{"id":21103,"date":"2026-03-16T03:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T03:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/21103\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T03:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T03:50:14","slug":"gulf-countries-report-new-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/21103\/","title":{"rendered":"Gulf countries report new attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(AP) \u2014 Gulf countries reported new attacks Sunday morning, a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, threatening for the first time a neighboring <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-war-islands-strait-hormuz-oil-trump-1b3e770e61c6a05d3e078223e15b20b2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">country\u2019s non-U.S. assets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran accused the United States of using \u201cports, docks and hideouts\u201d in the UAE to launch strikes on <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-war-islands-strait-hormuz-oil-trump-1b3e770e61c6a05d3e078223e15b20b2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kharg Island<\/a>, home to the main terminal handling Iran\u2019s oil exports, without providing evidence, as <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/iran\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the war<\/a> showed no signs of ending.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to help secure the vital Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Israeli strikes have deepened <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/photo-gallery\/lebanon-shelter-hezbollah-israel-war-487792d7f62cfc2c5d9d20a2fd62fea1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lebanon&#8217;s humanitarian crisis<\/a>, with more than 800 people killed and over 850,000 displaced.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the latest:<\/p>\n<p>    Iraqi agency: Rockets hit Baghdad airport and surroundings injuring 5<\/p>\n<p>Iraq\u2019s Security Media Cell, affiliated with the country\u2019s security forces, said Sunday that Baghdad International Airport and its surroundings were hit by rockets, injuring four airport security personnel and staff, as well as an engineer.<\/p>\n<p>Two security officials said a former U.S. base adjacent to the airport, which still provides logistical support to U.S. operations, was targeted with drones and Katyusha rockets.<\/p>\n<p>Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched a series of attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, triggering the ongoing war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>The Security Media Cell added that the rocket launch platform was found hidden inside a vehicle in an area west of the capital and seized. It said that authorities have relieved a number of sector commanders and intelligence officers of their duties and initiated legal procedures over the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Ahmed Laibi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, said in a separate statement that attacks on the airport in recent days had landed near the al-Karkh Central Prison nearby \u201craising concerns regarding the impact on the security of a prison that houses high-risk terrorist inmates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 By Qassim Abdul-Zahra<\/p>\n<p>    Israel says Gaza\u2019s crucial Rafah crossing will reopen<\/p>\n<p>The military\u2019s statement says the territory\u2019s crossing with Egypt will open Wednesday for \u201climited\u201d movement in both directions: people only, not cargo. It says procedures will be the same as before the crossing closed.<\/p>\n<p>Israel closed Gaza\u2019s crossings on the first weekend of the Iran war. Rafah has been critical for medical evacuations abroad.<\/p>\n<p>    UN says peacekeepers were fired on in southern Lebanon<\/p>\n<p>The U.N. statement says the gunfire \u201clikely by non-state armed groups\u201d happened while peacekeepers were patrolling around their bases on Sunday. It says two patrols fired back and no peacekeepers were injured.<\/p>\n<p>    Hassett says Trump administration attacks on Iran have cost $12 billion<\/p>\n<p>Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett was speaking on CBS News\u2019 Face the Nation on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe latest number I was briefed on was 12,\u201d Hassett said.<\/p>\n<p>Pentagon estimates provided to Congress said the war would cost $11.3 billion in its first week. Hassett did not specify the time frame for the $12 billion in spending.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether the U.S. will need to request more money from Congress, Hassett responded: \u201cI think right now we\u2019ve got what we need, whether we have to go back to Congress for more is something that I think that Russ Vought and OMB will look into.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OMB is the United States Office of Management and Budget.<\/p>\n<p>    Iranian government shows journalists part of Tehran heavily damaged by a US-Israeli strike<\/p>\n<p>A strike on the Javadieh neighborhood of southern Tehran on Friday hit a police station and several surrounding buildings.<\/p>\n<p>Elham Movagghari, a resident of the area who spoke to journalists Sunday, said she was shocked by the attack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were confused and didn\u2019t know what had happened,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just ran away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another resident, Hossein Ghardashi, said the strike threw him across the room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I got up and came to my senses, I saw that two or three pieces of glass had gone into my face and head\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>    Italy\u2019s chief of defense staff says a drone hit a base in Kuwait housing Italian and US forces<\/p>\n<p>Gen. Luciano Portolano said the attack on the Ali Al Salem base occurred on Sunday morning and destroyed an Italian drone inside a shelter on the base.<\/p>\n<p>No Italian personnel were injured, he said, in comments posted on X.<\/p>\n<p>Italian troops are stationed at the base as part of a coalition task force combating the Islamic State militant group.<\/p>\n<p>The Chief of Defense Staff\u2019s post said the Italian task force\u2019s assets \u201chad been pre-emptively reduced\u201d in recent days due to the ongoing war. It said some personnel remain at the base to carry out essential activities. It did not say how many Italians remain.<\/p>\n<p>    For residents of Israel\u2019s north, the missile fire continues<\/p>\n<p>Some Israelis in northern Israel have little faith their communities will soon quiet down, after seeing the last Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire falter and fall apart. They fear the conflict thundering ahead could continue beyond the Iran war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a war, there was an agreement, and today again another war and there will be another agreement, and another war, and another agreement,\u201d said Ahmad Zbidat, a renovation foreman at a hotel in Metula, just across the border from Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p>Some 100,000 Israeli troops have amassed along the U.N.-mandated Blue Line that divides the two countries, in an anticipated ground invasion.<\/p>\n<p>    Israeli police officer thanks citizens for showing \u2018discipline\u2019 and entering safe rooms<\/p>\n<p>Security forces have flocked to the site where a missile fell in Tel Aviv, leaving a small crater in the ground.<\/p>\n<p>It was one of at least 23 sites that the Israeli rescue service United Hatzalah said were damaged in one of several barrages from Iran on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Shlomo Shlezinger, head of operations for the Israeli police, said a few cars and a motorcycle were damaged but no one was injured or killed at the site.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone was inside the safe rooms,\u201d he said. \u201cThank you to all the civilians for their civilian discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    UEFA cancels Argentina vs. Spain Finalissima in Qatar<\/p>\n<p>European soccer\u2019s governing body said Sunday that the security of the marquee game had been plunged into doubt by increasing tensions in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/argentina-spain-finalissima-2026-qatar-d771dcbf750cc1cd016866ee7c03f0fd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Finalissima<\/a> between South American champion Argentina and <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/spain-euro-2024-celebrations-bright-future-2075edc4083f6c978f4e4de01a2cb93d\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">European champion Spain<\/a> had been scheduled to take place in Doha on March 27.<\/p>\n<p>Argentina and Spain were to play at Lusail Stadium, which staged the <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lionel-messi-argentina-win-world-cup-final-against-france-e13fc1886725a0fe4f9e053e16a061bc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">epic 2022 World Cup final<\/a>. Argentina won a penalty shootout against France after Lionel Messi scored twice and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 secured a hat trick in a thrilling 3-3 draw.<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-israel-us-march-12-2026-oil-prices-90e17dbf7354d1e9428994ab2a036506\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">violence in the Middle East<\/a> has impacted international sport beyond the Finalissima. Formula 1\u2019s races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, scheduled for April, have been <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/f1-mideast-races-canceled-4c110a35b3548020124106b9c21368c5\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">called off due to the war<\/a>, while Trump has suggested that <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/world-cup-iran-fifa-trump-d751ae8ece69e4cd33f1193bdaf1fa9d\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iran will not participate<\/a> in this summer\u2019s World Cup that is co-hosted by the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>    Emergency stocks of oil \u2018will soon start flowing to global markets,\u2019 the International Energy Agency says<\/p>\n<p>The Paris-based agency, which is helping to coordinate the international effort to lower prices, says its member countries in Asia and Oceania plan to release stocks \u201cimmediately\u201d and that reserves from Europe and the Americas \u201cwill be made available starting from the end of March.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis emergency collective action, by far the largest ever, provides a significant and welcome buffer,\u201d it says in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The IEA announced Wednesday that <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-war-oil-prices-gasoline-economy-consumers-a5b47c09f83406adf2a00616382003f6\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">it will make 400 million barrels of oil available<\/a> from members\u2019 emergency reserves \u2014 more than double the 182.7 million barrels that the IEA\u2019s 32 countries released in 2022 in response to Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>The IEA\u2019s update on Sunday said its members have so far committed to making available a total of nearly 412 million barrels from government, industry and other stocks \u2014 of which 72% will be crude oil and the rest as oil products.<\/p>\n<p>    Israel\u2019s prime minister shows the world he is alive and has only ten fingers<\/p>\n<p>Benjamin Netanyahu posted his latest video Facebook to seemingly clear up confusion over an earlier post. Some who watched the earlier video thought it was an AI creation because at one point he appeared to have more than 10 fingers, and speculated that the Israeli leader might have died.<\/p>\n<p>In a video filmed in an Israeli cafe and posted online Sunday, Netanyahu picks up a cappuccino with showy ease and pivots to the camera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are saying on the internet that the prime minister\u2019s dead? I\u2019m dying for coffee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Then he spread the fingers on each hand to show he has only 10, and sipped his coffee.<\/p>\n<p>    Israel maintains it has enough interceptors to sustain air defense against Iran<\/p>\n<p>An Israeli military source told The Associated Press on Sunday that the country has enough interceptors to continue defending its skies against missiles from Iran.<\/p>\n<p>The source spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol.<\/p>\n<p>The comment appeared to be an effort to tamp down growing speculation that Israel\u2019s vaunted air defense system is running low.<\/p>\n<p>Interceptors are the missiles that Israel\u2019s air defense system uses to destroy incoming rockets before they hit populated areas.<\/p>\n<p>By <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/author\/julia-frankel\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">JULIA FRANKEL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Egypt\u2019s president calls Gulf leaders to discuss how to end conflict<\/p>\n<p>President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made a series of phone calls Sunday, speaking with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; Jordanian King Abdullah II; and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.<\/p>\n<p>Egypt\u2019s foreign minister is touring the Gulf region.<\/p>\n<p>El-Sissi said in a statement that Egypt is intensifying efforts seeking a de-escalation of tensions in the region.<\/p>\n<p>    Iranian foreign minister says there\u2019s \u2018no reason\u2019 to talk with Trump\u2019s envoys<\/p>\n<p>Abbas Araghchi told CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d on Sunday that Iranian negotiators were in talks with U.S. envoys when the decision to attack his country was made.<\/p>\n<p>Araghchi said \u201cwe don\u2019t see any reason why we should talk with Americans\u201d about how to end the war and that Iran has had no \u201cgood experience talking with Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Araghchi says Iran is \u201copen to countries who want to talk to us about the safe passage of their vessels\u201d through the Strait of Hormuz and has been approach by \u201ca number\u2019\u2019 of nations about that. He didn\u2019t name them.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the fate of his country\u2019s nuclear material, the minister said it was under rubble from attacks on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities and \u201cwe have no plan to recover\u201d it from there.<\/p>\n<p>    Israel says the brother of a man who attacked a Michigan synagogue was a Hezbollah commander killed in an airstrike<\/p>\n<p>The military said it had struck Ibrahim Ghazali \u2014 the brother of Lebanese-born Ayman Ghazali, who attacked <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/michigan-synagogue-attack-fbi-investigation-58331bad2c28e78c6c99a4a764637873\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the synagogue<\/a> last week \u2014 because he managed weapons for a Hezbollah unit that fired rockets at Israel.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press was not able to verify that Ibrahim Ghazali was a militant.<\/p>\n<p>A Lebanese official, who requested anonymity because he could not publicly discuss details of the airstrike, confirmed that Ibrahim Ghazali was killed.<\/p>\n<p>The official told AP that Ghazali\u2019s children, Ali and Fatima, and brother, Kassim, were also killed in the strike that hit their home just after sunset.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have said 41-year-old Ayman Ghazali attacked the Temple Israel synagogue outside Detroit after learning that four of his family members had been killed in an Israeli strike.<\/p>\n<p>By Bassem Mroue<\/p>\n<p>\u25b6 <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/michigan-synagogue-attack-israel-hezbollah-5d77acb920b9435e4fb8d3bd340868cb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    Funeral held for Turkish truck driver killed in missile strike in Iran<\/p>\n<p>Crowds gathered Sunday for the burial of 29-year-old Huseyin Firat in Reyhanli, southern Turkey, the Demiroren News Agency reported.<\/p>\n<p>He died from wounds sustained in a March 6 attack on a convoy returning from Afghanistan to Turkey, according to Turkish media reports.<\/p>\n<p>Video footage taken days later showed his vehicle shredded by shrapnel and a large crater near the city of Zanjan, in northwest Iran.<\/p>\n<p>    The US expects other countries to back American efforts on Hormuz, Wright says<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says he\u2019s been \u201cin dialogue\u201d with some of the countries that Trump hopes will send warships to counter Iran\u2019s efforts to restrict shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. He\u2019s not saying which ones.<\/p>\n<p>Asked on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d whether shipping through the critical waterway is safe at the moment, Wright responded: \u201cNo, it is not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He noted that many other countries, especially in Asia, are more dependent than the United States on energy supplies that are shipped through the strait.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo of course the whole world will be united on the need to open Hormuz and clearly we will have the support of other nations to achieve that objective,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Wright said he expected China to \u201cbe a constructive partner\u201d in efforts to reopen the strait.<\/p>\n<p>    Egypt pledges unity with Qatar and other Gulf nations that have been struck by Iran<\/p>\n<p>Egypt\u2019s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi promised \u201cfull support and solidarity\u201d in a message to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.<\/p>\n<p>Foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, who was visiting Qatar on Sunday on the first stop of a tour of the Gulf region, delivered the president\u2019s message.<\/p>\n<p>Abdelatty called for a deescalation of hostilities in the region. He said activating a Joint Defense Treaty would \u201csafeguard the security, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Arab states.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    Turkmenistan sends humanitarian aid to neighboring Iran<\/p>\n<p>State media reports that four refrigerated trucks carrying medicine, medical supplies, clothing and food left the capital Ashgabat for Iran on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The shipment, funded by a charitable foundation, was sent \u201cto the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, primarily children, as a sign of friendly and fraternal relations,\u201d according to state media. It showed footage of a prayer being recited for the safe delivery of the supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said approximately 250 people from 16 countries have so far crossed into Turkmenistan, an isolated, gas-rich Central Asian nation, which shares a 1,148-kilometer (713-mile) border with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Turkmenistan maintains one of the strictest visa policies in the world. It provided safe passage to more than 4,000 foreign nationals from 52 countries during the Israel-Iran war last summer.<\/p>\n<p>    Tel Aviv cleans up after multiple impacts<\/p>\n<p>Police and city workers scoured the area of what appeared to be a cluster munition impact in Tel Aviv on Sunday, attempting to locate and clear any unexploded ordnance.<\/p>\n<p>City workers used street sweepers and power washers to hose down an area where a small munition damaged two cars and spread shrapnel across a small park. Cluster bombs can be exceptionally dangerous for the public as small munitions that are released may not explode on impact and pose a serious danger for passersby.<\/p>\n<p>The impact also left a hole in the pavement, next to a bomb shelter that serves as a youth center at the local swimming pool. Within 90 minutes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment arrived to clear debris and patch the hole.<\/p>\n<p>Israel police said there were a number of impact sites in the greater Tel Aviv area after Sunday\u2019s attacks that left four people injured, one moderately.<\/p>\n<p>    Americans will feel the effects of energy disruption for some weeks yet, Trump\u2019s energy secretary says<\/p>\n<p>Chris Wright told NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on Sunday that there\u2019s been a \u201cshort-term disruption\u2019 to the flow of energy and that \u201cAmericans are feeling it right now. Americans will feel it for a few more weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether the war will be over in a matter of weeks, Wright said: \u201cI think that\u2019s the likely time frame, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said gas prices will start to come back down after the war is over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end, we will have removed the greatest risk to global energy supplies. We\u2019ll go to a world more abundant in energy, more affordable energy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked about whether pump prices will fall below $3 per gallon by the summer travel season, Wright said: \u201cthere\u2019s a very good chance that\u2019ll be true. There\u2019s no guarantees in war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    A violent storm hammers displaced Lebanese people on Beirut\u2019s waterfront<\/p>\n<p>The displaced struggled to keep their tents intact as pouring rain and fierce winds hammered the city\u2019s downtown waterfront area Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>An AP team on the ground witnessed one tent succumb to the winds, blowing away entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Fadi Younes, one displaced man who fled to the beach from Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, found himself battling with his collapsed tent. He had already rebuilt it once after a storm two days ago, he said.<\/p>\n<p>He gestured to new mattresses, now waterlogged, that he bought after the last ones got soaked through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that today things in the country will be set right and everyone can return to their homes. A person only truly feels at ease in their own home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Younes is among more than 830,000 people displaced by Israeli strikes and evacuation warnings in Lebanon. The Norwegian Refugee Council says that amounts to one in every seven people.<\/p>\n<p>    UN Ambassador Mike Waltz says Trump is weighing options to hit Iran\u2019s oil hub<\/p>\n<p>Waltz was asked on CNN Sunday whether the U.S. president was prepared to target oil facilities on Kharg island, which handles 90% of Iran\u2019s crude oil exports, and if so, if he was worried that that could risk even more of an escalation in the war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s not going to take any options off the table,\u201d Waltz said. \u201cI would certainly think he would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their their energy infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Central Command posted on X Saturday that it had struck military targets on the island, but preserved the oil infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>    Iran says strategic strait open to all vessels except the US and its allies<\/p>\n<p>Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi\u2019s comments about the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz came in an interview with the London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed published Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Strait of Hormuz is not generally closed, but only to the U.S. and its allies, and we will continue this policy as long as the attacks continue,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n<p>    Aluminium Bahrain to gradually stop some production<\/p>\n<p>The world\u2019s largest aluminum smelter outside China said Sunday it would gradually shut down nearly one-fifth of its production capacity as exports remain blocked through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>Aluminium Bahrain, or Alba, promised a \u201ccontrolled and safe shutdown strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smelters run at high temperatures and take time to shut down or restart without endangering equipment or damage the containers that hold molten metals.<\/p>\n<p>The company told buyers last week it couldn\u2019t meet its obligations. The timeline of a phased partial shutdown means global aluminum supplies could remain tight even if transit through the Strait of Hormuz quickly returns to normal, keeping upward pressure on prices for products such as construction materials and cars.<\/p>\n<p>Aluminum and oil make up a big part of Bahrain\u2019s economy and limits on production and export threaten to deepen woes in the Persian Gulf Island nation being hit with Iranian airstrikes.<\/p>\n<p>    The United Arab Emirates said it was attacked Sunday by 4 ballistic missiles and 6 drones from Iran<\/p>\n<p>There was no immediate word on damage or casualties.<\/p>\n<p>    Latest Iranian missile attack on Israel injures 2 and damages apartment building<\/p>\n<p>It was one of the multiple barrages targeting Israel Sunday. It damaged an apartment building in the central Israeli ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak.<\/p>\n<p>The country\u2019s Magen David Adom rescue services said that one man was injured by glass shrapnel. Photos and video showed a blackened hole in place of the apartment\u2019s windows.<\/p>\n<p>Magen David Adom also said paramedics were treating another man in the nearby city of Ramat Gan who sustained blast injuries. It comes after an earlier barrage hit 23 sites in the Tel Aviv area and injured two people.<\/p>\n<p>    Southern Beirut ravaged by overnight strikes<\/p>\n<p>Collapsed concrete, exposed rebar and sheets of plastic spilled onto the streets of southern Beirut Sunday morning. Smoke rose into the air and small fires burned.<\/p>\n<p>That was the scene in the city\u2019s suburb of Haret Hreik, after a night of continued Israeli airstrikes.<\/p>\n<p>In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced by war, just over a year since the last conflict uprooted over a million Lebanese from their homes. Israeli strikes have killed 826 people, including 106 children and 65 women, since the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, according to the Health Ministry.<\/p>\n<p>    Pope addresses leaders to demand a ceasefire in the Mideast<\/p>\n<p>Pope Leo XIV on Sunday escalated his appeal for peace by directly addressing the leaders who launched the war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict,\u201d Leo said. \u201cCease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Leo didn\u2019t mention the United States or Israel by name, he mentioned the bombings that targeted a school \u2014 an apparent reference to the missile strike on an elementary school in Iran in the opening days of the war that killed over 165 people, many of them children.<\/p>\n<p>The Vatican has highlighted the carnage of the Minab strike, running a photo of the mass grave for the victims on the front page of its official newspaper, L\u2019Osservatore Romano, under the headline \u201cThe Face of War.\u201d U.S. officials have said outdated intelligence likely led to the United States launching the strike, and that an investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>    Norwegian leader worried about continuing escalation<\/p>\n<p>Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr St\u00f8re said it should be the responsibility of the countries involved to \u201cfind ways of ending the hostilities that now have great impact around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking alongside the leaders of Canada and the other Nordic nations on Sunday, St\u00f8re said \u201cit seems to us that the plan for how it will develop is pretty unclear.\u201d He added: \u201cThat\u2019s the danger with initiating wars, that they rarely follow a script.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that \u201cwe are concerned to see that there is still an escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(AP) \u2014 Gulf countries reported new attacks Sunday morning, a day after Iran called for the evacuation of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[270,38,496,359,34,94,37,49,2169,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-21103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-persian-gulf","8":"tag-bahrain","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-gaza","11":"tag-gulf","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-iraq","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-middle-east","16":"tag-missile-attacks","17":"tag-persian-gulf"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116236820345662703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}