Trump urges nations to secure Strait of Hormuz as Iran threatens US companies in the region

The live blog has now ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am GMT. You can read more of The New Arab's coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran here.

US President Donald Trump is working to assemble a coalition of countries to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and is hoping to announce it later this week, Axios reported on Sunday citing four sources.

Iran's foreign minister said on Monday that Israeli strikes on Tehran fuel depots constituted "ecocide" due to the long-term risks to residents' health.

"Israel's bombings of fuel depots in Tehran violate international law and constitute ecocide," Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X.

"Residents face long-term damage to their health and well-being. Contamination of soil and groundwater could have generational impacts," the post added.

Japan does not currently plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday, after US President Donald Trump called on allies to help escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

"We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework," Takaichi told parliament.

Trump's call in a social media post for US allies, including Japan, to help protect oil and gas shipments through the strategic waterway puts Tokyo in a difficult position because its war-renouncing constitution limits the scope of overseas military operations it can conduct.

The United States has yet to make a formal request for assistance, Takaichi said.

Dubai has suspended operations at Dubai International Airport "as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff" after a drone strike.

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority announces the temporary suspension of flights at Dubai International Airport as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all passengers and staff. Travellers are advised to contact their respective airlines for the latest updates regarding…

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 16, 2026

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States was in discussions with Iran as the war enters its third week but that Tehran was not ready for a deal to end it.

"Yes, we're talking to them," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, without detailing the nature of such talks, when asked if there was any diplomacy under way to end a conflict that has spread across the Middle East and roiled global markets.

"But I don't think they're ready. But they are getting pretty close," Trump said. Iran's foreign minister earlier denied any talks with the United States were taking place.

 Australia will not send naval ships to assist in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a government minister said on Monday.

"We won't be sending a ship to the Strait of Hormuz. We know how incredibly important that is, but that's not something that we've been asked or that we're contributing to," Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's cabinet, said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.

The Israeli military said early on Monday it was conducting a fresh wave of "wide-scale" strikes on Tehran.

"The [Israeli army] has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure in Tehran," the Israeli military posted on Telegram.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan affirmed in a phone call that continued Iranian attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries represent a dangerous escalation threatening regional security and stability, Saudi state media reported on Monday.

Dubai Media Office said on Monday that authorities were dealing with a fire resulting from a drone attack in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport.

US President Donald Trump has warned that NATO faces a "very bad" future if US allies fail to assist in opening up the Strait of Hormuz, in an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday.

Trump told the FT he could also delay his summit with China’s President Xi Jinping later this month as he presses Beijing to help unblock the crucial waterway.

"It's only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the Strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there," Trump told the newspaper.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he had asked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to put an immediate end to attacks against countries in the Middle East, whether directly or through proxies, including in Lebanon and Iraq.

"I reminded him that France is acting within a strictly defensive framework aimed at protecting its interests, its regional partners, and freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted," Macron said in a post on X.

Macron also stressed the need for freedom of navigation to resume in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz must be restored as soon as possible," he said.

The French president said lasting stability would require a new political and security framework addressing concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions, ballistic missile programme and regional activities.

"Only a new political and security framework can ensure peace and security for all," Macron said, adding that such an arrangement must guarantee Iran never acquires nuclear weapons.

An Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs late Sunday evening, Lebanese media said, after Israel's military issued an evacuation warning in the morning covering several neighbourhoods in the area.

AFP correspondents in the Lebanese capital heard a loud explosion, the latest strike on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold which Israel has hit repeatedly since the latest conflict with the Iran-backed group erupted this month.

The Trump administration plans to announce as early as this week that multiple countries have agreed to form a coalition that will escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US officials.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The Israeli military said it still has thousands of targets to hit across Iran, with new ones identified every day, as the war entered its third week on Sunday.

"We have a precise plan. We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to end disruption to global shipping with US President Donald Trump, a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Sunday.

Starmer also spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, with the leaders discussing the impact of the strait's continued closure on international shipping, the spokeswoman said.

Starmer and Carney agreed to continue talks on the Middle East conflict at a meeting on Monday, the spokeswoman added.

Iran's labour minister has announced a more than 60 percent hike in the minimum wage, local media reported Sunday, months after anti-government protests that began as an expression of discontent over dire economic conditions.

The country adjusts its minimum wage yearly to account for inflation, which had skyrocketed under international sanctions in the months leading up to the ongoing war between Iran and its foes Israel and the United States.

A report from the Tasnim news agency citing the minister of labour said that "with the government's approval", the monthly minimum wage would increase from 103 million rials to 166 million in the coming year of the Persian calendar, which will begin in a few days' time.

It also announced a similar hike in child support benefits.

Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold talks in the coming days aimed at securing a durable ceasefire that will see Hezbollah disarmed, two Israeli officials said on Sunday.

The Israeli government is expected to approve the mobilisation of 450,000 reservists as part of a possible ground offensive into Lebanon, according to Israel's public broadcaster Kan, expanding on the current maximum mobilisation number of 260,000.

A fragment of an Iranian missile struck a residential building used by the US consul in Jerusalem, Israeli media reported, although the US State Department said there were no injuries to US personnel.

A State Department spokesperson said in a statement that debris struck a residential area following the intercept of a missile.

"The United States strongly condemns Iran and Iran-backed terrorist militias' attacks on diplomatic, military, and civilian infrastructure, in the region," the spokesperson said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed regional developments with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a phone call, Iran's Tasnim news agency said on Sunday.

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has hailed direct talks with Iran as the most effective way to restart shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, in an interview published on Sunday.

"I am at the moment engaged in talking to them and my talking has yielded some results," Jaishankar told the Financial Times, adding that talks are ongoing. "If it is yielding results for me, I would naturally continue to look at it."

Gaza's main gateway, the Rafah crossing with Egypt that was shut at the start of the Iran war, will open on Wednesday for limited movement of people in both directions, Israel's COGAT, the military body in charge of humanitarian matters, said on Sunday.

The crossing had reopened in early February after being largely shut since May 2024, in the early months of Israel's war on Gaza. Its reopening offered some relief to Palestinians who want to leave Gaza for medical care or those who want to return after fleeing the fighting.

Israel and Hezbollah are fighting a "fierce battle over control of Lebanon border town of Khiam," according to Al Jazeera's Lebanon correspondent.

A rocket attack on Baghdad International Airport, which houses a US diplomatic facility, wounded five people on Sunday including security personnel, Iraqi authorities said.

"Five rockets targeted Baghdad International Airport and its surrounding area, injuring four airport employees and security personnel, and an engineer," the security media cell said in a statement.

It added that rockets "struck the airport and a water desalination plant", while others crashed near a prison where Islamic State group suspects are detained and an Iraqi airbase base next to a US diplomatic facility.

Hezbollah announced that it has targeted two Israeli military sites in the occupied Golan Heights with rockets, including the Kela barracks and the Tsnobar logistics base, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

Hundreds of people turned out in London Sunday for a pro-Palestine march banned by the government after police said it was organised by a group "supportive of the Iranian regime".

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said earlier this week she had agreed to the ban to "prevent serious public disorder" in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, where Iran has launched strikes in retaliation against US-Israeli attacks.

It is the first time a protest march in the capital has been banned since 2012 but a static demonstration was permitted, according to the Metropolitan police.

Read the full story here.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video of himself getting a cup of coffee and chatting with his aide on Sunday, after rumours that he was dead or injured were aired by Iranian state media and spread online in Iran.

In the video, taken at a cafe in Jerusalem's outskirts and posted on Netanyahu's Telegram account, his aide asks him about the rumours.

Netanyahu responds with a pun on the word dead - which in Hebrew slang can be used to describe "being crazy about" someone or something - as he reaches for a cup of coffee.

"I'm crazy about coffee. You know what? I’m crazy about my people," Netanyahu tells the aide.

Reuters verified the video's location from file imagery of the cafe, which matched the interiors seen in the video. The date was verified from multiple videos and photos of Netanyahu's visit posted by the cafe on Sunday.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, Netanyahu has visited at least two towns hit by Iranian missiles, a hospital, port and military bases, but there was little to no media access, and videos were distributed by his office.

Netanyahu, who rarely gives interviews to Israeli press or holds news conferences, convened his first press conference since the start of the war via a video link on Thursday, a similar format to the one he used in June during Israel's 12-day war with Iran.

Emergency safety restrictions in Israel since the start of the war ban public gatherings and have kept most people at home or close to shelters and safe rooms, with schools shut across most of the country.

The World Health Organization said on Sunday it had released $2 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to support the health response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria amidst the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

The conflict has triggered a large-scale population movement, the WHO said last week, estimating that more than 100,000 people in Iran have relocated, and up to 700,000 people in Lebanon have been internally displaced.

$1 million has been allocated to Lebanon to strengthen the WHO's emergency coordination through the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, scale up trauma care, reinforce disease surveillance, and procure and distribute essential medicines and medical supplies, the agency said in a statement.

Iraq and Syria have each been allocated $500,000 to support emergency coordination and mass-casualty management, procure and distribute essential medicines and supplies, provide health services for displaced populations, and strengthen disease surveillance and community outreach, it added.

"At a time when health services are already facing significant challenges, support is essential to sustain frontline health workers and maintain critical care services," Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean said. 

Several drones and rockets targeted on Sunday a military base at the Baghdad airport complex, which also houses a US diplomatic facility, three security sources told AFP.

"Nine attacks with drones and rockets targeted the Victory military base in the airport," a security official said, with an AFP journalist reporting hearing explosions in the capital.

Another security source said at least three drones were downed. It remains unclear if the military base was directly hit.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said its peacekeepers were fired upon three times on Sunday "likely by non-state armed groups" in the country's south, two days after another position was hit by fire.

"Today, UNIFIL peacekeepers were fired upon, likely by non-state armed groups, on three separate occasions while conducting patrols around their bases" in south Lebanon, the force said, adding that "two patrols returned fire in self-defence and after brief exchanges, the patrols resumed their planned activities. No peacekeeper was injured."

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was not interested in talks with the United States, pushing back on President Donald Trump's stance that Tehran wants a deal to end the war. 

"We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people," Araghchi told CBS's "Face The Nation," in an interview aired Sunday.

"We don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us. There is no good experience talking with Americans.

"We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation," Araghchi said.

He added that Iran was ready to talk to countries who want to negotiate for selected oil tankers to pass through the key Strait of Hormuz export route.

Israel's government is considering cancelling a maritime delineation agreement with Lebanon, GLZ radio reported on Sunday, citing the country's energy minister.

The landmark deal, signed in 2022, allowed both countries to begin exploiting potential offshore gas fields in the disputed maritime area.

Airstrikes have targeted positions belonging to the Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (Hashed al-Shaabi) south of Kirkuk in the north of the country, security sources have said.

Several sites belonging to Hashed and other Iran-backed militias have been hit in Iraq since the Middle East war began two weeks ago, killing an unverified number of people.

The Israeli military says it conducted a "wave of attacks" across several alleged military targets in Iran's Hamadan region and says strikes are being expanded in scope.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is ready to form a joint investigation committee with neighbouring countries to determine the nature of targets struck in recent attacks across the region, insisting Iran has targeted only US military assets and not civilian sites.

In an exclusive interview with The New Arab’s sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Araghchi said Iran had proposed sitting down with Gulf and other Arab "friends" in the region to review incidents and establish whether the sites hit were American targets or not.

"The attacks being carried out target only US bases, interests and military installations in the region on the territory of these countries," Araghchi said, describing the strikes as part of Iran’s self-defence against US attacks launched from those locations.

Read the full story here.

An Israeli military source on Sunday denied media reports that Israel was running low on missile interceptors crucial to its air defences, adding that the army was "continuously monitoring the situation".

Citing US officials, news outlet Semafor had reported that Israel had informed the United States that it was "running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors", as the US-Israeli war against Iran entered its third week.

"As of now, there is no interceptor shortage. The IDF prepared for prolonged combat. We are continuously monitoring the situation," the military source said, in response to media queries.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also dismissed the reports when questioned by journalists earlier on Sunday.

At least eight people were injured in Israel Sunday following repeated missile launches from Iran, at least two of which contained cluster munitions according to Israeli authorities.

Israeli police released footage from a CCTV camera in the Tel Aviv area showing an impact on a road, saying that it was from "cluster munitions" that caused "damage at several locations".

Bomblets and shrapnel from the missile wounded four people in various parts of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, according to the Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service.

A man in his 60s was hospitalised with moderate injuries to his head from broken glass, while three were treated due to the shock waves from the blast.

In another barrage shortly before noon, two men aged 62 and 44 reported minor injuries "from pieces of asphalt that struck them as a result of the blast", according to MDA.

During a salvo towards the Tel Aviv area at around 3:00 am (0100 GMT), a man and a woman in their 80s suffered light injuries, from glass shards and smoke inhalation respectively.

Another Iranian missile directed at Israel's southernmost city of Eilat was intercepted before reaching the target, without causing injuries. The municipality of Eilat quoted security sources saying it was a cluster missile.

By late midday on Sunday, seven missile salvos were launched from Iran toward the State of Israel, some of which were intercepted.

According to Haaretz, citing security officials, 250 ballistic missiles had been fired by Iran at Israel as of March 13.

Twelve people have been killed in Israel by missiles or falling debris since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally of figures given by Israeli authorities and first responders.

Italy's military said Sunday there had been a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but said all its personnel were safe.

"This morning, Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait was the target of a drone attack that hit a shelter housing a remotely piloted aircraft of the Italian Task Force Air (TFA), which was destroyed," Chief of the Defence General Staff, General Luciano Portolano, said in a statement posted by the military on X.

Israel informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as wars with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon continue, the US news site Semafor reported on Saturday, citing US officials.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar however has denied this.

According to some reports, Israel had already entered the current war low on interceptors, many of which were fired during the 12-day conflict with Iran in June last year.

Read the full story here.

A hospital in Gaza said it had received the bodies of eight people killed when a police vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike in the centre of the territory on Sunday.

"Eight martyrs arrived as a result of the targeting of a police vehicle in the town of Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip," the Al-Aqsa hospital said in a statement.

Gaza's interior ministry confirmed the toll, saying all those killed were policemen, including the head of police in the central governorate, Colonel Iyad Abu Yousef.

Lebanon's health ministry said on Sunday that Israeli attacks have killed 850 people in the country during two weeks of war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The ministry statement said the toll included 66 women, 107 children and 32 health workers, with 2,105 other people wounded.

At least 20 people were killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon on Saturday according to an updated toll from the Lebanese health ministry, as the Lebanese government pushed to end the violence.

An earlier statement by the Emergency Operations Centre at the Ministry of Health said 14 civilians were killed in three separate attacks in south Lebanon on Saturday.

Read the full story here.

The 'Finalissima' match between Spain and Argentina that was scheduled to be held in Qatar later this month has been cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East, UEFA said in a statement on Sunday.

The contest between European champions Spain and Copa America winners Argentina was scheduled for March 27 at Doha's Lusail Stadium.

UEFA said they held discussions with the organising authorities in Qatar and concluded that the match could not take place due to the "current political situation" in the region.

"It is a source of great disappointment to UEFA and the organisers that circumstances and timing have denied the teams of the chance to compete for this prestigious prize in Qatar," UEFA said in a statement.

Iran-backed group Hezbollah said its fighters targeted an Israeli air base south of Tel Aviv on Sunday, as Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it targeted the Palmachim air base, around 140 kilometres (85 miles) from the Lebanese-Israeli border, with "an advanced missile", after claiming several other attacks on sites in northern Israel and on Israeli troops in Lebanon near the frontier.

Israel is preparing for the deployment of an international military force in the Gaza Strip beginning in May as part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, according to the Israeli Kan public broadcaster.

Kan said the multinational force is expected to include around 5,000 soldiers from Indonesia, who will make up the bulk of the deployment, alongside dozens of troops from Kazakhstan, Morocco, Albania and Kosovo.

The deployment is anticipated to begin on 1 May.

Read the full story here.

An Israeli strike in south Lebanon's Sidon area early Sunday killed a Hamas official, a source from the Palestinian militant group told AFP.

The source, requesting anonymity, said the strike killed Hamas official Wissam Taha, after state media earlier reported a strike on an apartment in a residential building in a northern district of Sidon.

The coastal city is home to Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, which Israel has previously struck in recent months, saying it was targeting Hamas.

The captain of the Iranian women's football team, which played in the Asian Cup in Australia, has withdrawn her bid for asylum, state media said Sunday, making her the fifth member of the delegation to change her mind.

Zahra Ghanbari will in the next hours fly from Malaysia to Iran, the IRNA news agency said. Three players and one backroom staff member had already in previous days withdrawn their bids for asylum and travelled to Malaysia.

Rights groups have repeatedly accused Iranian authorities of pressuring athletes abroad by threatening relatives or with the seizure of property if they defect or make statements against the Islamic republic.

An Israeli group whose founder adamantly supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza is behind the flights, an AP investigation has found, raising further questions about the motives behind the evacuation of hundreds of people from the strip.

At the time, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola called the flights a "clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank."

Read the full story here.

The UAE's Defence Ministry says four drone and six missile attacks were 'dealt with' from Iran on Sunday.

Iraq warned on Sunday that drone attacks near Baghdad airport threatened the security of the nearby prison housing Islamic State group suspects recently brought from Syria.

In February, the United States completed the transfer of 5,700 IS detainees from Syria to Iraq.

They have been held since in Baghdad's al-Karkh prison, once a US Army detention centre known as Camp Cropper, which is part of Baghdad airport's complex.

Read the full story here.

At least four Palestinians, including a boy and his pregnant mother, were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Sunday in the war-torn Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.

The strike hit a house in Nuseirat, an urban refugee camp in central Gaza, killing a couple and their young son, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The fourth fatality was taken to the Awda hospital in Nuseirat.

Read the full story here.

Israeli media is reporting that at least one person was moderately wounded in Bnei Brak following attempted interceptions of Iranian missiles over central Israel.

Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace in the Middle East on Sunday, calling for an end to the war and reopening of dialogue.

"Dear brothers and sisters, for two weeks the peoples of the Middle East have suffered the atrocious violence of war," the US pontiff said at his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican.

"Thousands of innocent people have been killed, and countless others have been forced to flee their homes.

"I renew my closeness to all those who have lost loved ones in the attacks that have hit schools, hospitals, and residential areas."

Leo said the situation in Lebanon was a particular cause for concern.

"On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and of all women and men of goodwill, I address those responsible for this conflict," he said in Italian.

"Ceasefire! Let paths of dialogue be reopened!

"Violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace that people await."

The Qatar MotoGP scheduled for April 12 has been postponed to November 8 due to the war in the Middle East, the world championship organiser said on Sunday.

The switch follows the cancellation of two Formula 1 Grand Prix races in the Gulf.

"This decision was made in coordination with the International Motorcycling Federation, the promoter, and local authorities, with the primary objective of ensuring the safety, well-being, and optimal organisation of the event for all participants and spectators," MotoGP explained in a statement.

This rescheduling means that the season will end slightly later than planned.

While the Qatar Grand Prix was originally scheduled as the fourth race of the season, it will now be the 20th and penultimate round of the 2026 championship.

The Portuguese Grand Prix, which was to take place on November 15th, has therefore been postponed to November 22nd, while the traditional final round of the season in Valencia will take place on November 29th, a week later than planned.

Donald Trump warned that he is not ready to seek a deal to end the war with Iran, as US ally Israel launched a new wave of strikes Sunday and Tehran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to hunt down and kill the Israeli leader.

The US president, in an interview with NBC News, said he thought Tehran was keen to come to the table but that Washington would fight on for better terms and might bomb targets on Iran's oil hub Kharg Island once, again, "just for fun".

Read the full story here.

A fragment of an Iranian missile struck a residential building used by the U.S. consul in Israel, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

The reports did not immediately provide further details on the incident.

Israel said on Sunday that no direct talks were planned with Lebanon to end the war, a day after a Lebanese official said Beirut was preparing a delegation to negotiate with Israel.

Asked whether Israel was set to hold such talks, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said: "No."

On Saturday, a Lebanese official told AFP that preparations were underway for potential negotiations with Israel, but that Beirut was waiting for an "Israeli commitment to a truce".

Israeli paramedics say two people were lightly injured after suspected missile debris crashed near Tel Aviv, without specifying the exact location.

The ongoing Iran war appears to be escalating, Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Sunday, adding that the plan for the military campaign seemed unclear. 

Iran's army said on Sunday it had targeted a police unit and a satellite communications centre in Israel with drone strikes.

In a statement, carried by the official IRNA news agency, the army said "it has targeted the security centres and police headquarters of the Zionist terrorist regime, including the regime's special police unit called 'Lahav 433' and the 'Gilat Defence' satellite communications centre with powerful drone attacks".

Bahrain authorities say forces are continuing to intercept Iranian attacks, with 125 ballistic missiles and 211 drones "destroyed" since the start of conflict.

Israel has approved an $827-million emergency budget allocation for military purchases, Israeli media reported Sunday, as the war with Iran entered its third week.

The 2.6-billion-shekel package was approved over the weekend by cabinet ministers during a telephone meeting, the daily Haaretz reported.

It will be used for "security purchases" and to address "urgent needs", it said, without providing further details.

A finance ministry document circulated to all ministers and reported by several media outlets, including Channel 12, said that "given the intensity of the fighting" the additional budget allocation was necessary.

"An urgent and immediate need has arisen to provide an operational response, including the acquisition of munitions, the procurement of advanced weapons systems and the replenishment of critical combat stocks," the document said.

The document added that the move constituted "an exceptional emergency decision intended solely to address needs arising from the conduct of the fighting".

The funds will be drawn from the state budget, totalling $222 billion and approved by the government on March 12, and expected to be adopted by the Knesset by March 31, according to the reports.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet officially commented on the measure or specified what purchases the funds will cover.

Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks Sunday after Tehran threatened to widen its campaign as the war in the Middle East entered its third week.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates warned people that they were working to intercept incoming projectiles, a day after Iran called for the evacuations of three major UAE ports, threatening for the first time a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets.

Read the full story here.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged other countries on Sunday to refrain from any action that could widen the scope of the war with Israel and the United States.

In a phone call with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Araghchi called on other countries to "refrain from any action that could lead to escalation and expansion of the conflict", according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement.

His remarks came after US President Donald Trump called for other nations' warships to help protect world oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been virtually blocked by the threat of Iranian attacks.

Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank, killing four people including two children, the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said.

The official Palestinian news agency said the family was shot late Saturday after going out to buy new clothes for the coming Eid al-Fitr holiday. Israel said it was investigating the shooting.

The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said that Ali and Waed Odeh, and two of their four children, were shot in the head.

Read the full story here.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will travel to Qatar on Sunday as part of a Gulf tour to discuss regional developments amid the Israeli-U.S. war on Iran, the ministry said.

The foreign ministry's statement did not mention which other Gulf states Abdelatty was due to visit.

The Israeli military says it's working to intercept a new missile launch detected from Iran.

Official in Qom, Iran, says several people were killed and others injured in Saturday's US-Israeli strikes in residential areas of city.

A British minister on Sunday said it was essential to calm the situation in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump demanded that other nations help protect world oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The "plan now has to be to de-escalate the conflict", Energy Security Minister Ed Miliband told the BBC.

A spokesperson for the defence ministry said late on Saturday: "As we've said previously, we are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region."

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.

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.

Iran's foreign minister denied on Sunday that Iran has targeted civilian or residential areas in the Middle East and said Tehran is ready to form a committee with its neighbours to investigate the responsibility for such strikes.

Gulf countries have called upon Iran to cease its attacks on their territories, which have not only sustained strikes on U.S. military bases but also damage to energy facilities and residential areas.

Abbas Araqchi's Telegram channel quoted him as saying in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed website that Tehran was in communication with various Gulf capitals and would welcome any initiative that could guarantee a complete end to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed on Sunday to target Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the war with Israel and the United States continues.

"If this child-killing criminal is alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force," said the Guards on their website Sepah News.

South Korea's presidential office said on Saturday that it would carefully review U.S. President Donald Trump's calls on allies to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

"We will communicate closely with the U.S. regarding this matter and make a decision after careful review," the office said in a statement. 

Iranian authorities have arrested at least 20 people in the country's northwest on suspicion of cooperating with Israel, local media reported on Sunday, more than two weeks into the Middle East war.

The arrests took place during raids on networks linked to Israel in the West Azerbaijan province, the Fars news agency said, quoting provincial prosecutor Hossein Majidi.

"Twenty people were arrested and detained" after they were found to be "sending details of military, law enforcement and security locations to the Zionist enemy", it added.

Authorities have carried out sweeping raids across Iran, arresting in recent days hundreds of people suspected of cooperating with Israel and the United States, local media reported.

The conflict began on 28 February with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking Iranian retaliation.

Israel's military said it began a broad wave of strikes on western Iran on Sunday, more than two weeks into the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

"A short while ago, the IDF began a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in western Iran," the army said in a statement.