Dahiyeh in southern Beirut, Lebanon is set ablaze by Israeli airstrikes, March 5, 2026 (Hassan Ammar/AP)

UPDATE 1704 GMT:

The leaders of Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan have publicly opposed US plans to support a cross-border incursion by Iranian Kurdish peshmerga into western Iran.

In a phone call, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani “stressed that Iraqi territory must not be used as a launching point for attacks against neighboring countries”.

They also “affirmed their rejection of attacks targeting a number of Iraqi cities, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq”. They called for “coordinated discourse among national forces, in order to preserve the country’s stability and sovereignty and reinforce national security”.

UPDATE 1652 GMT:

UN High Commission for Human Rights Volker Türk has expressed concern over Israel’s airstrikes and forced evacuations in Lebanon.

“Lebanon is becoming a key flashpoint,” Türk said. “I call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.”

Turk said he is particularly concerned about Israel’s “blanket, massive displacement orders” for Beirut’s southern suburbs, impacting “hundreds of thousands of people” and raising “serious concern under international humanitarian law and in particular when it comes to issues around forced transfer”.

An estimated 100,000 people have fled their homes.

UPDATE 1518 GMT:

The Lebanese Health Ministry says 217 people have been killed and 798 injured by Israeli attacks since Monday.

UPDATE 1357 GMT:

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says that some countries have begun mediation efforts to end the US-Israel war, but declared that any talks should address those who started the war.

Some countries have begun mediation efforts. Let's be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation's dignity & sovereignty. Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict https://t.co/MxWCuNYOYR

— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) March 6, 2026

EA correspondents say Qatar is trying to get the Trump Administration to step back from its attacks and re-enter talks with the Iranian regime. However, the Trump camp has publicly rejected the initiative without naming the Gulf State.

Donald Trump posted this morning, “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” with “the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s)”.

UPDATE 1355 GMT:

US officials claims Russia has been assisting Iran by providing information on the locations of American military assets in the Middle East.

The officials said Moscow has given Tehran information on warships and warplanes.

The extent to which Russia is able to provide accurate information to Iran is unclear, but one official said it was “a pretty comprehensive effort”.

UPDATE 1325 GMT:

: Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says Lebanon is being “dragged further into the abyss” in a conflict it “did not seek and did not choose”.

He addressed Arab and foreign ambassadors:

Lebanon faces a dangerous and trying moment….It was a war imposed upon us. The priority of the Lebanese government is to stop this war. Our duty is to protect our country and our people.

He referred to Israel’s “massive” forced displacement is of Lebanese citizens from the south of Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut:

The situation is grave, and our responsibility is high. The consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented. A humanitarian disaster is looming.

UPDATE 1103 GMT:

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has urged the Trump Administration to move “very quickly” with its investigation into Saturday’s American strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran that killed at least 165 people.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spoken generally about an investigation while insisting “never target civilian targets”.

The school is near a Revolutionary Guards’ naval facility.

Türk said:

What we have asked for is obviously prompt, transparent and impartial investigations, which we understand has been announced by the United States of America.

We need this to happen very quickly and we need to also make sure that there is accountability as well as redress for the victims.

UPDATE 1058 GMT:

The Israel Defense Forces say they carried out “a broad-scale wave” of 26 strikes in the Dahieh area of southern Beirut overnight.

The IDF say targets included a command center of Hezbollah’s executive council and a facility storing drones for attacks against Israel.

UPDATE 1012 GMT:

Hezbollah has issued its own threat as Israel bombs Beirut, telling Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5 km (3.1 miles) of the border.

Your military’s aggression against Lebanese sovereignty and safe citizens, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the expulsion campaign it is carrying out will not go unchallenged.

UPDATE 0755 GMT:

Canada says it may assist the defense of Gulf States against Iranian retaliation, but will not join the US-Israel war on Iran.

The head of the Canadian military, Gen. Jennie Carignan, said allies will meet Friday. Without specifying the nature of support, she said “any operation would have to be within that zone of self-defense”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The US and Israel expanded their wars in Iran and Lebanon on Thursday, with the Israelis launching mass strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The Israelis warned more than 500,000 residents of southern Beirut, where Hezbollah is based, to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately”. Hours later, amid panic, its warplanes struck.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasted that the strikes would make the area “look like Khan Younis”, the city in southern Gaza almost entirely destroyed by Israeli bombing.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said on Thursday afternoon that Israeli strikes have killed at least 123 people and injured 683 since Monday.

Traffic gridlocked in Beirut. Thousands of people gave up vehicles and walked. Women pushing strollers holding infants through the stalled traffic. Families appealed for rescue services to help extract elderly people who could not leave their homes.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee set out preapproved routes north and east for flight. He added, “Beware, heading south is prohibited. Any southward movement could endanger your lives. We will inform you of the safe time to return to your homes.”

Trump: I Should Choose Iran’s Next Leader

Israel’s military warned residents in eastern parts of Iranian capital Tehran to evacuate. “Today is worse than yesterday,” one resident said. “We have nowhere to go. It is like a warzone. Help us.”

In Washington, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cheered the sinking of Iranian ships, including the frigate Iris Dena with the killing of at least 87 crew in the Indian Ocean. As footage confirmed assaults on civilian as well as military areas in Iran’s cities, he pledged, “If you think you’ve seen something, just wait.”

Donald Trump said, “We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future, “We don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again.”

He said Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader assassinated in the initial wave of US-Israel strikes last Saturday, is a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” successor.

At the White House, in front of the visiting Inter Miami soccer team, Trump urged the Revolutionary Guards to abandon the regime. He said they will be given immunity if they lay down their weapons, but otherwise will face “guaranteed death”.

The Iranian Red Crescent said it has confirmed 1,230 killed since Saturday.

US-Israel War on Iran: Israelis Launch Mass Strikes on Lebanon’s Beirut