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Netanyahu Bows to US Pressure, Agrees to Pump Water into Jordan

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border shows Jordanian soldiers praying in front of a national flag during a ceremony at the Jordan Valley site of Naharayim, also known as Baqura, east of the Jordan River on November 11, 2019. (AFP)
A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border shows Jordanian soldiers praying in front of a national flag during a ceremony at the Jordan Valley site of Naharayim, also known as Baqura, east of the Jordan River on November 11, 2019. (AFP)
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Netanyahu Bows to US Pressure, Agrees to Pump Water into Jordan

A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border shows Jordanian soldiers praying in front of a national flag during a ceremony at the Jordan Valley site of Naharayim, also known as Baqura, east of the Jordan River on November 11, 2019. (AFP)
A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border shows Jordanian soldiers praying in front of a national flag during a ceremony at the Jordan Valley site of Naharayim, also known as Baqura, east of the Jordan River on November 11, 2019. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yielded to US pressure and agreed to the Jordanian government’s request for additional supplies of water, after several weeks of stalling.

Political sources in Tel Aviv said that Netanyahu was keen to make this move before US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Israel. The US official visited the country on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Israeli Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz informed his Jordanian counterpart of Netanyahu’s decision to pump ten million cubic meters of water in the Jordan River, out of a total of 65 million cubic meters that it supplies annually.

The peace agreement between Jordan and Israel, signed in 1994, stipulates that Israel permanently supply Jordan with water pumped from the Sea of Galilee to the Jordan River via the King Abdullah Canal, with an amount of 55 million cubic meters per year.

Jordan’s water became scarce due to the Israeli water project that was implemented in the 1950s, according to which the water of the Yarmouk River was diverted to the desert Negev region in the Israeli south. However, Amman agreed to pay 10 US cents per cubic meter for the first 40 million cubic meters and 40 cents for every additional cubic meter.

With the influx of Iraqi and then Syrian refugees into Jordan, the country’s needs for water increased, reaching 55 million cubic meters. Then it demanded another 10 million cubic meters and agreed to pay the higher price to Israel.

But Netanyahu’s decision to delay the approval of the supply this year was not due to any water problem. On the contrary, Israel has seen this year great water abundance thanks to the expansion of a desalination project and a heavy rain season.

Political and security sources in Tel Aviv confirmed that the premier’s decision can be traced to the troubled Israeli-Jordanian relations, which the Haaretz daily described on March 26, as “a personal confrontation between Prime Minister Netanyahu and King Abdullah II.”

The newspaper said that Israeli officials, who have close ties with the Jordanian side, have expressed concern about Netanyahu’s position and the escalating tension between the two neighbors.

The same sources accused the prime minister of intentionally jeopardizing the peace agreements due to his personal enmity with the royal family in Jordan.

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Arab World

Lebanon War Leaves a Classroom of Children Hurt or Dead Every Day, UN Says

A displaced girl from Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon looks on inside Al-Jaafareya High School, being used as a shelter for displaced families, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, after they arrive in Tyre, Lebanon, March 17, 2026. (Reuters)
A displaced girl from Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon looks on inside Al-Jaafareya High School, being used as a shelter for displaced families, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, after they arrive in Tyre, Lebanon, March 17, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon War Leaves a Classroom of Children Hurt or Dead Every Day, UN Says

A displaced girl from Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon looks on inside Al-Jaafareya High School, being used as a shelter for displaced families, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, after they arrive in Tyre, Lebanon, March 17, 2026. (Reuters)
A displaced girl from Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon looks on inside Al-Jaafareya High School, being used as a shelter for displaced families, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, after they arrive in Tyre, Lebanon, March 17, 2026. (Reuters)

War in Lebanon has wounded or killed the equivalent of one classroom of children daily and robbed the remainder of their sense of normalcy since it began two weeks ago, a top official of the UN children's agency said.

According to Lebanese health ministry figures, at least 111 children have been killed and 334 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since March 2, when Lebanese armed group Hezbollah joined the regional war by firing into Israeli territory. That equals nearly 30 children a day.

"That's a classroom of children every day since the beginning of the war that's either killed or injured in Lebanon," UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban said in an interview on Tuesday.

Lebanon's child deaths are ‌among 1,200 children ‌killed across the region in recent weeks - nearly 200 in Iran, four ‌in Israel ⁠and one in ⁠Kuwait.

"They've paid a terrible price. And the first thing we're calling for is a de-escalation, a political way forward to this war," Chaiban told Reuters in Beirut.

Israel says it does not deliberately target civilians and that its warnings give civilians enough time to leave before strikes take place.

STUDENTS MISSING SCHOOL

Israeli strikes have killed more than 900 people in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanese data, and the Israeli military's sweeping evacuation orders have displaced more than 1 million people.

Among those are 350,000 children. "It's completely disrupting children's lives. ⁠No home, no school, no sense of normalcy," Chaiban said.

Some children have ‌sheltered with their families in the same public schools where they ‌stayed in 2024, during the last war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Children who have attended school for more ‌than five years have already had their learning disrupted by Lebanon's financial collapse in 2019 and the ‌Beirut port explosion and the COVID-19 pandemic the following year.

Chaiban said it was key to find a way to keep up students' learning - both the displaced and those whose schools had been transformed into shelters.

Fatima Mohammad Basharush, a 41-year-old woman displaced from southern Lebanon to a school in Beirut, said her three children loved school but ‌were now getting only a partial education.

"They're not getting the curriculum as they should. They're not getting all the subjects. A child in fifth ⁠grade is getting a first ⁠grade curriculum. The curriculums are going backwards. We should be doing the opposite - strengthening the curriculum during these circumstances," she said.

UN URGES CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE BE PROTECTED

Many displaced families interviewed by Reuters in recent days said shelters had limited electricity, no heating and not enough bathrooms or running water.

Chaiban said UNICEF was providing water, sanitation kits, warm clothes and blankets to families.

UNICEF has also sent aid to families who have stayed in southern Lebanon, an area the Israeli military has declared a no-go zone and bombed heavily.

Chaiban urged warring parties not to target civilian infrastructure and said the humanitarian notification system, in which aid organizations identify locations of their staff and operations so they are not targeted, was essential.

At least 38 health workers have been killed in Israeli strikes since March 2, according to Lebanon's health ministry. The Israeli military struck a bridge in southern Lebanon last week.

"There is no place for attacking health infrastructure, water infrastructure, schools. They all need to be places that are protected," Chaiban said.

Arab World

Israel Military Says Its Tank Fire Hit UN Lebanon Base, Regrets Incident

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Military Says Its Tank Fire Hit UN Lebanon Base, Regrets Incident

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military on Wednesday acknowledged that its tank fire hit a UN position in southern Lebanon on March 6, wounding Ghanaian peacekeepers, an incident that underscores the growing risks as Israeli operations expand.

Initial findings by an internal UN inquiry had suggested Israel was behind the attack, a Western military source had told Reuters on Tuesday.

The UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel - an area that is at the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.

The mission, which will be halted at the end of 2026, has been sporadically caught in the crosshairs of both Israel and Hezbollah over the last couple of years, but with Israel considering a broader ground operation, the risks could be greater in the coming weeks.

In a statement to Reuters, Israel's military acknowledged its troops were behind the incident, but said they had responded to ‌anti-tank missile fire ‌from Hezbollah, which had moderately wounded two of its soldiers.

"A comprehensive investigation concluded in ‌recent ⁠days determined that the ⁠fire that hit the UNIFIL personnel was mistakenly carried out by the Israeli troops that misidentified the UNIFIL troops as the source of the anti-tank fire moments earlier," it said.

"The Israeli army regrets the incident and has conveyed its apologies through the appropriate channels to Ghana and the United Nations. The findings of the investigations have been disseminated within the army to prevent recurrence of similar incidents."

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel that ignited a new Israeli offensive against the group.

THREE SHELLS FIRED FROM ISRAELI TANK

According to the Western source, the preliminary conclusions led by UNIFIL’s Force Commander Reserve with support ⁠from explosive ordnance disposal specialists indicated that three strikes at the al-Qawzah base were direct ‌hits from the main gun of an Israeli battle tank.

They were fired using ‌120-mm M339 HE-MP-T shells, the source said.

"Israeli involvement in the attack against UNIFIL is undeniable, given that these munitions are manufactured by Israel ‌Military Industries (IMI)," the source said.

The findings of UNIFIL's probe have not been previously reported. UNIFIL had said on March ‌6 that Ghanaian peacekeepers were wounded amid heavy firing and called the incident "unacceptable," but did not say at the time who was responsible.

"That investigation is not yet complete. Once it is finalized, it will be shared with the parties, per usual practice," said UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel.

"Nonetheless, we reiterate the obligation of all actors to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers and avoid harm to civilians. Any ‌deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and a violation of resolution 1701."

The Lebanese prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request ⁠for comment.

Highlighting the concerns surrounding ⁠UN peacekeepers, UNIFIL said on Sunday that another group of peacekeepers were likely fired upon earlier that day on three separate occasions in southern Lebanon, "likely by non-state armed groups." It said no peacekeepers were injured.

UNIFIL ABILITY TO CARRY OUT MISSION TESTED

The M339 HE-MP-T round can be used in anti-personnel, anti-helicopter, anti-materiel, anti-armor and anti-structure roles.

The shots were fired within a five-minute window, indicating repeated fire rather than a single stray round, the source said, adding that the base’s location and coordinates were well known to all parties operating in the area, raising serious concerns over the safety of UN personnel.

Three Ghanaian soldiers were wounded, according to the Ghanaian army.

"This escalation, far from being isolated, is part of a worrying dynamic, severely testing UNIFIL’s ability to carry out its peacekeeping mission," the source said.

The Israeli military occupies five posts within Lebanon and despite a ceasefire last year had frequently carried out airstrikes in the country's south that it says are targeting Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, among other provisions, states that no armed forces should be operating in southern Lebanon except the UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese military.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of trying to rearm and the Lebanese armed forces of failing to disarm the group.

Arab World

Iraqi Security Official Says Drone Hits US Embassy in Baghdad

Smoke and fire rise during reported drone and rocket strikes at the US embassy, according to Iraqi security sources, in Baghdad, Iraq, in this still image obtained from a social media video released March 17, 2026. Social Media via REUTERS
Smoke and fire rise during reported drone and rocket strikes at the US embassy, according to Iraqi security sources, in Baghdad, Iraq, in this still image obtained from a social media video released March 17, 2026. Social Media via REUTERS
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Iraqi Security Official Says Drone Hits US Embassy in Baghdad

Smoke and fire rise during reported drone and rocket strikes at the US embassy, according to Iraqi security sources, in Baghdad, Iraq, in this still image obtained from a social media video released March 17, 2026. Social Media via REUTERS
Smoke and fire rise during reported drone and rocket strikes at the US embassy, according to Iraqi security sources, in Baghdad, Iraq, in this still image obtained from a social media video released March 17, 2026. Social Media via REUTERS

An explosion was heard in Baghdad early Wednesday, an AFP journalist said, as Iraqi officials reported a drone and rocket attack targeting the US embassy.

The latest explosion came hours after multiple blasts were heard across the Iraqi capital, where a witness told AFP he saw detonations likely caused by air defenses intercepting projectiles over the embassy.

Diners at a restaurant in the city seemed undisturbed by the initial sounds of the blasts.

Another witness saw a fire on the edge of the embassy grounds from her balcony, and a security official said the blaze was caused by a drone.

"The embassy was the target of a drone and rocket attack," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A general view of the US embassy in the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq, 17 March 2026. EPA/Ceerwan Aziz

Another drone, targeting a US diplomatic and logistics center at Baghdad's airport, was shot down, according to another security official.

Hours later, an AFP journalist heard another explosion, with a security official saying "a drone directly hit the embassy".
The official did not specify whether there had been any casualties or damage.