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Israeli Officer Kills Palestinian Assailant in West Bank, Police Say 

Israeli security forces are pictured during a military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hawara, on December 2, 2022. (AFP)
Israeli security forces are pictured during a military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hawara, on December 2, 2022. (AFP)
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Israeli Officer Kills Palestinian Assailant in West Bank, Police Say 

Israeli security forces are pictured during a military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hawara, on December 2, 2022. (AFP)
Israeli security forces are pictured during a military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Hawara, on December 2, 2022. (AFP)

An Israeli officer shot dead a Palestinian assailant in the occupied West Bank on Friday, border police said, an incident which the Palestinians denounced as an execution. 

The man had stabbed and lightly wounded a border policeman after which another officer overpowered him. The man then fought with the officer and tried to snatch his rifle before the officer shot him dead, border police said in a statement. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed his death. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it was tantamount to an execution meant to escalate already spiraling violence in the territory, which Palestinians seek for a state. 

Border police distributed a photo of a knife on the ground and another of a border policeman with what appears to be a stabbing wound to his head. 

A video circulating on social media showed an officer holding a man in a head-lock by a road as two other men try to wrestle him away. The man then appears to strike the officer and attempt to take hold of his rifle before the officer pulls out a handgun and shoots him several times as he falls to the ground. 

The video, taken from a distance as vehicles cross the frame, could not be independently verified by Reuters. It does not show what had transpired prior and whether the man had been holding a knife or any other weapon before it was filmed. 

A border police spokesman did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the incident, which took place close to the city of Nablus. 

The city, along with nearby Jenin, has seen intensified and often fatal Israeli military operations, since a spate of deadly Palestinian street attacks in Israeli cities in March. 

The worst violence in the West Bank in years has deepened diplomatic stagnation since US-brokered peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state there, in Gaza and in East Jerusalem, collapsed in 2014. 

The incoming Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu looks likely to include far-right politicians who oppose Palestinian statehood and want the Palestinian Authority (PA), which wields limited self-rule in the West Bank, dismantled. 

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Arab World

Israel Strikes Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Warning

Smoke plumes rise from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 9, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)
Smoke plumes rise from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 9, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)
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Israel Strikes Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Warning

Smoke plumes rise from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 9, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)
Smoke plumes rise from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on March 9, 2026. (Photo by FADEL itani / AFP)

Israel on Monday renewed its strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanese state media reported, after Israel warned it would target branches of a financial firm linked to Hezbollah. 

Footage on AFPTV's live broadcast showed large plumes of smoke rising from the area, where the Iran-backed group holds sway. 

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military warned it would strike branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial firm mainly operating in Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon's south, east and Beirut's southern suburbs. 

Israel launched at least three strikes Monday on Beirut's south, according to the state-run National News Agency and AFP correspondents. 

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

Israel, which had kept up strikes targeting Hezbollah even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire, launched multiple attacks last week across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas. 

Roads leading to one of Al-Qard al-Hassan's branches in Beirut were closed on Monday, according to witnesses. 

In Lebanon's southern city of Sidon, an area outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds, an AFP correspondent saw ambulances and civil defense vehicles gather around another branch. 

Israel also bombed the firm's branches during its last war with Hezbollah in 2024, including the one in Sidon. The company is under US sanctions. 

Arab World

Pro-Iran Factions in Iraq Welcome New Supreme Leader as Symbol of Continuity

Protesters wave Iranian flags as another holds up an image of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a US airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP)
Protesters wave Iranian flags as another holds up an image of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a US airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP)
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Pro-Iran Factions in Iraq Welcome New Supreme Leader as Symbol of Continuity

Protesters wave Iranian flags as another holds up an image of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a US airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP)
Protesters wave Iranian flags as another holds up an image of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a US airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP)

Iraq's pro-Iran groups welcomed on Monday the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran's new supreme leader after his predecessor and father was killed in US and Israeli strikes.

The Badr organization said the new leadership represents a "blessed continuity of the path of the Islamic revolution".

The Asaib Ahl al-Haq faction said choosing Mojtaba Khamenei shows continuity and "reinforcement of the Islamic republic's role as a central pillar in the axis of resistance".

Armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah said it reflects a profound understanding "of the existential challenges confronting the nation".

"The best successor to the best predecessor," said Kataeb Hezbollah, which is part of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq -- a pro-Iran alliance that has been claiming attacks on US bases since the start of the war in the Middle East.

Iran wields significant influence in Iraqi politics, and also backs armed groups whose power has grown both politically and financially.

Iraq has for decades been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.

Senior Iraqi politician and moderate cleric Ammar al-Hakim wished the new supreme leader "success in following the path of his martyred father".

Arab World

Lebanese Army Faces Criticism over Delay in Enforcing Monopoly on Arms

Lebanese Army Commander Rodolphe Haikal and troops inspect the border with Israel. (Army Command)
Lebanese Army Commander Rodolphe Haikal and troops inspect the border with Israel. (Army Command)
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Lebanese Army Faces Criticism over Delay in Enforcing Monopoly on Arms

Lebanese Army Commander Rodolphe Haikal and troops inspect the border with Israel. (Army Command)
Lebanese Army Commander Rodolphe Haikal and troops inspect the border with Israel. (Army Command)

Several Lebanese MPs from the Change parliamentary bloc and independent lawmakers launched a wave of criticism against Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolphe Haikal, suggesting that the army has been lenient in implementing government decisions regarding the disarmament of Hezbollah north of the Litani River.

The criticism prompted counter-reactions from other officials expressing solidarity with the army and voicing support for its role.

On Saturday, Haikal said that “Israeli attacks targeting Lebanon and its citizens are hindering the implementation of the army’s plan”.

He stressed that the “command makes its decisions in line with the complex circumstances on the ground, with the primary goal of preserving Lebanon, safeguarding its unity, and maintaining the military institution”.

He added that the “army is operating under severe internal and external pressure and with limited resources, while exerting every effort to protect domestic stability and national unity”.

Independent MPs and lawmakers from the Change bloc criticized Haikal.

MP Michel Moawad said the army’s stance contradicts its constitutional role and could undermine efforts by the government and the international community to move Lebanon out of the war and reinforce a clear separation between the state and Hezbollah.

MP Mark Daou also expressed surprise at the stance of the Lebanese army command, saying it should have clearly affirmed its commitment to government decisions and explicitly stated that the military wing of Hezbollah is now an outlaw under those decisions.

MP Waddah Sadek said the Lebanese army command is not a political body that expresses opinions on developments or proposes solutions. Rather, he stressed, it is responsible for an institution tasked with implementing the decisions of the executive authority, including the recent government’s decision declaring Hezbollah an outlaw.

The army command is required to implement government decisions immediately. It does not have the authority to assess them, according to Sadek.

The criticism of the army also drew backlash from other MPs.

Former MP Fares Souaid said attacks on the military at this stage are irresponsible, stressing that any mistakes should be addressed within state institutions rather than through public criticism of a body that safeguards civil peace.

Meanwhile, Lebanon and France postponed an international conference to support the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces that had been scheduled in Paris on March 5, citing unsuitable conditions amid the ongoing regional tensions linked to the Iranian–US–Israeli confrontation.