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Eight killed, 32 wounded in violent Israeli strikes on Tyre

An Israeli airstrike on the southern city of Tyre before an Israeli military warning on Tuesday killed at least eight people and wounded 32 others.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) had reported the strike not long before Israel's military issued an evacuation warning for the entire city and surrounding areas ahead of strikes there.

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Hezbollah urges Lebanon authorities to mend ties with Iran

Hezbollah on Tuesday urged Lebanese authorities to mend their relationship with the group's backer Iran and benefit from Tehran's support, days after Iran struck Israel in response to bombardment on south Beirut.

Last week Lebanon's president and prime minister issued pointed calls for Tehran to stop interfering in their country's affairs, after Hezbollah rejected a conditional ceasefire with Israel.

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Israel's permanent state of war comes with economic, social costs

The enormous costs of Israel's multi-front war and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's determination to turn his country into a "super-Sparta" of the Middle East are driving up the defense budget and raising fears of cutbacks in education and healthcare.

The total cost of the series of interconnected regional conflicts that began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 stood at 405 billion shekels ($138 billion) as of late April, according to the governor of the Bank of Israel, Amir Yaron.

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Pakistan, Lebanon army chiefs meet as Middle East mediation drags on

The heads of the Pakistani and Lebanese armed forces agreed to boost cooperation on Tuesday as they met in Pakistan with peace talks over the Middle East war dragging on.

Pakistan has been mediating between the United States and Iran to end the months-long conflict, with Tehran insisting that any deal should include Lebanon.

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Israel vows to press military campaign in Lebanon despite Iran's warnings

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has vowed to press on with Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, despite a warning from Iran that any such action would prompt the Islamic republic to take "severe" measures in response.

"The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon against the terrorist organization Hezbollah," Katz said in a statement Monday, adding that Israel would strike Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, in retaliation for every attack on northern Israel.

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Israel army calls for evacuation of Tyre, including Christian quarter

The Israeli army ordered Tuesday residents of the historic city of Tyre and its suburbs, including the city's Christian neighborhood, to evacuate ahead of expected strikes.

"Urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, and the camps and surrounding neighborhoods," read a message posted on X by the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee.

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President says Iran still at negotiating table after attacks on Israel halted

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday said Tehran remained at the negotiating table after halting attacks on Israel following the first exchange of fire since the April truce.

"Diplomacy and defense are the two wings of national power; we have neither left the battlefield nor the negotiating table," Pezeshkian said in a post on X, adding that Tehran "will not retreat in the face of any threat".

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Qmati says Hezbollah had no direct contact with Trump

A senior Hezbollah official told AFP on Monday that the Iran-backed group has had "no direct contact" with President Donald Trump, despite recent statements from the US leader suggesting otherwise.

Washington considers Hezbollah a "terrorist" group, including both its military and political wings, and recently imposed sanctions on several of its lawmakers.

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Tyre heritage site damaged by Israeli bombardment

Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame on Monday appealed for historic sites to be spared as AFP correspondents saw damage to a World Heritage site in south Lebanon's Tyre after Israeli bombardment.

One of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean coast, Tyre lies around 20 kilometers from the Israeli border, and its UNESCO World Heritage-listed ruins are located in two main areas of the city.

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'Hostile drone' downed over Tehran, Iranian media says

Local media in Iran said Monday that a "hostile drone" was shot down over the capital Tehran during the new round of fighting with Israel.

"A hostile drone belonging to the American-Zionist enemy was targeted and destroyed by air defenses in the skies over Tehran," the Mehr news agency reported, without elaborating.

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