservoirs through Türkiye, Syria, and Jordan, noting that Iraq has put in place a plan to manage the current situation, especially after the events in the Strait of Hormuz.

Arab World

51 Crew Rescued, 1 Dead after Attack on Tankers Off Iraq

An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)
An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)
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51 Crew Rescued, 1 Dead after Attack on Tankers Off Iraq

An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)
An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)

More than 50 crew members were rescued after an attack on two oil tankers in Iraq's territorial waters, Farhan al-Fartousi of the port authorities told AFP.

Fartousi, from Iraq's General Company for Ports, said "all crew members of the two tankers were rescued," adding that the 51 workers were in good condition.

The attack killed at least one crew member, an Indian national.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday they had struck a Marshall Islands-flagged ship, which they claimed was US-owned, in the north of the Gulf.

The vessel, Safesea Vishnu, came under attack March 11 while operating near Basra, India’s embassy said.

The remaining 15 Indian crew members were evacuated and are safe, the embassy added.

Arab World

Israel Orders Army to Prepare for 'Expanding' Lebanon Operations

A man stands by the rubble of a destroyed building in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
A man stands by the rubble of a destroyed building in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
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Israel Orders Army to Prepare for 'Expanding' Lebanon Operations

A man stands by the rubble of a destroyed building in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
A man stands by the rubble of a destroyed building in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Tyre on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he had ordered the military to prepare for expanding operations in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired a heavy barrage of rockets ⁠at Israel overnight.

"The Prime Minister and I have instructed the IDF to prepare for expanding IDF operations in Lebanon and for restoring quiet and security to the northern communities," Katz was quoted as saying in a statement.

"I warned the President of Lebanon that if the Lebanese government does not know how to control the territory and prevent Hezbollah from threatening northern communities and firing toward Israel -- we will take the territory and do it ourselves," Katz said in a situation assessment, according to the statement from his ministry.

 

A man walks over blood stains, in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Ramlet al-Bayda at Corniche Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Claudia Greco

 

An Israeli strike hit a car Thursday in Ramlet al-Bayda, a major seaside tourist area of Beirut where dozens of displaced people have been sheltering. Eight people were killed and 31 others were wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

In Aramoun, a town about 10 kilometers south of Beirut, another three people were killed and a child was wounded in another early Israeli attack.

At least 634 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest fighting began, the Health Ministry said.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Hezbollah launched some 200 rockets at Israel’s north and deeper into the country overnight, the Israeli military says.

Many rockets were intercepted and no serious injuries were reported.