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France Warns Israel of Military Action in Lebanon

Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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France Warns Israel of Military Action in Lebanon

Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Newly appointed French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne arrives to attend the first weekly meeting of the French Council of Ministers after a cabinet reshuffle at the Elysee Palace in Paris on January 12, 2024. (Reuters)

France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne delivered a direct message from President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Israel, asserting France's pivotal role in any prospective political solution in Lebanon, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday.
Tensions flared during the meeting between Sejourne and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, primarily over concerns regarding Lebanon and the hostages in Gaza.
The Arab World Press noted France's failure to provide evidence confirming the delivery of medicines to Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Sejourne issued a warning in response to Katz's declaration that time is running out for a diplomatic solution in southern Lebanon, with Israel prepared to take military action to repatriate evacuated residents.
He cautioned that France would take military measures in Lebanon to safeguard approximately 20,000 French nationals residing there in the event of conflict with Hezbollah.
Sejourne's visit to Israel included a series of high-level political meetings.
Katz urged Sejourne to pressure Qatar for evidence that medications reached hostages in Gaza.
In mid-January, France and Qatar were part of a deal to purchase and send medication to Israeli hostages held in Gaza, but Israel has not been able to verify that they reached the captives.
Unnamed sources revealed that the French Foreign Minister reiterated his country's ongoing endeavors on the matter, stressing that if the medications did not reach the hostages, there would be "grave repercussions," as per reports from the broadcasting authority.

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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 will keep crude oil production at around 1.4 million barrels per day, Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani ​was quoted as saying on Thursday, less than a third of the level before the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

According to the state news agency, the minister said that 200,000 bpd is being transported by truck through Türkiye, Syria, and Jordan ‌and that ‌Iraq has put in ​place ‌a ⁠plan ​to manage ⁠the current disruptions.

Oil production from Iraq's main southern oilfields, where most of its oil is produced and exported, has plunged 70% to just 1.3 million bpd, sources told Reuters on March 8, as the country ⁠is unable to export via the ‌Gulf due to ‌the war.

The drop in ​production and exports ‌is set to strain Iraq's already fragile finances ‌as the state relies on crude sales for nearly all public spending and more than 90% of its income.

Under pressure to mitigate ‌the losses, the oil ministry has asked the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) if ⁠it ⁠would pump at least 100,000 bpd from its state-managed Kirkuk oilfields to Türkiye's Ceyhan port, sources told Reuters on Wednesday. The ministry said the KRG has not yet responded to the request.

Abdel-Ghani was quoted as saying on Thursday that Iraq will sign an agreement on exporting oil through the Ceyhan pipeline, but he did not ​give further details. 

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.