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UN warns 3 million Iranians displaced by Israeli and US attacks

UN warns 3 million Iranians displaced by Israeli and US attacks
By Lyndal Rowlands, Zaid Sabah, Priyanka Shankar, Tim Hume, Elis Gjevori, Stephen Quillen, Virginia Pietromarchi, Mariamne Everett and Christine Maguire
Published On 19 Mar 2026

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20 Mar 2026 - 12:55
 (12:55 GMT)
Houthi

‘Entire NATO mission had withdrawn’ from Iraq

NATO has temporarily pulled back personnel from its mission in Iraq as fallout from the Israeli-US war on Iran raises security concerns, two officials tell the AFP news agency.

“It’s a temporary withdrawal. They’re worried because of the situation,” one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A second source said, “the entire NATO mission had withdrawn” except for a small contingent.

The mission, which includes several hundred personnel, is based in Baghdad, close to the US embassy – a frequent target of attacks.

20 Mar 2026 - 12:00
 (12:00 GMT)

Who leads Iran? Assassinations leave leadership and command in question

As we reported earlier, the IRGC has confirmed that General Ali Mohammad Naeini, its spokesman, has been killed in an Israeli-American missile attack.

His killing comes just days after Ali Larijani, the powerful secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council was assassinated.

Since Israel and the US began attacking Iran on February 28, the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top military and political figures have been killed.

Analysts have begun questioning Tehran’s power dynamics amid these killings.

“The Iranian system is durable and built to take hits like this,” historian Reza H Akbari, who is also an analyst on Iran at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting told Al Jazeera.

“One of the ways they do that is what has been nicknamed the mosaic defence, essentially the process through which regional and provincial commanders of the country’s military apparatus are empowered to act autonomously,” Akbari said.

You can read more here. 

20 Mar 2026 - 11:00
 (11:00 GMT)

WATCH: Journalist describes being targeted by Israeli missile attack in Lebanon

A missile struck metres away from a Russia Today reporter as he was covering Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, injuring the journalist and his camera operator on Thursday.

Israel has heavily bombed the area over the past few weeks, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

20 Mar 2026 - 00:00
 (00:00 GMT)

Our live coverage continues

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Join us for all the latest developments, analyses and reactions here.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, March 19 [Evan Vucci/Reuters]
19 Mar 2026 - 23:50
 (23:50 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

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Here are today’s top developments:

  • Iran has warned it will show no restraint if its energy infrastructure is hit again, after Israel attacked its South Pars site on Wednesday.
  • President Donald Trump said the US had nothing to do with Israel’s attack on South Pars, saying it “violently lashed out”. He also said he instructed Israel’s PM Netanyahu to cease attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure.
  • About 17 percent of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas export capacity has been wiped out, causing an estimated $20bn in lost annual revenue, according to QatarEnergy’s CEO.
  • The death toll in Lebanon has surpassed 1,000 people since Israeli attacks escalated on March 2. At least 2,584 people have also been wounded. More than 1 million people have been forcibly displaced.
  • The leaders of several European countries, as well as Canada and Japan, expressed their “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage” through the Strait of Hormuz.
19 Mar 2026 - 23:40
 (23:40 GMT)

WATCH: Zimbabwe fuel prices top $2 for first time as Middle East conflict drives hike

Zimbabwe has hiked fuel prices sharply, with diesel now at $2.05 per litre and unleaded petrol at $2.19 for the first time – up from about $1.74 earlier this week.

The country is one of many facing price hikes as oil and gas exports continue to be targeted during the United States and Israel’s war with Iran.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reports from Harare:

19 Mar 2026 - 23:35
 (23:35 GMT)

Hezbollah continues attacking Israeli positions as fighting rages in south Lebanon

The Lebanese group says it attacked the Israeli town of Margaliot in northern Israel with a missile salvo in recent hours.

It also says it attacked a group of Israeli soldiers in the Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras, in the Nabatieh governorate.

19 Mar 2026 - 23:20
 (23:20 GMT)

IRGC announces new wave of attacks on Israel

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said its latest wave of attacks targeted central and southern Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as US bases across the region, according to the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency.

19 Mar 2026 - 23:10
 (23:10 GMT)

Qatar, Turkiye discuss need for unified response

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has spoken at a joint news conference with Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Doha.

“This visit comes at a time of unprecedented escalation in the region, accompanied, regrettably, by continued Iranian attacks against neighbouring countries,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

He added that the two countries agreed on the importance of countries coming together to condemn Iran’s aggression and “call for its immediate cessation.”

The two foreign ministers also discussed recent attacks on Turkiye and Qatar, including Wednesday’s attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan energy complex.

“Regrettably, this act of sabotage reflects an aggressive and irresponsible policy and constitutes a dangerous escalation on the part of the Iranian side,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan) and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at a news conference in Doha on Thursday [Karim Jaafar/AFP]
19 Mar 2026 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Iranian president warns against the demolishing of legal systems

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that the US’s aggression against Iran and the assassination of its former supreme leader “represents a new approach in international disputes that will demolish the legal systems of the world”.

“If the international community does not firmly stand against this crisis, the fire of this flame will burn the robes of many,” he said in a post shared on X.

19 Mar 2026 - 22:50
 (22:50 GMT)

European Council calls for a moratorium on strikes on energy and water facilities

The European Council has called on Iran and its proxies to cease their “indiscriminate military attacks”.

It also said there should be “a moratorium on strikes against energy and water facilities”, as well as “de-escalation and maximum restraint”, and the protection of civilians and infrastructure.

The European Council underlined the importance of concerted action to help partners in the region strengthen their “counter-drone and air defence capabilities”.

It also highlighted the role of “EU maritime defensive operations EUNAVFOR ASPIDES and EUNAVFOR ATALANTA,” and called for their reinforcement with more assets.

19 Mar 2026 - 22:40
 (22:40 GMT)

UAE president, Trump discuss regional security in call

United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US President Donald Trump have discussed developments in the region and their repercussions for regional and international peace during a phone call.

According to the state-run news agency, WAM, the two leaders also discussed the “blatant and continuous Iranian aggressions against the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the region, which target civilians, civilian facilities, and infrastructure, representing a violation of the sovereignty of these countries and international laws.”

President Trump condemned these attacks, emphasising the “United States’ solidarity with the UAE and the countries of the region, and its full support for them in defending their territories, stability, and security,” according to the WAM report.

19 Mar 2026 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)
Houthi

UAE says dismantled Hezbollah-linked network

The UAE‘s state security service has announced the dismantling of a network operating inside the state, funded and managed by the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran, and the arrest of its members.

The network was operating within the country’s territory under fictitious commercial cover, seeking to infiltrate the national economy and execute foreign schemes that threaten the financial stability of the country, the state-run WAM news agency reported.

According to the statement, the network acted according to “a pre-prepared strategic plan with foreign parties linked to Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran, violating economic and legal systems to launder money, fund terrorism, and threaten national security.”

The statement didn’t provide details on the number of detained individuals or their nationalities, but a photo posted on WAM’s X account showed a group of five blindfolded individuals.

19 Mar 2026 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

Residents of Lebanese towns say they received threatening phone calls

People living in Mashghara and Sahmar in the Bekaa Valley said the calls came from foreign phone numbers and urged them to leave their homes, according to Lebanon’s NNA news agency.

The Israeli military has issued forced displacement threats for more than 100 towns and villages across Lebanon, including in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.

19 Mar 2026 - 22:20
 (22:20 GMT)

Sirens sound in Jerusalem, central Israel

Local broadcaster Channel 12 says Iranian missile attacks on Israel have triggered air raid sirens in central Israel, including Jerusalem.

This comes as the Israeli military reported incoming missile fire from Iran three times in the last two hours.

19 Mar 2026 - 22:10
 (22:10 GMT)

Iran’s attack on Ras Laffan major hit to Qatar’s economy

By Dmitry Medvedenko

Reporting from Doha, Qatar

The biggest damage that was done was to Qatar’s economy, basically as a consequence of the attack on the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility.

It’s one of the biggest in the world. When it comes to production, exports of LNG, Qatar accounts for 20 percent of the world’s LNG exports.

Let me just put some numbers into perspective.

The CEO of QatarEnergy, Saad al-Kaabi, has given an interview to Reuters and said that the cost of this attack, which damaged two facilities, two trains out of 14 in that huge facility, is going to be worth about $20bn in lost revenue per year now.

He said that it would take three to five years to restore that because these facilities are very complex; it’s very difficult to put them online, very difficult to build them.

These are joint projects with Exxon Mobil, for example. And so three to five years means $60 to $100bn in lost revenue from LNG exports, which are, right now, basically they’ve stopped because of the Strait of Hormuz, but that’s short-term force majeure.

Al-Kaabi now says long-term force majeure is most likely going to be declared.

He says it’s compelled to declare force majeure and its contracts on delivery of LNG to Belgium, Italy, South Korea and China.

Now, just to compare the gross domestic product (GDP) of Qatar’s economy for 2025, they estimate it is about $225bn, so the country that relies so heavily on LNG export is going to be taking a hit of 9 percent of its GDP per year because of this attack on Ras Laffan.

19 Mar 2026 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Bahrain says five missiles shot down

The country’s Defence Force says in a short statement that it shot down five incoming missiles in recent hours.

Separately, Bahrain’s Defence Force said in a statement that the kingdom has intercepted and destroyed 139 missiles and 238 drones since the start of the war, more than 2 weeks ago.

“The use of ballistic missiles and drones to target civilian objects and private property constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the United Nations Charter,” Bahrain’s Defence Force added.

19 Mar 2026 - 21:50
 (21:50 GMT)

Iran says it targeted Israel’s internal security ministry with drones

Iran’s military says it attacked Israel’s internal security ministry in West Jerusalem with drones in retaliation for the recent killing of its top officials and dozens of sailors.

The strikes were “in response to the blood of the heroes” of the warship IRIS Dena, and Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, a statement said.

It’s unclear if any damage was sustained or casualties inflicted.

More than 80 Iranian naval personnel were killed on March 4 when the US torpedoed the IRIS Dena south of Sri Lanka as it returned from exercises in India. Khatib was killed in an Israeli air strike earlier this week.

Sri Lanka’s navy rescues Iranian sailors from the IRIS Dena warship after it sank, on March 4, 2026 [Sri Lankan Presidential Media Division via AP]
19 Mar 2026 - 21:40
 (21:40 GMT)

Trump invokes Pearl Harbor in talking about launching Iran war

The US president was pressed by reporters in the Oval Office to explain why he did not coordinate or inform allies, such as Japan, before launching the war.

“We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise,” said Trump, who then said, turning to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK? Right?”

The December 7, 1941, Japanese bombing of the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii killed more than 2,300 Americans. The US declared war against Japan the next day

Mireya Solís, director of the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, said Trump’s remarks were “unusual – a shock”.

“The purpose of this visit is to emphasise the shared vision – the strong bonds that unite Japan and the United States – not the divisive past and the bitter rivalry and conflict of the war,” Solís told The New York Times.

19 Mar 2026 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

Israel says Hezbollah launched 700 rockets, shells and drones

The Israeli military’s Arabic language spokesman has said that Hezbollah has launched “approximately 700 rockets, artillery shells and drones toward Israel” since March 2.

Avichay Adraee added that these came from areas located south of the Litani River, and accused the Lebanese army of failing to clear Hezbollah from the area.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people since March 2, according to the country’s Health Ministry.