The Israeli military plans for at least three more weeks of its military campaign in Iran with “thousands of targets” remaining, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, Israel has approved an $827 million emergency budget for military purchases, Israeli media reported Sunday, as the war with Iran entered its third week. The 2.6-billion-shekel package was approved by cabinet ministers over the weekend during a telephone meeting, the daily Haaretz reported.
It will be used for “security purchases” and to address “urgent needs”, it said, without providing further details.
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet officially commented on the measure nor specified what purchases the funds will cover.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, meanwhile, dismissed reports over the weekend saying that Israel had informed the United States that it was running short of missile interceptors.
When asked by journalists to comment, Saar, who was visiting a site recently struck by an Iranian missile, said: “The answer is no.”
A finance ministry document circulated to all ministers and reported by several media outlets, including Channel 12, said that “given the intensity of the fighting” the additional budget allocation was necessary.
“An urgent and immediate need has arisen to provide an operational response, including the acquisition of munitions, the procurement of advanced weapons systems and the replenishment of critical combat stocks,” the document said.
The document added that the move constituted “an exceptional emergency decision intended solely to address needs arising from the conduct of the fighting”.
The funds will be drawn from the state budget, totalling $222 billion and approved by the government on March 12, and expected to be adopted by the Knesset by March 31, according to the reports.
Since the Israeli-US bombardments against Iran that began on February 28, Israel has been targeted daily by Iranian ballistic missile fire, which the military has mostly intercepted using its missile defence systems.
According to Haaretz, citing security officials, 250 ballistic missiles had been fired by Iran at Israel as of March 13.
Twelve people have been killed in Israel by missiles or falling debris since the start of the war, according to an AFP tally of figures given by Israeli authorities and first responders.
War in the Middle East: Latest Developments
– Hezbollah fires missile at Israeli base –
Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israel’s Palmachim air base south of Tel Aviv with “an advanced missile”, as Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon.
– Hamas official killed –
An Israeli strike in south Lebanon’s Sidon area killed a Hamas official, a source from the Palestinian militant group told AFP.
The source, requesting anonymity, said the strike killed Hamas official Wissam Taha, after state media earlier reported a strike on an apartment in a residential building in a northern district of Sidon.
– Iran football captain withdraws asylum bid –
The captain of the Iranian women’s football team, which played in the Asian Cup in Australia, has withdrawn her asylum bid, state media reported, making her the fifth member of the delegation to change her mind.
Zahra Ghanbari is expected to fly from Malaysia to Iran, IRNA reported. Three players and one backroom staff member had already withdrawn their asylum bids in previous days and travelled to Malaysia.
– Iran FM says US bases used in attacks –
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran has “ample evidence” that US bases in the Middle East have been used to target the Islamic Republic.
“We have ample evidence of this: satellite imagery and electronic surveillance demonstrate that US bases in this region are being used for attacks,” Araghchi told Arabic-language news outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, claiming that missiles had been launched from the UAE to attack Kharg Island, a vital Iranian oil hub.
– Pope prays for peace –
Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace in the Middle East, calling for an end to the war and the reopening of dialogue.
“Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that people await,” he said.
– Israel approves emergency funds –
Israel has approved an $827-million emergency budget allocation for military purchases, Israeli media reported, as the war with Iran entered its third week.
– Iran targets Israeli police unit –
Iran’s army said it had targeted a police unit called “Lahav 433” and the “Gilat Defence” satellite communications centre in Israel with drone strikes, according to a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
– Iran warns countries not to act –
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged other countries to refrain from any action that could widen the scope of the war with Israel and the United States.
In a phone call with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Araghchi called on other countries to “refrain from any action that could lead to escalation and expansion of the conflict”, according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement.
– UK calls for de-escalation –
A British minister said it was essential to calm the situation in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump demanded that other nations help protect world oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The “plan now has to be to de-escalate the conflict”, Energy Security Minister Ed Miliband told the BBC.
– Iran arrests suspects linked to Israel –
Iranian authorities have arrested at least 20 people in the country’s northwest province of West Azerbaijan on suspicion of cooperating with Israel, Iranian media reported.
Authorities have carried out sweeping raids across Iran, arresting in recent days hundreds of people suspected of cooperating with Israel and the United States, the media said.
– Strikes kill at least four in Lebanon –
Overnight strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least four people, Lebanese state media and the government said, as Israel said it was pressing its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israel struck “an apartment in a residential building” in a northern district of the coastal city of Sidon, killing one person and causing a fire.
To the southeast of Sidon, in the village of Al-Qatrani, three people were killed in an overnight Israeli strike, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
– Israel launches ‘wide-scale’ strikes –
Israel’s military said it began a broad wave of strikes on western Iran, more than two weeks into the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
– Iraq warns of prison at risk –
Iraq warned that drone attacks near Baghdad airport threatened the security of the nearby prison housing Islamic State group suspects recently brought from Syria.
They have been held since in Baghdad’s al-Karkh prison, once a US Army detention centre known as Camp Cropper, which is part of Baghdad airport’s complex that has been subjected to repeated strikes.
Since the start of the Middle East war, Tehran-backed armed groups have been claiming daily drone and rocket attacks against US bases in Iraq.
By Agence France-Presse (AFP)
