Key events
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Two bodies recovered in Haifa after missile attack – reports
Israeli rescuers have recovered the bodies of two people killed after an Iranian ballistic missile hit the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Israeli media is reporting.
The fire and rescue service said the two had been trapped and were found under rubble without signs of life, the Times of Israel is reporting.
Rescue efforts were continuing to reach two other people who were trapped or unaccounted for, it quotes the service as saying.
Haaretz reported that a missile fired from Iran struck a residential building in Haifa on Sunday, igniting a fire and leaving the six-story structure at risk of collapse.
The Times has just now said rescue forces were responding to reports of a fresh ballistic missile attack in the Haifa area.
The impacts triggered a car fire and flipped over another vehicle, the report said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
Kuwait’s air defences have been working to stop incoming missile and drone attacks, the army is saying.
It also posted on X (in a translation):
The General Staff of the Army notes that if explosion sounds are heard, they are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks.
Everyone is requested to adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the competent authorities.
Over the weekend Iran expanded its attacks on energy infrastructure around the Gulf, launching drone and missile strikes on petrochemical facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Deal for 45-day truce in discussion – report
The US, Iran and a group of regional mediators are discussing the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war, according to a report from Axios that cites “four US, Israeli and regional sources with knowledge of the talks”.
The chances of reaching such a deal over the next 48 hours are slim, the sources are also quoted as saying in the report, which adds that “this last-ditch effort is the only chance to prevent a dramatic escalation in the war”.
The report could not be independently verified.
As mentioned earlier, Donald Trump has threatened to obliterate Iranian power plants and bridges if it doesn’t agree by 8pm Tuesday (US Eastern Time) to fully reopen the strait of Hormuz.
And as just posted, the Iranian military warned in response of “much more devastating and widespread” retaliation if its civilian targets are bombed.
About a fifth of the world’s oil supply usually passes through the Hormuz strait and its effective closure is having a crippling effect on the global economy.
Iran threatens ‘much more devastating’ response if civilian targets hit
More after the last post: Iran’s central military command has warned of far more “devastating and widespread” retaliation if its adversaries hit Iranian civilian targets.
“If attacks on civilian targets are repeated, the next stages of our offensive and retaliatory operations will be much more devastating and widespread,” a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement posted by state broadcaster Irib on Telegram.
The warning, cited by AFP, came after Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran didn’t make a deal by Tuesday to fully reopen the strait of Hormuz.
Iran is reportedly threatening “much more devastating” retaliation if its civilian targets are hit.
More on this as it comes to light.
Nick Visser
In Australia a government minister said he wouldn’t comment on Donald Trump’s expletive-laden social media threats to Iran but noted that Australia too wanted the strait of Hormuz to reopen.
Energy minister Chris Bowen was asked about Trump’s remarks and told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio on Monday morning:
Well, for the last 10 years, I haven’t made a habit of commenting on every social media comment of president Trump, and I don’t intend to start now because we’d all keep ourselves very busy. We want to see the strait of Hormuz open.
When pressed if that level of retort from Trump warranted a comment from the Australian government, Bowen added:
We are not participants in this war. We didn’t participate in the decision to begin the war, but we are – like many like-minded countries – calling for it to end in the best interest of the people of the Middle East, obviously, but also in the best interest of the world economy.
Donald Trump has faced sharp criticism after threatening to wipe out Iran’s power plants and bridges in an expletive-riddled social media post.
The US president told Iran on Sunday: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” Separately, he suggested there was a “good chance” of an agreement to end the five-week war on Monday, telling US media that negotiations were happening.
Trump’s post drew criticism from Capitol Hill. Chuck Schumer, a senior Senate Democrat, said: “The president of the United States is ranting like an unhinged madman on social media … He’s threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies. This is who he is, but this is not who we are. Our country deserves so much better.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former staunch Trump ally turned critic, said everyone in the Trump administration who claimed to be a Christian needed to “beg forgiveness from God” and intervene in the president’s “madness”.
There’s more in this wrap of the day’s main Trump administration stories here:
Israel’s deadly strikes in Lebanon on Sunday came a day after Israel threatened to hit Lebanon’s main border crossing with Syria, forcing it to close.
Israel said on Saturday it would target the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, the main gateway between the two countries.
“Due to Hezbollah’s use of the Masnaa crossing for military purposes and smuggling of combat equipment, the [Israeli military] intends to carry out strikes on the crossing in the near future,” said the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee, urging people to leave the area.
The border post was quickly evacuated on the Lebanese side, AFP reports.
In Syria, borders and customs public relations director Mazen Aloush insisted the crossing was exclusively used by civilians but said it would close temporarily due to the threats.
Masnaa is a vital trade route for both countries and a key gateway to the rest of the region for Lebanese people.
At least 15 killed in latest Israeli strikes on Lebanon – authorities
Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Sunday killed at least 15 people, the health ministry said, while Israel’s military chief visited troops in southern Lebanon and pledged to intensify strikes against Hezbollah.
One of Israel’s strikes in Beirut on Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese ministry said.
A strike targeting an apartment building in Ain Saadeh town east of Beirut killed three people and injured three others, while a strike in the southern town of Kfar Hatta – far from the border with Israel, killed seven people including a four-year-old girl, the ministry said, quoted by AFP.
Meanwhile in southern Lebanon – where Israeli troops are expanding a ground invasion – Lieut Gen Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief, visited troop in the Ras el-Bayada area. He said Israel was striking the Iran-backed Hezbollah “extensively and across multiple fronts”, according to a military statement.
Zamir said:
Over 1,000 Hezbollah terrorists have been eliminated, and that number will continue to rise. The damage to Hezbollah will intensify.
Hezbollah on Sunday claimed to have fired a cruise missile at an Israeli warship off the coast, but the Israeli military told AFP it was “not aware” of such an incident.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war have killed more than 1,400 people, including 126 children, and displaced more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities.
The United Arab Emirates’ air defences have been trying to fend off more Iranian air attacks, according to the ministry of defence.
It said early on Monday that the defences were “currently engaging with missile attacks and incoming drones from Iran”.
The ministry also said in the post on X that it “confirms that the sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of the UAE Air Defence systems intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones”.
Netanyahu suggests Israel helped US with airman’s rescue
Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested Israel assisted the US with its rescue of a downed airman in Iran.
The Israeli prime minister posted on X early on Monday that he had spoken with Donald Trump and “congratulated him on his bold decision and a perfectly executed American mission to rescue the downed pilot from enemy territory”.
“The President expressed his appreciation for Israel’s help,” Netanyahu said, adding:
I am deeply proud that our cooperation on an off the battlefield is unprecedented, and that Israel could contribute to saving a brave American warrior.
The crew member of a downed F-15E fighter jet was rescued from an Iranian mountain by US commandos overnight at the weekend, ending a two-day search after the warplane crashed in south-west Iran.
Oil prices rise after Trump threat
Crude oil prices opened higher on Monday after Donald Trump threatened that Iran would be “living in Hell” if it didn’t open the strait of Hormuz.
West Texas Intermediate – the US benchmark – rose 1.86% to $113.62 a barrel while North Sea Brent crude was also higher at the week’s market opening, climbing 1.16% to $110.30 a barrel.
Trump has set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the crucial oil and gas waterway, threatening in an expletive-laden social media post on Sunday to hit the country’s power plants and bridges if it does not not comply.
Pierre Mouawad, a prominent official within the Lebanese Forces party, was reportedly killed alongside his wife on Sunday during an Israeli airstrike on an apartment complex in Ain Saadeh, a mountain village east of Beirut, according to the state-run National News Agency.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency and the Ministry of Health, the strike also claimed the life of another woman and left three others injured.
The incident has significantly heightened regional anxieties, as the Lebanese Forces party – a Christian-based political group – is a vocal opponent of Hezbollah and has frequently blames the militant group for bringing Lebanon into a new war with Israel.
Oil prices rose again on Sunday, with US crude climbing above $114 per barrel following a series of aggressive social media posts and interviews from Trump setting a new deadline for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz.
By Sunday evening, US crude (WTI) had jumped more than 2% to $114.16 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude rose 1.72% to $110.91. The unstable costs follow an expletive-laden post on Truth Social where Trump warned that Iran would be “living in Hell” if the blockade is not lifted. He specifically threatened to target the country’s power plants and bridges, later posting a deadline: “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has released a statement condemning the Israeli strike targeting an apartment in a residential building near Beirut on Sunday.
“We are seeing elderly people and adolescents arriving with critical injuries to the head, chest, and abdomen, including shrapnel wounds,” Dr. Luna Hammad, MSF medical coordinator, said in a statement. “When strikes hit crowded residential areas without warning, the consequences are severe, both in human casualties and in hospitals’ capacity to respond.”
The statement said the strike resulted in a “mass-casualty influx” and that within the first hour, four people were killed and nearly 40 were injured.
“MSF condemns this attack on civilians in a highly populated area and calls for the protection of civilians and health facilities,” the statement said. “Strikes this close to a hospital spread fear and can stop people from seeking lifesaving care. Civilians cannot be collateral damage.”
Royal Air Force shoots down Iranian drones overnight, UK defense says
The UK’s Royal Air Force said it shot down “multiple Iranian drones” overnight, in an update posted by the UK Ministry of Defense.
According to the update, UK Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets are continuing defensive missions over the Eastern Mediterranean, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE. It adds that “force protection measures in the region continue to be at the highest levels” and that it is “continuing to work closely” with its allies.
Donald Trump said “I don’t want to talk about that” when asked about targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran, and threatened that the “whole country” would be “gone” if it doesn’t accept a deal.
In an interview with ABC’s Rachel Scott:, reportedly Trump said: “Well, I don’t want to talk about that. But the civilians want me to do it. Okay, the civilians, you know, when they’re most unhappy, when they don’t hear bombs going off because they’re living in hell.”
When asked if he would move back his deadline for Iran, he said “I don’t want to talk about it, they have plenty of time to make a deal. If they don’t want to make a deal — their whole country is gone,” he said.
India’s external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar posted on social media that he received a call from Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, where they discussed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.