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Middle East crisis live: Netanyahu orders expansion of invasion of southern Lebanon; Iranian forces wait for US ground troops

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said another paramedic was killed in an Israeli strike on an ambulance in southern Lebanon on Sunday, as Israel expands its invasion of the country. The strike also destroyed a medical warehouse in the same city, he said. The WHO has verified that Israeli attacks have killed 51 Lebanese health workers since 2 March - including nine paramedics on Saturday. “Attacks on health facilities must cease immediately,” Tedros said in a post on X. This cannot become the norm. Health workers are safeguarded under international humanitarian law and should not be targeted.

What the Houthis’ entry into the Iran war means for the conflict and the wider region

The true significance of the long-awaited entry of Yemen’s Houthis into the Iran war depends on whether the Tehran-backed proxy group is intending to send a few missiles and drones from a distance towards Israel or will instead capitalise on its proximity to the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait to effectively close off the Red Sea to shipping, just as Iran has in effect shut the strait of Hormuz. The combined effect of both waterways being shut to commercial traffic from countries that neither the Iranians nor Houthis favour would be devastating. Napoleon Bonaparte’s remark that “the policy of a state lies in its geography” has never seemed more apt. The Houthis, a Shia sect with a deep hatred of Israel that has run large tracts of Yemen including the capital since 2014, is a complex, resilient movement able to take reverses in its stride. In August 2025 Israel killed the Houthi prime minister, the chief of staff and a group of their cabinet ministers in a single intelligence-led strike. But Israel has never been able to locate Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the movement’s leader. It has not yet fought directly on behalf of Iran even though – according to UN reports – many of its arms have been shipped from Tehran. A ceasefire with the US that emerged from mediation by Oman has been in force since May 2025, bringing to an end attacks on US shipping through Bab al-Mandab that had been taking place since October 2023. That ceasefire reflected the damage the Houthis had sustained from successive waves of increasingly effective attacks on Houthi missile launchers by the US, sometimes with UK support. The Houthis stressed the ceasefire did not in any way shape or form apply to Israel and some attacks continued thereafter. One motive for the ceasefire was an Iranian desire to build political momentum before US-Iran nuclear talks in spring 2025. The Houthis extended the ceasefire to Israel in October 2025 when Israel agreed a form of ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza. Even after the joint Israeli-US assault on Iran in the 12-day war last year, the Houthis largely held back. But major carriers such as Maersk only slowly started to resume traffic through the Red Sea, avoiding the more expensive, significantly longer alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope. The Bab al-Mandab, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, has always been vulnerable to Houthis attacks by drones missiles and small boats. Farea Al-Muslimi, Middle East specialist at the London thinktank Chatham House, warned any sustained disruption will drive up shipping costs, increase oil prices and place additional strain on an already fragile global economy reeling from the situation in the strait of Hormuz. Iran’s broader strategy of activating allied groups across the region appears to be unfolding and he predicted that over time the perception inside Yemen that the Houthis are too attentive to Iran will grow. The Houthis may act with caution, partly because they are looking for rewards in the form of cash from Saudi Arabia. In the south of Yemen, the Saudis have for the moment trounced the southern separatist cause, advanced by the Southern Transitional Council. The United Arab Emirates, which backed the STC at the turn of the year under pressure from Riyadh, has also left Yemen, meaning Saudi Arabia is now in sole charge of Yemen’s future – an onerous task that requires Riyadh to reach deals not just with the former STC supporters but also the Houthis. The STC formally disbanded, but is still in existence and is waiting for Riyadh and the UN-recognised government in the south to fail, insisting the southern cause is as strong as ever. Riyadh cannot afford to fight on too many fronts, so if necessary it will try to find backdoor methods to strike a deal with the Houthis and minimise the threat of attacks in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia is pouring money into the new government in the south and the Houthis in the north may want a slice of the financial action in return for not resuming fighting against the south or disrupting the Red Sea. However, in the end the Houthis’ power comes from interdicting ships as opposed to sending missiles towards Israel. In the process Yemen could be left even further from peace after more than a decade of civil war. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said: “This escalation threatens to drag Yemen into the regional war, which will make resolving the conflict in Yemen more difficult, deepen its economic repercussions and prolong the suffering of civilians.” It is not his first warning against escalation, and it is unlikely to be his last.

Iran accuses US of plotting ground assault while publicly seeking talks

Iran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks, as the war that has killed thousands of people and caused the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies entered its second month. As efforts to find a negotiated conclusion to hostilities inched forward with a meeting of regional powers in Pakistan, there were signs of further escalation over the weekend as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis entered the conflict for the first time, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country was widening its invasion of southern Lebanon. In a message published to mark 30 days since the start of the war, the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said: “The enemy signals negotiation in public, while in secret it plots a ground attack.” “Our firing continues,” Ghalibaf said. “Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.” He said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners for ever”. The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, US officials have told the Washington Post, as thousands of American soldiers and marines arrive in the Middle East. Any US ground operation would probably stop short of a full-scale invasion, instead relying on raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry, according to reports on contingency planning. But even a limited mission could expose American troops to Iranian drones, missiles, ground fire and improvised explosives. Among the options reportedly discussed are the seizure of Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, and raids on coastal sites near the strait of Hormuz to destroy weapons threatening commercial and military shipping. Axios and the Wall Street Journal have reported that the Pentagon is also considering sending another 10,000 troops to the region, alongside a broader bombing campaign. The White House has sent mixed signals, alternating between talk of de-escalation and threats of a wider war. Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, said Pentagon planning was intended to give Donald Trump “maximum optionality”, not to signal a final decision. The Post said whether Trump would approve plans for deploying ground troops remained uncertain. In an apparent rebuke of the Trump administration on Sunday, Pope Leo said God ignored the prayers of leaders who waged war and had “hands full of blood”. The pontiff made the comments days after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy”. The war that began on 28 February shows no sign of de-escalation despite renewed diplomatic efforts. Pakistan, seen as a potential mediator between Washington and Tehran, hosted a four-way meeting with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt on Sunday, a day after the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, spoke with the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Sunday evening that Pakistan would soon host talks between the US and Iran. “Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the US have expressed their confidence in Pakistan’s facilitation,” Dar said in a televised speech, adding that the talks would take place in the “coming days”. There was no immediate confirmation from the US or Iran. Last week the US presented Iran with a 15-point ceasefire proposal, including reopening the strait of Hormuz and curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme, but Tehran has rejected the plan and offered alternatives. Tehran has refused to admit to holding official talks with Washington but has passed a response to the 15-point plan via Islamabad, according to an anonymous source cited by the Iranian Tasnim news agency. The Houthis claimed two missile launches at Israel on Saturday, their first attacks on Israel since the start of the conflict. The group poses a potential new threat to global shipping if it again targets vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s oil trade typically passes. A shutdown of the strait would amplify the already grave impact of the war on the global economy, and could also reignite a Saudi-Yemen conflict that caused huge humanitarian suffering for seven years before a 2022 truce. Since the US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February, Saudi Arabia has been able to divert some of its oil exports by pipeline to the Red Sea. Saudi commentators have said that if this route is also threatened, Riyadh could enter the war directly. Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow in the Middle East and north Africa programme at Chatham House, said: “The decision by the Houthis to join the broader Middle East conflict marks a serious and deeply concerning escalation. The potential impact on key commercial maritime routes, especially in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait, cannot be overstated. At the same time, vital economic and military infrastructure across the Gulf region may become increasingly exposed.” Israel’s military has continued its relentless air assault on Iran, saying on Sunday its forces targeted Tehran’s weapons manufacturing infrastructure, including dozens of storage and production sites, the day before. Five people were killed in a strike on a pier in the southern Iranian port of Bandar-e-Khamir, which also destroyed two vessels, state media reported. In Tehran, a building housing Qatar’s Al Araby TV was hit and there were power outages in the east of the city. Netanyahu announced that Israel would widen its invasion of southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “In Lebanon, I have just ordered the military to further expand the existing security zone,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “This is intended to definitively neutralise the threat of invasion [by Hezbollah militants] and to keep anti-tank missile fire away from the border.” On the ground in Lebanon, a funeral was held on Sunday for three journalists killed in an Israeli strike the day before. Officials say more than 1,100 people have been killed in the fighting in Lebanon since the Iran war began. An Iranian missile sparked a fire in the Neot Hovav industrial zone near Beersheba in Israel, and officials were assessing the risk of a hazardous materials leak and urging the public to stay away. Adama, a maker of active ingredients and crop protection materials, said its Makhteshim plant was hit. The IDF said on Sunday evening that the impact may have been caused by missile shrapnel. Soroka hospital in Beersheba said it had treated six people who were lightly injured in the attack. Reuters contributed to this report

Lawmakers react to reports Pentagon preparing for ground operations in Iran

US lawmakers responded to reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, as thousands of US troops assemble in the Middle East and the conflict showed signs of entering a new, more dangerous phase. Officials told the Washington Post that a ground operation in Iran could be limited to raids by Special Operations forces and infantry troops, but it was unclear whether Donald Trump would approve any of the Pentagon’s plans. Senator James Lankford, a Republican, told NBC’s Meet the Press that he had not ruled out supporting troops on the ground but that “we’ve got to be able to know what the objectives are and what they’re actually carrying out.” Lankford, who serves on the Senate’s committee on intelligence, said it was important to “finish” the job but know “what boots we’re putting on the ground”. “If this is special forces to be able to carry out a specific operation – get in, get out – that’s very different than long-standing occupation,” he said. “The worst thing that can happen is to be able to have this kind of conflict start and to not end it, to leave it undone”. “We’ve got to be able to finish this,” he added. Responding to the Washington Post report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander-in-chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the President has made a decision.” A further 3,500 US soldiers and marines arrived in the Middle East on Sunday as part of a unit led by the warship USS Tripoli, which also includes assault and transport assets. The US typically stations around 50,000 troops in the region. Options for use of the military build up include plans aimed at securing the strait of Hormuz, operations to seize Iran’s highly enriched uranium or seizing Iranian oil facilities. Trump has previously said he was “not putting troops anywhere” amid apparent splits in his Maga base over foreign military engagements and the need for congressional approval. On Sunday, Lankford was asked if the president needed congressional approval to deploy US troops in Iran. Lankford demurred, saying it was “contingent” on how they are used. “If we had a long-standing war that’s happening, go back again to what happened in Iraq or in Afghanistan, yes,” Lankford said. “If this is to protect Americans and to be able to make sure that we’re in there for a season and we’re stopping and getting out, that’s very, very different. So again, this is all contingent.” Senate Republicans have previously rejected multiple war powers resolutions aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to launch further military action against Iran without congressional approval. The Pentagon has reportedly requested an additional $200bn for the war, in addition to its annual $1tn budget. Trump has said the additional funds were being requested “for a lot of reasons, beyond even what we’re talking about in Iran”. That comes as an Iranian missile strike destroyed a US E-3 Sentry early warning and control aircraft on the ground at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia. The loss of the $300m plane is the first known combat incident for the type. The US is believed to have about eight in service. Lankford indicated that if the request comes, Congress “will have to speak at that moment to be able to talk about how far, what the plans are, what we’re going to do”. The House majority leader, Steve Scalise, said on Sunday that the Trump administration had been meeting its objectives in the conflict. “The whole world knows that a nuclear armed Iran would have been a danger to the world,” he told ABC News. “Just look at what Iran is doing right now. They’ve actually united, not only Israel, but all the other Arab nations around them against Iran, because of the danger that they pose.” Scalise rejected any characterization that the administration has not laid out its objectives. He said Trump “understands what needs to be done” and has “a great team around him.” Democrats reacted on Sunday to signs that the conflict could be entering a more dangerous phase. New Jersey senator Cory Booker said that the Trump administration had “gotten us into what will be looked at as one of the greatest blunders, presidential blunders of our time”. Booker said that by not seeking congressional approval, Trump was “pushing us further and further into a conflict with no foreseeable off-ramp and thousands of more troops moving into that region”. He said that the US military engagement with Iran “is clearly not just a war, but the biggest military engagement we’ve had since the war in Afghanistan” and questioned its planning. “This has been the problem from the start,” Booker said, adding that Trump did not “make his case to us or the American people or strategic allies in the region”. Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen told ABC’s This Week he hoped an additional Pentagon budget request would not pass in Congress. “I don’t think we should be providing more money for an illegal war of choice to a president who promised during the campaign that he would not drag America into new wars, especially in the Middle East and a war that is now making us less, not more safe and has already cost American lives, is costing billions of dollars every day, oil and gas prices are going up.” Van Hollen added that a president who campaigned on lowering prices and ending foreign wars “has started foreign wars along with Prime Minister Netanyahu and prices are going through the roof. So no, we should not keep funding an illegal war of choice that’s making us less safe.” Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday warned the US against a ground invasion, threatening to set the American troops “on fire” and step up attacks on US allies. According to Iranian official media, Ghalibaf said Iranian forces “are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever”. Iran policy analyst Karim Sadjadpour told CBS’s Face the Nation that he doesn’t “see any possibility of a resolution to this conflict” outside of a negotiated settlement. “I think the US and Iran are miles apart when it comes to their goals here,” he warned, adding: “I think we could see potential ceasefire that opens the strait of Hormuz, which would shift us back from a hot war, back to a cold war.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it was prepared to target US universities in the Middle East in retaliation for what it claimed were US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities. “If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation… it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” said the statement published by Iranian media.

Struggling humpback whale stranded for third time on German coast

The fate of a humpback whale stuck in shallow bays off Germany’s Baltic coast hangs in the balance after it became stranded for a third time. The roughly 10-metre-long (33ft) mammal appeared weakened and sick on Sunday and was struggling to find a route back to the Atlantic when it ran into fresh difficulty. “The prognosis as a whole doesn’t look good,” Burkard Baschek, a marine scientist, told reporters on Sunday after conducting an assessment at the scene. Scientists say the whale’s breathing frequency has reduced and that it is no longer exhibiting reactions to nearby vessels. Till Backhaus, the environment minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, told a news conference in the coastal town of Wismar earlier in the day, before the latest stranding, that a 500-metre restricted area had been established around the animal to give it a chance to rest and hopefully free itself. “He would be able to do so if he regains his strength, and that is why we decided to leave him alone, allowing him to actually set off and then successfully leave this area,” Backhaus said. “But we also have to assume that he is weakened. And he is also sick.” It is thought a fishing net may have injured the whale. Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic and experts suspect that the young whale, thought to be male, followed a shoal of fish or became disoriented by the noise of a submarine. Baltic waters lack the salt concentration and type of nutrition that humpbacks need to survive in the long term. The whale was first spotted in the Baltic on 3 March and reported stranded on a sandbank last week. Guests of a hotel in Niendorf heard its deep moans and alerted police. Authorities used an excavator to deepen a channel and boats to create waves to help free the mammal, which has been nicknamed Timmy, after Timmendorfer Strand beach in Wismar Bay. News alerts about the drama have captivated the German public. The whale freed itself from a sandbank on Friday and was escorted by a flotilla of vessels aiming to guide it through German and Danish waters to the Atlantic. However, the whale became trapped on another sandbank on Saturday, and it was stranded once again on Sunday. Stephanie Gross, of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover, told AP: “It is very noticeable that the animal is showing significantly less activity. Its respiratory rate has dropped considerably. The animal is not moving. It did not react even when we drove closer.” Baschek, the director of the German Maritime Museum in Stralsund, said that even if the whale freed itself again, it would need to navigate narrow straits and about 310 miles to reach relative safety. “The chances of success are relatively slim,” he said.

Recognising the slave trade as a crime against humanity is an essential first step | Letters

The president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, is right to argue that recognising the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity is an essential step toward justice (It’s time for the UN to formally recognise the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity, 22 March). But recognition alone will not be enough. The real question before the international community is what recognition is meant to achieve. For decades, Africa and the Caribbean have secured acknowledgments of historical injustice, from the Abuja Proclamation to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Yet the structural effects of that history remain visible in patterns of development, opportunity and vulnerability across Africa and its diaspora. If this new initiative at the United Nations general assembly is to succeed, it must move beyond symbolic affirmation toward institutional consequences. Reparatory justice should therefore be understood not simply as compensation for the past but as a framework for restructuring opportunity in the present. Recognition only becomes meaningful when it strengthens the ability of affected societies to negotiate fairer terms within the international system that their labour helped build. The African Union’s decision to designate 2026 to 2035 as the “decade of action on reparations” signals that Africa is approaching this issue with seriousness and coordination. The next step is to translate that commitment into practical mechanisms: support for the Caribbean Community’s 10-point reparations framework, expanded educational partnerships and development financing arrangements that help correct longstanding structural imbalances. Handled with discipline and imagination, this initiative could help redefine reparations not as a backward-looking claim, but as a forward-looking project of global fairness. Rear Adm Kenneth B Ati-John Lekki, Nigeria • President John Dramani Mahama demonstrates an eagle eye, spotting an injustice that many have overlooked or conveniently bypassed. Calling for the UN to formally recognise the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity is an act of moral courage, forcing the world to confront a past that has been too long ignored. Recognition is not merely symbolic; it is a call to accountability, education and reparative justice – a necessary step toward restoring dignity to millions whose lives and legacies were stolen. For more than four centuries, the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of Africans was not merely a historical event; it was structural violence that reshaped continents, erased cultures and forged inequalities whose legacies persist today. Many of the world’s economic disparities, racial hierarchies and institutional exclusions are traceable to this system of exploitation, which profited the few at the expense of millions. Recognition must therefore open pathways to cultural restoration, economic opportunity and education about the profound human costs of slavery. However, true recognition also demands nuance. While Europe’s colonial powers orchestrated and expanded the trade, a complete historical account acknowledges that multiple actors and networks – including African intermediaries under coercive conditions – were entangled in this complex system. Incorporating this fuller truth enriches our collective understanding and strengthens the moral case for rectification. Finally, this is not merely an African concern. It is a global human cause. By confronting the shadows of our shared past, we honour not only those whose bodies and spirits were stolen, but also the enduring human values of dignity and equality. Let this moment be a turning point toward justice, unity and a more equitable future for all. Ndine Wa‑Chiuta Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Funeral held for three journalists killed by Israeli strike in Lebanon

A funeral has taken place in Lebanon for three journalists killed by an Israeli strike on Saturday, after the Lebanese government called the killings a “blatant war crime”. Ali Shoeib, of the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar television station, and Fatima Ftouni and her brother and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni, of the pro-Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen, were killed in the strike targeting their car. Israel claimed the attack shortly afterwards, saying the target was Shoeib, whom it accused of being a Hezbollah “terrorist” in an intelligence unit who had reported on the locations of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military provided no further evidence to support the claim and made no comment on the deaths of the other journalists. Hundreds of people attended the funeral, where the bodies of Shoeib and Fatima Ftouni were draped in their channels’ logos and with bouquets of flowers. “Fatima and Ali were heroes,” a relative of Ftouni’s who gave only his first name, Qassem, told Agence France-Presse. Shoeib was a well-known war correspondent in Lebanon, where he reported for al-Manar for nearly three decades. His death was met with a wave of condolences from audiences and journalists in Lebanon, many of whom said he was considered a mentor figure in Lebanese journalism. Fatima Ftouni had also been reporting from the frontlines of the Israel-Hezbollah war in recent days, filming in front of battles in the town of Taybeh, south Lebanon. Her own family had been killed in Israeli strikes weeks earlier. Eighteen months earlier, she and her colleagues were struck by an Israeli bomb while they were sleeping in a hotel in south Lebanon. Ftouni survived but two of her colleagues did not. Commenting on the deaths of her colleagues at the time, Ftouni said: “It is the silence of the international community that let this happen.” The three journalists were struck as they were driving in Jezzine, a district in south Lebanon far from the frontlines. Local television showed at least four missiles were shot at the car, and footage appeared to show a missile being fired between the journalists’ car and bystanders as the latter tried to approach and help. Video of the aftermath showed singed press jackets and helmets, as well as tripods and microphones that had been pulled from the car. The Israeli military claimed Shoeib was a member of Hezbollah’s Radwan force, the most elite unit of the pro-Iran armed group, which specialises in cross-border raids. It said Shoeib’s contact with senior members of Hezbollah and his work documenting the location of Israeli forces was evidence he was a military member of the group. International law says that regardless of political affiliation, journalists are considered civilians and targeting them is a war crime. Eight out of the nine journalists killed by Israel in Lebanon since 13 October 2023 worked for Hezbollah-affiliated outlets, and analysts have suggested the killings are part of Israel’s strategy of attacking the civilian wings of the group. Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, described the journalists as “civilians doing their professional duty”. Writing on X, he said: “It is a brazen crime that violates all treaties and norms through which journalists enjoy international protection in war.” The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, told the public broadcaster France 3 on Sunday that journalists working in war zones “must never be targeted, including when they “have links with parties to the conflict”. The Israeli military has made similar claims about several journalists it killed in Gaza, some of whom it said also worked as Hamas operatives, including Anas al-Sharif, a correspondent for Al Jazeera. Israel has killed more than 220 journalists since 2023, according to Reporters Without Borders. Lebanon’s minister of information, Paul Morcos, said the killing of the three journalists on Saturday “constitutes a deliberate and blatant war crime against the media and the mission of journalism”. He said the Lebanese government had compiled a list of Israeli attacks against healthcare workers and media personnel, which it would submit to the UN and the EU. The fighting in Lebanon started when Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel on 2 March after the US-Israeli assault on Iran, triggering an Israeli aerial campaign and invasion. Israeli attacks have killed 1,189 people and wounded 3,427 in Lebanon, including 48 healthcare workers, according to the Lebanese ministry of health. Three Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon and one person in northern Israel have been killed by Hezbollah fire.