War in the Middle East: latest developments

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Explosions across Beirut -

Three explosions rocked Beirut's southern suburbs early Wednesday, AFP journalists reported.

A column of smoke was seen rising from the Jnah district after three large explosions were heard across the city and ambulances headed towards the site.

Afterward the Israeli army said it struck a "senior Hezbollah commander" and another "senior" member of the Iran-backed group in Beirut.

- Trump: US leaving Iran 'very soon' -

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that US forces would end operations in Iran "very soon," evoking a timeline of two to three weeks as his administration pursues talks while continuing its aerial campaign.

Asked about the impact of high fuel prices since the war began on February 28, Trump told reporters: "All I have to do is leave Iran, and we'll be doing that very soon, and they'll come tumbling down."

- Pope hopes Trump will end war -

Pope Leo XIV said he hoped Trump was looking to end the war in the Middle East and called for a halt to the violence.

"I'm told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war. Hopefully he's looking for an offramp, hopefully he's looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing," the pope told journalists.

- Israeli strikes kill 8 in south Lebanon -

At least eight people were killed Tuesday, including a paramedic, in Israeli strikes in south Lebanon, according to the ministry of health.

The ministry said a strike in Tyre district killed three people and wounded 19 more, while another attack in Sidon district killed four. A third strike in Bint Jbeil district hit a gathering point for the Risala Scouts, a rescue organisation run by a Hezbollah ally group, killing a paramedic.

- Netanyahu vows to 'crush' Iran -

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would press ahead with its military campaign against Tehran.

"The campaign is not over," he said in a televised statement. "We will continue to crush the terror regime."

- Iran has 'will' to end war -

Iran has the "necessary will" to end the war with the United States and Israel, President Masoud Pezeshkian said, emphasising that Tehran was seeking guarantees the conflict would not flare up again.

The comment, which boosted US markets and led oil prices to fall, came after a day of heavy strikes on Iran and followed a warning from the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to retaliate against leading US tech firms such as Google from Wednesday if more Iranian leaders were killed in "targeted assassinations".

- Tehran blasts -

An AFP journalist heard a series of explosions in central Tehran, as US-Israeli strikes wore on into their fifth week.

AFP journalists also confirmed that air defences had been activated over the capital, including in the north.

- UN slams Israel death penalty -

The United Nations rights chief slammed the Israeli parliament's approval of a "deeply discriminatory" new death penalty bill for Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks, warning that applying it on occupied Palestinian territory "would constitute a war crime".

- Canada denounces 'illegal invasion' -

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney denounced Israel's deployment of troops against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as an "illegal invasion" that violates its "integrity and sovereignty."

- Save fuel, EU says -

The EU urged member states to try to push down domestic demand for fuel in the face of surging energy prices caused by the Middle East war.

- Israel blamed for killing peacekeepers -

A UN security source told AFP that Israeli fire had killed an Indonesian peacekeeper at the weekend, after the UN force said it was investigating the incident.

The source told AFP on condition of anonymity that evidence had been identified that the source of the fire on Sunday was an Israeli tank.

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