Iran-Israel Tensions Highlights: Must 'punish' Israel to prevent further instability, says Iran

Hezbollah took credit for a drone strike on northern Israel on Monday, claiming to have wounded two Israeli soldiers, according to the Israeli military. The attack happened amid heightened tensions in the region after the recent killings of the top Hamas political leader in Iran and a high-ranking Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. Iran-backed Hezbollah claims the attack, which was launched in response to "attacks and assassinations" by Israel in many southern Lebanese communities, was directed towards an Israeli military camp in the north. Still, the strike did not appear to be the more aggressive reaction that Iran and its allies had been expecting.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman stated on Monday that, in the wake of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's death in Tehran last week, Iran is not seeking to increase regional tensions but rather feels that it must punish Israel to avert further unrest. No one from Israel has taken accountability. Top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Hossein Salami reaffirmed the elite group's warning that Israel "will receive punishment in due time" on Monday.

Over 90,000 Israelis have joined a network of WhatsApp groups preparing for mass demonstrations around the country in case Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fires Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to reports.

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Iran for talks with the country's top leadership. Iranian news agencies also reported the planned meetings to discuss regional and international issues.

Moscow and Tehran have forged closer ties since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Iran supplying drones to aid Putin’s military.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slammed Israel’s leadership over its handling of the Iranian threat, arguing that “there is no deterrence and there is no government.”

“I would like to ask the Israeli government, is what we are seeing in recent days the new standard?” Lapid asks during his Yesh Atid party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset. “Is it acceptable to you that for five days, an entire country has been sitting and waiting to be bombed?

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris has advised his country’s citizens against travelling to Israel, Lebanon and Palestine.

He said the updated travel advice comes “due to growing instability in the region”.

The United Nations calls for urgent de-escalation in Middle East, laments "very precarious situation".

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said he spoke with his Italian counterpart and “updated him on security developments and threats posed by Iran and its proxies.”

“We urge our partners to stand with Israel at this time,” he said.

At least eight people have been killed and others wounded in Israeli shelling in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Citing witness accounts, the agency said an Israeli aircraft targeted a civilian vehicle in the al-Matahin area, south of Deir el-Balah.

Top Russian security official arrives in Tehran, will meet Iranian president.

The Israeli army said that an aerial target was intercepted off the coast of Nahariya on Monday, and that no sirens were activated beforehand, in accordance with policy.

Over 91,000 injured, Palestinians killed in Israeli offensive since October 7, says Gaza health ministry.

The Gaza health ministry has reported that since October 7, Israel's military offensive on Gaza has resulted in 39,623 Palestinian deaths and 91,469 injuries.

Abdul Fattah al-Zurai’i, Gaza’s undersecretary of the Ministry of National Economy, has been killed in an Israeli air attack, the Israeli military confirms.

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 39,623.

Two children are among at least 25 Palestinians who have been arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since yesterday evening until this morning.

The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran is a violation of international law, says Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani.

As tensions mount in the Middle East, foreign nationals are urgently advised to evacuate Lebanon amid fears of a looming regional conflict. The country is on high alert as Iran and its allies prepare their response to recent high-profile killings blamed on Israel. Diplomats are scrambling to prevent a full-scale escalation, with French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II stressing the need to avoid military confrontation "at all costs," according to the French presidency.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, stated that while Tehran does not seek to escalate tensions, it believes that punishing Israel is "necessary" in response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Lebanon's health ministry said that two people were killed in an Israeli strike on the country's south, a place where Iran backed militant group Hezbollah has been trading near-daily fire with Israel, since the start of Gaza war.

"The enemy raid that took place near the (Mais Al-Jabal) town's cemetery killed two people," Lebanon's health ministry said in a statement.

Israeli forces have demolished two houses in the village of al-Jalameh, northeast of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

The head of the village council, Radwan Shaaban, told Wafa that Israeli forces stormed the village accompanied by three bulldozers and demolished the two houses.

The Lebanese group says its drone attack on an Israeli military site near the Malkia settlement in northern Israel hit “its targets accurately”.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the Israeli government is working “to remove the threat” of Palestinian statehood as Western countries, including its ally the US.

He said on X that any path to “this agenda” would be blocked through “strengthening settlements in construction, development, establishment and regulation of settlements and infrastructure”.

Nearly 4,000 Israelis have been stranded abroad due to the suspension of international flights to Tel Aviv amid rising border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel,  according to local media.

Israeli choppers fire on various targets in central Gaza

Israeli helicopters have fired on the east of the Bureij refugee camp, the Maghazi refugee camp, the city of Deir el-Balah and a nearby village of al-Musaddar, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, according to reports.

Group of Seven (G7) western democracies have urged restraint and de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East, expressing concern that recent events "threatened to ignite a broader conflict in the region."

“Enough, brothers and sisters! Enough! Do not stifle the word of the God of Peace! May peace be the future of the Holy Land, the Middle East, and the entire world.War is a defeat!” posted Pope Francis on X.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry has issued a travel warning advising its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country due to the rising tensions in the Middle East.

US President Joe Biden will meet his national security team to discuss the security situation in the Middle East and speak with Jordan's King Abdullah. Biden had expressed hope that Iran would stand down despite its threat to avenge Hamas leader IsmaiHaniyeh's killing.

Turkey urges its nationals to leave Lebanon unless ‘absolutely essential’

Turkey in its latest advisory issued late on Sunday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon due to heightened security risks and a possibility that the security situation will deteriorate rapidly.

"Those who do not need to stay in Lebanon should leave Lebanon while commercial flights are still operating, if possible," the foreign ministry statement said.

A drone attack launched by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah early on Monday wounded two Israeli soldiers and set off a fire.