Lebanese Health Ministry Says Death Toll from Israeli Strikes up to 394

The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Lebanese Health Ministry Says Death Toll from Israeli Strikes up to 394

The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
The son of a Lebanese soldier, cries as he sits on his father's coffin who was killed by Israeli airstrikes, during a funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 394 people over the past week, including 83 children and 42 women, the health minister said Sunday, after Israel expanded its attacks to a hotel in central Beirut.

Health minister Rakan Nassereddine said at a press conference that nine rescue workers were among the 394 dead in Lebanon, condemning attacks on medical teams and ambulances.

"These are civilians being targeted, not, as they claim, military personnel and military installations. They are targeting homes, paramedics and the health sector," Nassereddine said, adding "the pace of the massacres has increased in the past 48 hours".

"Medical teams and ambulances are under attack, this is unacceptable."

A previous toll announced on Saturday by the minister had put the number of dead at 294.

Israel never fully halted its strikes targeting Hezbollah despite a 2024 ceasefire that sought to end their last round of fighting, which broke out in 2023 when the group attacked Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza.

Since Hezbollah's latest attack on Monday, Israel has launched multiple waves of strikes across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.

Early Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli airstrike hit a hotel room in Beirut's city center, killing four people and wounding 10 others.

Israel's military said it had "conducted a precise strike targeting key commanders" in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, its foreign operations arm.

In Ghazieh, southern Lebanon, an Israeli attack flattened a building, with an AFP correspondent seeing destroyed solar panels above it and rescuers searching through the debris.

In Sir al-Gharbiyeh, the health ministry said at least 11 people were killed in Israeli morning strikes on the village.

The toll included children, with the minister adding that "there are still people trapped under the rubble".

Standing next to a destroyed home, resident Ali Youssef Taha told AFP that "a family was sleeping inside" before "Israeli warplanes bombed the building, resulting in a massacre".

Mayor Saadallah Mohammed Maatouk said around 500 families were staying in the town.

"What happened will not deter us, and we remain steadfast," he said.

On Sunday, the Israeli military reiterated its call for residents south of Lebanon's Litani river, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the Israeli border, to flee the area.

Sir al-Gharbiyeh is located just above the river, and Ghazieh is further north on the coast.

Israel's military, meanwhile, said Sunday that two of its soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon, the first of its troops to have died since the latest offensive began on March 2.



US Embassy in Baghdad Warns of Attacks in City over Next 24-48 Hours

A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)
A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)
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US Embassy in Baghdad Warns of Attacks in City over Next 24-48 Hours

A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)
A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)

The US embassy in Baghdad warned Thursday that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq may attack the city in the coming one or two days.

"Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours," the embassy said in a statement on X, again urging Americans in the country to leave immediately.


Strike in Darfur Kills Senior Figure in RSF-backed Government

Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 
Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 
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Strike in Darfur Kills Senior Figure in RSF-backed Government

Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 
Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 

A senior figure in a Sudanese coalition that formed a government backed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was killed in a strike by the Sudanese army on his home in Nyala, South Darfur, late Tuesday, while Health Minister Alaaeldin Naqd and others survived.

Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, prime minister of the “Taasis” government, said in a statement that an army drone targeted Osama Hassan, a member of the coalition’s leadership body, killing him instantly and seriously wounding four of his aides, two of them critically.

Al-Taishi strongly condemned the killing, describing it as “the beginning of a dangerous pattern of political assassinations targeting civilian and democratic leaders”.

He said targeting the home of a civilian political leader in a populated area constituted “a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law and moral norms” and undermined any real chance for a ceasefire or a peaceful settlement.

He called on the international community, rights groups and the United Nations to open “an independent, transparent and urgent international investigation” to establish the circumstances of the attack and hold those responsible accountable.

Major blow

The killing of Hassan in Nyala, a stronghold of the Taasis administration, is seen as one of the most significant blows dealt to the RSF, raising expectations the conflict could enter a new phase marked by the targeting of leaders on both sides.

Hassan headed the Democratic Alliance for Social Justice party and was considered a leading candidate for the youth and sports portfolio in the Taasis administration.

Pro-army media outlets reported his death shortly before it was officially confirmed by Taasis authorities.

RSF reaction

The presidential council of the Taasis government, headed by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, also mourned Hassan.

In a statement posted on Facebook, it said he was targeted by a Turkish-made Akinci drone that struck his home.

The council described Hassan as “a prominent national figure who contributed effectively to the struggle and was a staunch defender of the causes of freedom and justice, and an example of steadfastness in principle”.

The Sudanese army rarely claims direct responsibility for strikes it carries out on cities in Darfur controlled by the RSF, while the group maintains strict silence regarding its losses.

Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have exchanged near-daily drone attacks.

 

 


Surging Terrorism by Israeli Settlers in West Bank Condemned but Unpunished

While so-called "Jewish terrorism" has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP
While so-called "Jewish terrorism" has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP
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Surging Terrorism by Israeli Settlers in West Bank Condemned but Unpunished

While so-called "Jewish terrorism" has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP
While so-called "Jewish terrorism" has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it. JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP

Violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has reached unprecedented levels since the start of the war with Iran, with NGOs and opposition figures denouncing an environment of impunity.

While so-called "Jewish terrorism" has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it, said AFP.

Assaults by violent settlers against Palestinians have been carried out for years, often to the indifference of mainstream Israeli society.

But the recent surge has prompted criticism from influential rabbis, settler leaders and even military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who described the attacks as "morally and ethically unacceptable".

According to Reem Cohen, a researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), "there has been an increase in acts of Jewish terrorism since the start of the war with Iran", along with a rise in "the severity of the acts".

In an interview with AFP, Cohen, who authored a report on the issue in January, denounced the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators.

"The Israeli government and security forces... have not responded with determination," Cohen wrote in his report.

One of the first measures taken by Defense Minister Israel Katz upon assuming office in 2024 was to cancel administrative detention -- a form of virtually unlimited custody -- for Israeli suspects of violent crimes in the West Bank. It was maintained for Palestinians.

At least six Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of March in violence attributed to extremist settlers.

That figure for the whole of 2024 stood at five, according to UN data.

"Jewish terrorism against Palestinians in the West Bank has evolved from marginal, local incidents into a widespread phenomenon that occurs as part of a fight for control of the territory and an increasing effort to uproot Palestinian presence," Cohen wrote.

- 'Ideological support' -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis now live there in settlements considered illegal by the UN, among some three million Palestinians.

Settlement building in the territory has continued under every Israeli government since the occupation began.

But it has accelerated significantly under the current coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which contains far-right parties and is considered one of the most right-wing in Israeli history.

It has surged even more since the October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas that triggered the Gaza war.

After the outbreak of the second intifada, the Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, groups of radicalized settlers living outside formal settlements, known as the "hilltop youth", pursued what they called a "price tag" policy, carrying out random revenge attacks on Palestinians after every anti-Israeli assault.

Since October 7, such violence has become a daily occurrence, "with the ideological support of certain members of the government", Cohen said, in a reference to far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

During the ongoing war with Iran, the head of the left-wing Democrats party, Yair Golan, accused the government of "supporting Jewish terrorism" and harming Israel's security by forcing the army to "put out fires (the government had) lit" in the West Bank.

Videos posted on social media, sometimes by the perpetrators themselves, show hundreds of young men -- often masked and armed with sticks or automatic weapons -- entering Palestinian villages to sow terror.

- 'Hilltop barbarians' -

Violent settlers have with increased frequency torched Palestinians' homes, uprooted their olive trees and killed their cattle.

In a recent investigation into these groups, which operate mainly in rural areas near the cities of Nablus in the northern West Bank and Hebron in the south, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth called them "hilltop barbarians".

Since October 7, settlers have established more than 175 farms and outposts in the West Bank with the tacit consent of Israeli authorities.

Though illegal under Israeli law, these outposts are meant to create facts on the ground and receive protection from the army, according to the NGO Peace Now.

The hardcore "hilltop youth" reject all authority and espouse a theocratic and anti-democratic vision of Jewish sovereignty over the West Bank -- with any means to achieve it deemed legitimate.

According to several Israeli media outlets, Netanyahu recently requested that the army take action against the extremists, whom he publicly condemned in November, saying they were not representative of the settler movement.

According to the INSS, "90 percent of settler violence cases in the West Bank are closed without indictments", and Israeli soldiers, instead of arresting the culprits, at times take part in the assaults.