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Blinken Says Iran Poses Risk of Escalating Mideast War as Israel Warns Hezbollah

Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Blinken Says Iran Poses Risk of Escalating Mideast War as Israel Warns Hezbollah

Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles are at their position along the Israel-Lebanon border, 22 October 2023. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday Washington saw potential for escalation in the ongoing war in the Middle East due to the actions of Iran and its proxies in the region.

Along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has clashed with Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the deadliest escalation of frontier violence since an Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Hezbollah said four fighters were killed in heavy exchanges of fire on Sunday and another died of wounds sustained earlier, raising to 24 the number of its members killed since Oct. 7.

Lebanese security sources said 11 fighters with Palestinian militant groups in Lebanon had also been killed in the volatile border region, alongside four civilians. At least five Israeli soldiers and one civilian have been killed on Israel's side of the frontier, according to Israeli military reports.

The United States was not looking for escalation, Blinken told NBC News in an interview.

Blinken’s comments came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah against opening a second war front with Israel, saying that doing so would bring Israeli counter-strikes of "unimaginable" magnitude that would wreak "devastation" upon Lebanon.

In an official transcript of a briefing Netanyahu gave Israeli commandos near the Lebanese border, he also said: "I cannot tell you right now if Hezbollah will decide to enter the (Gaza) war fully."

That war, launched after a devastating cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct 7, was "do or die" for Israel, Netanyahu said.

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Arab World

UN Chief Says 'Diplomatic Avenues' Available to Stop War in Lebanon

Israeli soldiers work on the belts for their tanks at a staging area in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on March 13, 2026. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) /
Israeli soldiers work on the belts for their tanks at a staging area in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on March 13, 2026. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) /
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UN Chief Says 'Diplomatic Avenues' Available to Stop War in Lebanon

Israeli soldiers work on the belts for their tanks at a staging area in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on March 13, 2026. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) /
Israeli soldiers work on the belts for their tanks at a staging area in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on March 13, 2026. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) /

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday on a visit to Beirut that diplomatic channels remained open to end the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah and urged the international community to support Lebanon.

"There is no military solution, only diplomacy, dialogue and full implementation of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions. The diplomatic avenues are available, including through my special coordinator for Lebanon... and through key member states," he said.

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

"We are doing everything we can now to bring about an immediate de-escalation and the cessation of hostilities," Guterres told reporters.

"My special coordinator is engaging with all actors around the clock to bring the parties to the table and UNIFIL peacekeepers... remain in position," he said, referring to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

He said attacks against peacekeepers and positions were "completely unacceptable and they must stop. They are in breach of international law and may constitute war crimes".

Three peacekeepers serving with the Ghanaian contingent were wounded earlier this month in south Lebanon.

Guterres arrived in Beirut on Friday for what he called a "solidarity" visit, and launched a $325 million humanitarian appeal to support Lebanon as it responds to the displacement crisis.

On Saturday, he urged support for the Lebanese government, which last year committed to disarming Hezbollah.

"My message to the international community is simply step up your engagement, empower the Lebanese state and support the Lebanese Armed Forces to secure the capabilities and resources they need. Respond generously to the humanitarian appeal," he said.

The Israeli army has issued sweeping evacuation orders to residents of south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs, with the Norwegian Refugee Council saying they cover 14 percent of Lebanese territory.

"Evacuation orders in a situation where so many vulnerable populations exist in the areas that are asked to be evacuated does not create enough security for civilians, and whatever does not create enough security for civilians inevitably becomes in violation of international humanitarian law," Guterres said.

Arab World

Palestinians Say Five Injured in Israeli Settler West Bank Attack

TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinians Say Five Injured in Israeli Settler West Bank Attack

TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israeli settlers injured five Palestinians, including two with gunshot wounds, in a fresh attack against a village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Saturday, while the military reported a 'violent confrontation' in the area.

Palestinian news agency WAFA said a group of settlers attacked in the area of Rashayda, near the village of Kisan, "firing live ammunition".

Musa Abayat, the mayor of the area east of Bethlehem, told AFP that two people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds and three others beaten with sharp objects or hit by stones.

"The settlers also stole 100 sheep," Abayat said, decrying "daily attacks" by settlers in this part of the West Bank.

The Israeli military said there was a "violent confrontation" involving Israeli civilians who fired toward Palestinians.

"As a result of the incident, an Israeli civilian was injured and evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment," it said in a statement to AFP.

"Two additional Palestinians were evacuated by the Red Crescent for medical treatment."

Israeli police had detained two Israeli civilians who fired their weapons, while three Palestinians were also apprehended, the military added.

There has been a spike in deadly settler attacks in the West Bank in recent days, with at least five Palestinians killed since the start of March, according to Palestinian authorities and the United Nations.

Violence more broadly in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has also risen sharply since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war. It has continued despite a ceasefire since October 10.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,045 Palestinians, many of them militants, but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.

Arab World

Macron Urges Israel to Hold 'Direct Talks' with Lebanon amid More War Casualties

Firefighters and first aid responders work inside an apartment that was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the Burj Hammoud area on the northern outskirts of Beirut on March 14, 2026. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
Firefighters and first aid responders work inside an apartment that was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the Burj Hammoud area on the northern outskirts of Beirut on March 14, 2026. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
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Macron Urges Israel to Hold 'Direct Talks' with Lebanon amid More War Casualties

Firefighters and first aid responders work inside an apartment that was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the Burj Hammoud area on the northern outskirts of Beirut on March 14, 2026. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
Firefighters and first aid responders work inside an apartment that was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the Burj Hammoud area on the northern outskirts of Beirut on March 14, 2026. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said Lebanon was ready to engage in "direct talks" with Israel and offered to host negotiations in Paris.

"The Lebanese government has signaled its willingness to engage in direct talks with Israel," he said on X.

"France is ready to facilitate these talks by hosting them in Paris," Macron said, adding he had spoken to the president and prime minister of Lebanon.

He called on Israel to "seize this opportunity ⁠to launch ceasefire discussions, to find a lasting solution and to allow the Lebanese authorities to put in place their engagements for Lebanon's sovereignty."

Macron also urged Israel ⁠to ⁠stop its offensive and on Hezbollah to stop its actions.

"Everything must be done to stop Lebanon from descending into chaos," he said.

A photograph shows the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs, on March 14, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

At least 12 medical personnel were killed in an Israeli strike on a healthcare center in the town of Borj Qalaouiya in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese state news agency reported on Saturday, citing the health ministry.

The Israeli army said that a day earlier it struck Hezbollah operatives "who were bringing rockets into a weapons depot" in Majdal, around seven kilometers from Borj Qalaouiya.

Also, an Israeli strike hit an apartment building in a northern Beirut suburb that had been targeted a day earlier, Lebanese state media said.

The National News Agency said "an Israeli strike targeted the Nabaa-Burj Hammoud area for a second day."

The same building had been struck on Friday without causing casualties.

The NNA also reported on Friday that Israeli shells hit a United Nations base hosting Nepali peacekeepers in the southern border town of Mais al-Jabal.