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Israel plans buffer zone up to Litani River in southern Lebanon

Israel plans buffer zone up to Litani River in southern Lebanon
By Lyndal Rowlands, Zaid Sabah, Faisal Ali, Yashraj Sharma, Usaid Siddiqui, Mariamne Everett, Christine Maguire and Shola Lawal
Published On 25 Mar 2026

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26 Mar 2026 - 00:00
 (00:00 GMT)

Our coverage continues

This live page is closing, but our 24-hour coverage of the war continues.

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

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Deir Siriane on March 25, 2026 [AFP]
25 Mar 2026 - 23:50
 (23:50 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

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Here are some of the day’s top developments:

  • An Iranian diplomatic source described the US’s 15-point plan as “extremely maximalist and unreasonable“, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said no negotiations were taking place between Tehran and Washington.
  • The White House warned that the US will “hit Iran harder than before” if Iran fails to accept “the reality of the current moment”.
  • At least five people have been killed and others injured in Israeli strikes in Harouf and Qounine in southern Lebanon.
  • Several Gulf countries and Jordan called on Iraq to stop attacks from its territory by pro-Iran groups.
  • The US has ordered the deployment of 2,500 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East.
25 Mar 2026 - 23:40
 (23:40 GMT)

WATCH: US taps oil reserves amid Iran conflict

The Trump administration is releasing oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve as Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to cause price shocks.

Al Jazeera’s chief US correspondent Alan Fisher reports:

25 Mar 2026 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

Bahrain says Iranian attack causes fire, no injuries reported

The country’s Interior Ministry says that its civil defence controlled the fire, which broke out “at a facility in Muharraq Governorate”, without any injuries.

The fire was caused by “Iranian aggression”, a brief statement on X reads.

25 Mar 2026 - 23:20
 (23:20 GMT)

Hezbollah claims attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon

The Lebanese group has said it has launched several attacks on Israeli soldiers who have crossed the border into Lebanese territory.

Here are some of the recent attacks:

  • An artillery attack on Israeli soldiers and their vehicles in the town of Qouzah, in the Nabatieh governorate.
  • A guided missile attack on an Israeli tank in the town of Debel, in Nabatieh.
  • A rocket attack on Israeli soldiers near the town of Meiss el-Jabal in Marjayoun.
25 Mar 2026 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)
Houthi

UAE responding to drones, missiles

The United Arab Emirates is “currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran”, according to its Defence Ministry.

“The sounds heard are the result of the Air Defence Systems intercepting missiles and drones,” the ministry added in a short statement shared on X.

25 Mar 2026 - 23:10
 (23:10 GMT)
Explainer

Will the US deploy troops in Iran?

By Abid Hussain

The Pentagon has ordered that some 2,000 more soldiers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division move to the Middle East from their North Carolina base.

That’s in addition to two Marine Expeditionary Units already en route from opposite sides of the Pacific:

  • The Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group moving in from Japan
  • The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group en route from San Diego

Combined, the backup troops will add between 6,000 and 7,000 marines and sailors to the about 50,000 already positioned in the Middle East.

The US deployments are among the largest since the Iraq war in 2003, when the US sent 160,000 soldiers.

While no ground operation has been ordered, the scale and composition of forces, combined with public statements from US officials, suggest at least three scenarios may be under consideration.

These include seizing or blockading Kharg Island, clearing Iran’s coastline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and, in the most consequential scenario, securing Iran’s nuclear material.

Read more here.

US Navy aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing 9 are staged on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the US attack on Iran from an undisclosed location on March 14, 2026 [Handout/US Navy via Reuters]
25 Mar 2026 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Photos: Funeral held for health workers killed by Israel in southern Lebanon

Families and colleagues mourn health workers, Ali Jaber and Joud Sulelman, who were killed in an Israeli strike in Harouf in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate on Wednesday [Murat Sengul/Anadolu]
Israeli forces have killed dozens of health workers in Lebanon since escalating attacks earlier this month, many of them paramedics responding to attacks [Murat Sengul/Anadolu]
[Murat Sengul/Anadolu]
[Murat Sengul/Anadolu]

25 Mar 2026 - 22:50
 (22:50 GMT)

WATCH: What we know about US attack on Iraqi military site

Iraqi authorities say a US air strike on a military site in Anbar killed seven soldiers and wounded 13, in an attack they described as a violation of international law amid escalating strikes on Iran-aligned forces in the country.

Watch our video report below:

25 Mar 2026 - 22:40
 (22:40 GMT)

UN chief sounds alarm on consequences of prolonged Hormuz closure

Antonio Guterres says on X that the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz is “choking the movement of oil, gas [and] fertilizer at a critical moment in the global planting season”.

Iran insists the strait remains open, saying earlier today that ships not affiliated with the US, Israel or their allies are free to navigate the waterway safely.

“Across the region and beyond, civilians are enduring serious harm and living under profound insecurity”, Guterres added, saying that the best way to alleviate suffering is to “end the war – immediately”.

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

Two killed, 8 injured in Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon, state media says

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) has reported that two people have been killed in an Israeli air strike targeting the town of Harouf, in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon.

The air strike also left eight people injured, according to the report.

We have reported within the last hour that Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have killed three people and wounded 11 others.

25 Mar 2026 - 22:20
 (22:20 GMT)

CENTCOM claims US on plan to achieve ‘clear objectives’

US Central Command has said it remains “on plan or ahead of plan in achieving very clear military objectives” in its war on Iran.

Commander Brad Cooper said in a video update that these objectives are “eliminating Iran’s ability to project power in meaningful ways outside its borders”.

The US has struck more than 10,000 military targets, flown more than 10,000 combat flights in Iranian skies and has “overwhelmed Iranian air defences and our combat flights over Iran are having tangible effects,” Cooper said.

He claimed the US has destroyed “92 percent of the Iranian navy’s largest vessels”, and that its drone and missile launch rates are down by “more than 90 percent”.

Cooper added that over two-thirds of Iran’s missile, drone and naval shipping production facilities and shipyards have been damaged or destroyed.

Despite the US claims, Iran has been able to keep up drone and missile attacks against Israel and US assets in the Gulf, as well as targeting energy sites across the region. Its strikes have caused casualties and damage to infrastructure while also disrupting global markets and aviation.

25 Mar 2026 - 22:10
 (22:10 GMT)
Analysis

Will the US really ‘hit Iran harder than before’?

What did the White House mean when it said the US will “hit Iran harder than before”, even as missiles continue to rain down on Iranian territory?

Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute and former Pentagon official, told Al Jazeera Washington’s statement appears to be more about posturing than actually intensifying attacks.

“Part of [Trump’s] intent here is to be less than specific on the details,” he said.

“He wants the Iranian regime to think that he is capable of doing that and that he will do it.”

But Campbell said that although Trump has ramped up rhetoric on expanding operations and even hitting civilian infrastructure targets such as power plants, there hasn’t been the same willingness to actually go through with it.

25 Mar 2026 - 22:05
 (22:05 GMT)
Houthi

Iran’s Lamerd airport hit by projectiles in US-Israeli attack

Lamerd International Airport in Iran’s southwestern Fars province has been hit by projectiles in a US-Israeli air attack, according to a report by the IRNA news agency.

Initial assessments showed that the attack resulted in no casualties, the report said.

25 Mar 2026 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)
Houthi

Intense Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon kill three, injure 11

Israeli forces have killed three people and wounded four in an attack on Qounine, in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon, the emergency operations centre of the Lebanese Ministry of Health has said, according to NNA.

Israeli raids on Toulene in the Marjayoun district also injured seven people, the ministry said in a separate statement.

The updates came as our colleagues on the ground are reporting intense Israeli air attacks on several towns in southern Lebanon.

They include towns in the Nabatieh governorate, including in the Bint Jbeil area.

NNA also reported that Israeli aircraft launched two raids targeting the town of Deir Amas in the Tyre district.

As we’ve been reporting, Israel has been threatening to invade and occupy southern Lebanon up to the 30km (18.6 miles) inside the country’s southern border.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Deir Siriane on Wednesday [AFP]
25 Mar 2026 - 21:55
 (21:55 GMT)

Saudi Arabia intercepts drones over Eastern Province

In its latest update, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence says air defences have intercepted and destroyed four drones in the country’s eastern region in the past two hours.

25 Mar 2026 - 21:50
 (21:50 GMT)

USPS raises rates as war pushes up fuel costs

The government-run US Postal Service (USPS) has announced an 8 percent rate increase for some retail and commercial products, with the “transportation-related” move coming as global oil prices spiral due to the US-Israel war on Iran.

The price increase will affect Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select services, the agency said.

The rate increase, which must be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, will be implemented on April 26 and remain in place until January 17, 2027.

“Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges,” USPS said in a statement.

Delivery giant UPS imposed a fuel surcharge in the US on March 2, while FedEx also frequently updates its fuel surcharge based on US petrol prices.

The average price of a gallon of regular petrol in the US has jumped 33.6 percent since the war began last month, according to data from motor club AAA.

25 Mar 2026 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Alarm sirens sound in Bahrain

The Ministry of Interior has told people to “remain calm and head to the nearest safe place”.

25 Mar 2026 - 21:35
 (21:35 GMT)

Gathering of US forces signals to Iran to prepare for war to continue

By Mohamed Vall

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

The Iranians are very well aware of the deployment and gathering of US troops and warships.

They have seen it twice before, and they are watching it right now – and they know what it is going to lead to. So right now, they are much more certain of a continuation of this war than an end to it, and they say they are preparing for it.

They also are aware of the US eye on Kharg Island.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X that “based on intelligence reports, our enemies are preparing to occupy one of the Iranian islands with support from a regional state”.

It says, “our forces are monitoring all enemy movements, and if they take any step, they will target all vital infrastructure of that regional state without mercy”.

According to some people explaining what he said, he’s referring here to the United Arab Emirates, that it might be cooperating with the US and encouraging it to take Kharg Island.

But also, Iranians over the last few days have been saying that they know that if this happens, they are sure that will be very destructive to that country, the United Arab Emirates, and also the US troops.

Kharg is a small, exposed island that is very close to the Iranian mainland. They are threatening that if US troops land on it, that will be the thing that [Iranians] are waiting for – and that it will be very detrimental to the safety of US troops.

25 Mar 2026 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

How is Hezbollah reacting to Israel ground assault in Lebanon?

By Tony Cheng

Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

We heard a long statement from the secretary-general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, in which he referred to this invasion by Israel.

He talked about the danger: that Lebanon and Hezbollah are now in a war against the US and Israel. He said Hezbollah will be doing everything to defend Lebanese soil. He talked about the young fighters who are fighting down in the south.

We’ve seen that backed up. Hezbollah said they fired volleys of rockets into the western Galilee region of Israel this afternoon. We’ve also heard of numerous Israeli strikes coming into southern Lebanon.

But I think it’s a real concern here that the Israeli military has issued commands for people not just to move back north of the Litani River, but north of the Zahrani River.

That suggests they are going to create this large buffer zone, and that’s a real concern here. There are now more than a million people displaced here in Lebanon. I think many of them are clearly hoping that they are going to be able to return to their homes.

If we see continued fighting in this area, they may be displaced for much longer. That’s putting an enormous strain on Lebanese society, too.

I think while Hezbollah is a contentious subject here, there is also a grudging respect that at this stage, with all of this offensive action from the Israelis as they cross the border, they try to move up into the south of the country, Hezbollah are actually the ones putting themselves on the line to stand in their way.