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Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon is drawing parallels with its 1982 campaign, and could prove even worse as it becomes more protracted, European officials told Middle East Eye.

For many Lebanese, the broad scope of Israel’s military campaign in recent weeks already recalls its 18-year occupation of the south of their country, which ended after years of confrontation with Hezbollah forced Israeli troops to withdraw in 2000.

This time, Beirut has taken unprecedented steps that include opening the door to direct engagement with Israel.

"But the Israelis do not seem to care about any of this," a European official with knowledge on the matter said.

As in the past, Israeli officials have made clear they have a military plan for southern Lebanon and intend to carry it out, he added.

Tel Aviv viewed the offer as too little, too late – given Beirut’s inability to rein in Hezbollah since the end of the last war, in November 2024.

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NPR has confirmed more than a dozen U.S. service members were wounded and two E-3 Sentry aircraft were damaged in an Iranian strike on an air base in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

President Trump has repeated the assertion that Iran wants a deal while he has also ordered thousands of U.S. troops to deploy to the Middle East and even warned the U.S. may try to seize Iran's oil and Kharg Island — or blow it up.

On Monday, Trump expanded a threat he had made if Iran refuses to open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping passage, writing on social media the U.S. would not only destroy Iranian electric plants and oil wells but also "possibly all desalinization plants!" That would potentially raise the number of civilian infrastructure sites targeted in the region.

Iran struck a desalination plant in Kuwait overnight. And three United Nations peacekeepers were killed in Lebanon in 24 hours as Israel continues to battle the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

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Pope Leo XIV on Sunday rejected claims that God justifies war and prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entering its second month and Russia's ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily to insist that God is the "king of peace" who rejects violence and comforts those who are oppressed.

"Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war," Leo said. "He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them."

Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions. U.S. officials, especially Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have invoked their Christian faith to cast the war as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might.

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U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on a residential area in Isfahan in central Iran on Friday killed 26 people, including seven children, according to Press TV.

The Israeli military announced a broad wave of attacks targeting government infrastructure in the heart of Tehran, with Iranian state media and residents reporting explosions across the capital, including the Chitgar neighborhood in northwest Tehran.

At least seven people were killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on residential units in the city of Urmia in northwestern Iran, near the borders with Turkey and Iraq, BBC reports.

Early Friday, Iranian Red Crescent teams were deployed after an airstrike struck a residential area in Qom, a central Iranian city south of Tehran, with crews carrying out search and rescue operations at the scene.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday that Israel will “escalate and expand” attacks on Iran. Iran “will pay heavy, increasing prices” for attacking Israeli civilians, Katz said in a televised statement.

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Residents of Israel's southern Negev region say they've been left defenceless against Iranian missile fire, and have called the government's response "a complete failure" rooted in years of policy neglect.

Avi Dabush, the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, told Middle East Eye that Saturday's deadly strikes on Dimona, a city known for its proximity to Israeli nuclear facilities, and the nearby city of Arad, exposed deep gaps in civilian protection.

"The government's response to the missile fire is a complete failure," Dabush said.

"The state spends hundreds of billions on various things, but not on protection," he said, adding: "action should have been taken long ago".

His comments come after one of the heaviest rounds of Iranian missile strikes on Israeli territory since the start of the US and Israeli war on Iran, with around 30 people injured in Dimona and 115 in Arad.

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Yemen’s Houthis fired missiles at Israel on Saturday for the first time since the war on Iran broke out a month ago. 

In a video statement, military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had launched ballistic missiles at Israeli military sites. 

“[We] have carried out the first military operation using a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting sensitive Israeli military sites in southern occupied Palestine,” Saree said.

Israel’s military said it had "identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory, aerial defence systems are operating to intercept the threat".

There were no reports of any casualties or damage in Israel.

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