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Ireland, Spain Want EU to Review Israel’s Human Rights Compliance in Gaza

Men walk through the rubble of a mosque that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP)
Men walk through the rubble of a mosque that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP)
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Ireland, Spain Want EU to Review Israel’s Human Rights Compliance in Gaza

Men walk through the rubble of a mosque that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP)
Men walk through the rubble of a mosque that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP)

The prime ministers of Spain and Ireland asked the European Commission on Wednesday to urgently review whether Israel is complying with its human rights obligations in Gaza.

At least 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 were taken hostage in a raid by Hamas militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel to retaliate. At least 28,576 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli strikes, the health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday.

Palestinians jammed into their last refuge in Gaza voiced growing fear on Wednesday that Israel will soon launch a planned assault on the southern city of Rafah after truce talks in Cairo ended inconclusively.

"We are deeply concerned at the deteriorating situation in Israel and in Gaza... The expanded Israeli military operation in the Rafah area poses a grave and imminent threat that the international community must urgently confront," the prime ministers said in a joint letter published on the Spanish government website.

"We also recall the horror of Oct. 7, and call for the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire that can facilitate access for urgently needed humanitarian supplies."

The EU Commission confirmed receipt of the letter.

An EU spokesperson said: "We do urge all sides when it comes to Israel to respect international law and we note that there must be respect, there must be accountability for violations of international law."

Two weeks ago, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he was in talks with other EU heads of governments to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement's human rights clause.

The 23-year-old agreement sets out a framework for free trade in goods, services and capital, based on "respect for human rights and democratic principles".

So far only Spain and Ireland have made public their support for a review.

Varadkar said several EU states were also talking about a possible joint recognition of a Palestinian state.

Ireland has long been a champion of Palestinian rights, and ministers have repeatedly said the government is considering recognizing a Palestinian state.

Spain has also repeatedly advocated the recognition of a Palestinian state.

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Arab World

Israeli Foreign Minister Says No Plans for Talks with Lebanese Govt

Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Foreign Minister Says No Plans for Talks with Lebanese Govt

Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli tanks maneuver on the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, amid escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, and amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in northern Israel, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)

Israel's foreign minister on Sunday denied reports that Israel could soon hold direct talks with Lebanon and rejected claims it had told the United States it was running low on interceptors. 

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday that ‌Israel and Lebanon were ‌expected to hold ‌direct ⁠talks in the ⁠coming days. Semafor also reported that Israel had informed Washington it was running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors. 

Both reports cited unnamed sources. 

Asked about the weekend ⁠reports, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said: "For ‌the ‌two questions, the answer is no." 

He also ‌said that Israel sees "eye-to-eye" ‌with the US in the war with Iran, now in its 16th day, and that the two allies were ‌determined to continue until their goals are achieved. 

"We want ⁠to ⁠remove the existential threats from Iran for the long term. We don't want to go every year to another war," he told reporters. 

Saar was speaking from a Bedouin Arab town in northern Israel near an Israeli Air Force base where homes were damaged in an Iranian missile attack last week. 

Arab World

At Least Four Killed in Overnight Israeli Strikes in Lebanon

Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
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At Least Four Killed in Overnight Israeli Strikes in Lebanon

Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)
Debris is strewn along a street and vehicles after a residential apartment block was struck in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik on March 15, 2026. (AFP)

Overnight strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least four people, Lebanese state media and the government said on Sunday, as Israel said it was pressing its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Israel is fighting a second front in the war in the Middle East in southern Lebanon, against Hezbollah, alongside the air campaign against Iran it launched with the United States more than two weeks ago.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israel struck "an apartment in a residential building" in a northern district of the coastal city of Sidon, killing one person and causing a fire.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw damage to the third storey of an apartment building as the Lebanese army cordoned off the area and rescue teams worked to extinguish the blaze.

Nearby residents rushed into the street, some carrying belongings.

To the southeast of Sidon, in the village of Al-Qatrani, three people were killed in an overnight Israeli strike, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

The Israeli military said in a statement Sunday it continued to strike infrastructure used by Hezbollah throughout Lebanon and hit "several Hezbollah launch sites" in Al-Qatrani, where it said the armed group was preparing to fire off missiles.

It also said it destroyed "command centers" belonging to Hezbollah's Radwan Force in Beirut.

Hezbollah said Sunday it was targeting several Israeli troop positions in villages close to the border.

According to Lebanon's health ministry, Israeli air strikes have killed 826 people in Lebanon since the start of the latest war, which began March 2 with Hezbollah firing missiles at Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has proposed negotiations with Israel, but has yet to receive a response.

A Lebanese official told AFP on Saturday that the country was preparing to form a delegation to negotiate with Israel but that there was no agenda, timing or location yet decided for any talks.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the Lebanese government was ready to engage in "direct talks" with Israel and he offered to host negotiations in Paris, warning that "everything must be done to prevent Lebanon from descending into chaos".

Arab World

Israeli Ground Incursions in South Lebanon Shift Hezbollah’s Combat Priorities

Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 
Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 
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Israeli Ground Incursions in South Lebanon Shift Hezbollah’s Combat Priorities

Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 
Two Israeli tanks deployed along the border barrier with Lebanon during fighting with Hezbollah (EPA). 

Hezbollah has scaled back attacks deep inside Israel as it focuses on confronting expanding Israeli ground incursions into southern Lebanon, while Israel has widened its list of targets across Lebanese territory.

By Saturday afternoon, Hezbollah had issued 22 statements claiming attacks against Israeli forces. Most operations targeted Israeli military positions along the border, air-defense and surveillance systems, and northern Israeli settlements.

The group also said it struck Israeli soldiers and vehicles inside Lebanese territory, including near the municipality of Khiam, the town of Maroun al-Ras, and newly established Israeli positions at Blat and Nimr al-Jamal opposite the border town of Alma al-Shaab. Hezbollah also reported attacks around the Khiam detention center, west of Blida and near Khazzan Hill in Adaisseh.

Efforts to repel Israeli ground advances now appear to top Hezbollah’s battlefield priorities after the Israeli army launched incursions along at least four axes, according to sources in southern Lebanon. They said Hezbollah had mobilized forces since the start of the war in preparation for a possible ground confrontation.

Israeli forces have sought to prevent reinforcements of fighters and equipment from reaching Hezbollah units in the south. Airstrikes severed key routes by hitting two bridges and two crossings linking areas south of the Litani River with those to the north, as well as roads between villages.

Sources stressed that these steps broaden Israel’s target list. “Israel also appears to be trying to empty the area by targeting ambulances and civil defense units in the south,” one source said.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes launched two airstrikes shortly after midnight on the Khardali road and bridge linking Nabatieh and Marjayoun near a Lebanese army checkpoint. The strikes left a large crater and completely cut the road.

Medical Facilities Targeted

Israeli strikes on ambulance centers and medical facilities since the start of the war have killed 22 paramedics, according to Lebanese officials.

The deadliest attack occurred Friday when an Israeli strike hit a primary health care center run by Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health in the town of Burj Qalaouiyeh, killing 12 doctors, paramedics and nurses. The Health Ministry described the strike as a “flagrant attack on the country’s official health care network.”

Another strike hit a gathering point for the Islamic Health Authority and the Al-Risala Scouts Association in the town of Souwaneh, killing two people.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah was using ambulances and medical facilities for military purposes and accused the group of transporting rockets and other weapons in civilian trucks along Lebanon’s coastal areas.

Heavy Strikes Across the South

Israeli airstrikes also intensified across southern Lebanon, targeting towns including Majdal Zoun, Yater, Taybeh, Sajd in the Iqlim al-Tuffah region and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in the Nabatieh district, where a strike destroyed a house belonging to the Harb family.

Two heavy strikes hit the town of Khiam in the Marjayoun district, while Naqoura came under artillery fire and warplanes targeted Kharayeb.

In the Hasbaya district, Israeli artillery shelled the outskirts of Shebaa. Later, Israeli forces targeted Bint Jbeil, Ainata, Aitaroun and the outskirts of Maroun al-Ras as clashes intensified with Hezbollah fighters along several fronts. The Wadi al-Hujayr area also came under artillery fire.

The escalation also affected UN peacekeepers. Kandice Ardiel, spokeswoman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, said a UN position near Mais al-Jabal was hit, likely by heavy machine-gun fire, sparking a fire at the site and slightly injuring a peacekeeper.

UNIFIL said it had opened an investigation and reminded all parties of their obligation to ensure the safety of peacekeepers at all times.