We are now closing our live blog for the day, marked by deadly strikes in southern Lebanon, following a rocket attack on Israel, the first of its kind since the cease-fire. We'll be back tomorrow.
Two other Hezbollah MPs commented on events over the weekend.
“The circumstances the country is going through, and south Lebanon in particular, require a lot of wisdom and patience, and a lot of courage at the same time,” said Ali Fayad during a funeral ceremony in south Lebanon. “It is essential for all Lebanese to be aware of the dangerous game Israel is playing in south Lebanon, with a view to delaying its withdrawal and preventing the inhabitants from returning to their border villages, even going so far as to attempt to provoke a new war,” he added.
Participating in another funeral ceremony, this time in Beirut, MP Ibrahim Moussaoui assured us that “Hezbollah is an organized and disciplined party, which is used to clearly claiming its actions,” precisely to avoid anyone using this as a pretext” for carrying out attacks against the country.
Lebanon
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday that “Israel intends to lure us into political negotiations with a view to normalizing relations between the two countries, but we are not at all willing to do so.”
In an interview with the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Berri pointed out that “there is an agreement [on a cease-fire with Israel] that enjoys international, Arab and U.N. support, and we are applying it to the letter; it is Israel that is hindering its application and seeking to circumvent it.”
The head of the Amal movement insisted that “Hezbollah respects this agreement, it has not taken any action for six months despite Israeli violations and supports the government's action,” stressing that “the problem is that Israel refuses to withdraw from southern Lebanon.”
South Lebanon
“The circumstances the country is going through, and south Lebanon in particular, require a lot of wisdom and patience, and a lot of courage at the same time,” said Hezbollah MP Ali Fayad at a funeral ceremony in South Lebanon.
He added that “all Lebanese agree that it is up to the government to confront Israeli aggression and violations, and to demand a total withdrawal from South Lebanon.”
“It is essential that all Lebanese are aware of the dangerous game Israel is playing in south Lebanon, with a view to delaying its withdrawal and preventing the inhabitants from returning to their border villages, even going so far as to attempt to provoke a new war,” he added.
South Lebanon
“As soon as rockets were launched from Lebanon towards the occupied territories [on Saturday], Hezbollah denied any involvement in the affair, so that no one would use this as a pretext” for carrying out attacks against the country, said MP Ibrahim Moussaoui, a Hezbollah block, at a funeral ceremony in Beirut.
“But some people want to find justifications for the Israeli enemy, and voices have been raised in Lebanon wondering which faction of Hezbollah carried out this operation,” he continued.
“Hezbollah is an organized and disciplined party, which is used to clearly claiming responsibility for its actions,” he concluded.
U.S.-Yemen
U.S. airstrikes on Yemen over the weekend targeted and “eliminated” several Houthi leaders, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told ABC's This Week on Sunday.
“These were not minor strikes, a simple back-and-forth that would have proved ineffective,” Waltz said. “This was an overwhelming response that effectively targeted several Houthi leaders and eliminated them. And the difference here is, one, going after the Houthi leadership directly, and two, holding Iran responsible,” he added.
South Lebanon
The Israeli army claimed responsibility for this morning's drone strike on a car in Aita al-Shaab, killing one person and claiming to have assassinated a Hezbollah member, in a statement quoted by AFP.
According to our correspondent, the man killed was Hassan Nehme al-Zein, owner of a cafe in the locality. His establishment had been targeted overnight by artillery fire and, according to residents, he was on his way to inspect the damage this morning when a drone chased him down and fired a missile at his vehicle.
Iran-U.S.
“U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to ... Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, regarding a possible new nuclear deal, is an effort to avoid military action,” U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday, in remarks relayed by Reuters. “We don't need to solve everything militarily,” he added.
“Our message to Iran is let's sit down and see if we can, through dialogue, through diplomacy, achieve the right result. If we can, we are ready to do so. And if we can't, the alternative is not a good alternative,” he said.
Lebanon
Reacting to Israel's deadly strikes on Saturday, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Israel was taking advantage of “the weakness of the [Lebanese] state, its limited means and its lack of courage,” as well as “certain internal Lebanese voices which ... promote the Israeli war against Lebanon, seeing it as an opportunity to get rid of the ‘resistance.’”
He called on the government to “take a national decision to protect the sovereignty” of the country, “using all available means,” without “settling for ... declarations.” “The Prime Minister ... is obliged to inform the Lebanese of the equation that will protect them from continued Israeli aggression,” he also added, justifying the role of Hezbollah's ‘resistance’ in Lebanon.
Israel-EU
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories on Monday to call for an “immediate return” to the ceasefire agreement, her office announced in a statement on Sunday.
The diplomat will meet successively with Israeli and Palestinian authorities, and intends to “call for an immediate return to full implementation of the cease-fire and hostage release agreement.”
South Lebanon
A man was wounded by an Israeli drone dropped a bomb on a bulldozer near him in the village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil). The bulldozer had been used to clear rubble from houses destroyed in the war.
Yemen-Israel
The Houthis have claimed responsibility for the firing of a “Palestine-2” ballistic missile towards Tel Aviv David Ben Gurion International Airport this morning, which “paused air traffic at the airport for more than 30 minutes,” said the Yemeni group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, in an address transmitted on his X account.
Israel earlier said it had intercepted the missile before it crossed the country's borders, Israeli media reported, while videos circulating online this morning showed passengers inside the airport fleeing the scene.
Yahya Saree also claimed to have attacked the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea, “in response to American aggression, which has carried out dozens of air raids in recent hours” in Yemen.
He assured that the Yemeni group would respond “to escalation with escalation,” “in support of the Palestinian people.” and "to lift the blockade on the besieged enclave."
South Lebanon
An Israeli armored force including bulldozers has moved towards the Qatmoun valley, opposite the village of Rmeish (Bint Jbeil), where it has erected earthen barricades. The Israeli army is positioned in this area, says our correspondent.
Bekaa
The Lebanese Army said in a statement that it plans to destroy unexploded bombs this Sunday between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. in the vicinity of Majdel Belheis, in Rashaya.
Gaza
Pope Francis on Sunday called for an “immediate” end to Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, and for the resumption of dialogue to bring about the release of “all hostages” and a “definitive cease-fire.”
“I am saddened by the resumption of intense Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip, which have caused so many deaths and injuries,” wrote the Pope in his Sunday Angelus prayer, reported AFP.
“I ask that the weapons be silenced immediately and that we have the courage to resume dialogue so that all the hostages can be freed and a definitive cease-fire can be reached,” continued Francis.
“In the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian situation is once again very serious and requires the urgent commitment of the parties to the conflict and the international community,” he concluded.
Gaza
The Israeli military has “completed the encirclement of Tal al-Sultan in Rafah” over the past few hours, said the Israeli military in a statement relayed by Haaretz.
South Lebanon
Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea commented Sunday on the firing of rockets from Lebanon towards Israel on Saturday, saying the incident was enough to “reshuffle the cards.”
Occupied West Bank
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, responsible for administering settlements in the occupied West Bank and a supporter of the annexation of Palestinian territories, welcomed the creation of 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank on his X account.
“This initiative is being carried out in the context of the approval of tens of thousands of housing units in Judea and Samaria [the biblical name for the West Bank] and constitutes an additional and significant step in the process of normalization and regularization of settlement,” he said.
These new settlements were previously neighborhoods of pre-existing settlements. Recognition of their independence “is an important step that will greatly contribute to their promotion and development,” explained the ultranationalist minister.
“Instead of hiding and apologizing, we are proudly raising the flag, building and implanting. This is another important step on the road to effective [Israeli] sovereignty” in the occupied West Bank, he added.
Gaza
The death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7 has exceeded 50,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, quoted by Reuters.
Gaza
The Israeli army launched an offensive on Sunday in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where it called on some of the inhabitants to evacuate, while continuing its operations in the north, five days after breaking the cease-fire with Hamas, reports AFP.
(Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
A person holding a portrait of Rania, one of the two victims of Saturday's Israeli strikes on Sour.
The body of the victim, Rania, brought back by the Hezbollah health committee to her relatives in the center of Sour. (Credit; Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour.)
South Lebanon
The two victims of Saturday evening's Israeli strike on a building in Sour (district of the same name) are two civilians: a 61-year-old man named Safi, and a 37-year-old mother of two, Rania Abbas Houmani, reported our journalists on the spot, Lyana Alameddine and Matthieu Karam. Rania's 12-year-old daughter was injured by the strike, according to relatives of the victim, who reaffirmed their support for Hezbollah's “resistance.”
Rania was hanging laundry when she was killed, while Safi was watching television, locals told our journalists. Rania's funeral will take place this Sunday. Safi's is scheduled for a later date, pending the arrival of his two children living in Abidjan.
South Lebanon
Another Israeli air strike, this time on Labbouneh, in Sour, according to our correspondent.
(Credit: Eyad Baba/AFP)
A Palestinian family is devastated as they inspect rubble and debris at the site of the previous night's Israeli strikes in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, March 23, 2025.
On March 23, the Israeli army asked residents of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah to evacuate as the armed forces launched an offensive in the area. Israel resumed intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip on March 18 and redeployed ground troops, breaking a truce that had held roughly since January 19.
South Lebanon
This morning's Israeli strike in Aita al-Shaab killed Hassam Nehme al-Zein, according to our correspondent.
His cafe had been targeted overnight by artillery fire. According to residents, he was on his way to inspect the damage this morning when a drone gave chase before firing a missile at his vehicle.
Also in Gaza, Hamas confirmed this morning that a member of its political bureau, Salah Al-Bardawil, was killed on Saturday night in an Israeli strike on his tent in the al-Mawassi camp, west of the town of Khan Younis (southern Gaza Strip). His wife was killed too, according to the Palestinian movement's statement on Telegram, which denounced a “treacherous bombardment” as part of “a series of savage massacres perpetrated by the [Israeli] enemy.”
The statement calls Salah Al-Bardawil “a prominent figure in the political, media and national work” of Hamas.
In Gaza, the Israeli army on Sunday called on residents of a neighborhood in Rafah, in the southern Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, to evacuate the area in which it says it has launched “an offensive.”
In a message to residents of the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, Arabic-speaking army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on his X account that the army “has launched an offensive to strike at terrorist organizations.”
He urges the population to avoid the area, which is “considered a dangerous combat zone,” and to move further north.
According to AFP correspondents in the Gaza Strip, the same message is inscribed on flyers dropped by drone in the neighborhood.
Also according to our correspondent, an Israeli drone fired on a house in Naqoura (Sour), and then on three houses in Shihine (also in Sour) in the early hours of the morning. No casualties have yet been reported.
An Israeli drone is currently flying over Saida in southern Lebanon, and Israeli army fighter jets are patrolling over the districts of Marjayoun and Hasbaya. Aircraft are also flying over the Bekaa, according to our correspondent in this region, Sarah Abdallah.
During the night, Israeli artillery bombarded Wadi Zibqine, in the Sour district, at around 10 p.m., then a cafe in Aita al-Shaab at around 2 a.m., without causing any casualties.
The Israeli military's air force carried out a strike on a car in Aita al-Shaab, in the Bint Jbeil district in south Lebanon, killing at least one person, according to information from our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah. The identity of the victim has not yet been confirmed.
This is the ninth death in this weekend's Israeli strikes after the eight people killed on Saturday, including at least one confirmed Hezbollah member, Redouane Salim Awada, who was killed in Qlayle, in Sour. Five others, including a Syrian man and his daughter, were killed in Touline, in the Nabatieh district, and two others in Sour.
Israel approves the creation of an administration for the “voluntary” departure of inhabitants to “third countries.”
Israel's security cabinet on Saturday evening approved the creation of an administration within the Defense Ministry to enable Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip “voluntarily,” the Israeli dailies Times of Israel and Haaretz reported this morning.
The office of Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that this new directorate will work to “prepare and enable the safe and controlled passage of Gaza residents wishing to leave voluntarily to third countries, including securing their movement, establishing passage routes ... allowing passage by land, sea and air to destination countries,” Israeli media reported.
This is done “subject to Israeli and international law, and in accordance with the vision of U.S. President Donald Trump,” the statement added.
Good morning! Welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon, where the Israeli army carried out numerous strikes in retaliation for rockets fired into northern Israel on Saturday morning. Hezbollah denied being behind the strike. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned against “the resumption of military operations on the southern border,” and Joseph Aoun called for “an end to any violation that could threaten the country.”
We will also be following events in Gaza, where the Israeli army has relaunched its offensive and Tel Aviv has threatened annexation. Finally, we'll be following events in Syria and Yemen.
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