US-Iran war updates: Iran, Israel trade airstrikes as Trump pressures allies into Strait of Hormuz defence

A person has been killed by an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Sir in Lebanon’s south, according to the state-run National News Agency, AP is reporting.

The Agency says two paramedics from the Islamic Health Society, which is the health wing of Hezbollah, were killed by a second strike after began to assist in the first strike’s aftermath.

Al Jazeera is reporting “at least one” Iranian missile has hit central Israel near Tel Aviv.

Haaretz is reporting an “impact” in the area, although The Times of Israel is reporting there were multiple.

No casualties have been reported so far.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson did not respond to questions about US President Donald Trump’s demand for support to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz, AP is reporting.

Spokesperson Lin Jian reiterated China’s position urging for an end to the war between the US, Israel, and Iran, despite Trump’s calls.

“Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China–U.S. relations,” he said.

Australia has streamlined its passport process for expats in the Middle East in its bid to get citizens and permanent residents out of the conflict zone as the US-Israel-Iran war escalates.

Expats in Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE with expired passports will be able to apply online instead of attending an Embassy under a new temporary service.

People will only be able to utilise the temporary digital bypass to standard passport rules if they have held a 10-year Australian passport issued after January 1, 2006, expats are applying for a child passport.

Australia has urged all 115,000 expats to leave the region as the US-Israel-Iran conflict draws in more nations, and withdrawn all non-essential officials from Israel, the UAE and Lebanon.

Iranian retaliatory strikes to the US-Israel offensive on February 28 had halted travel through the major transport corridor.

It had left passengers on well-known carriers such as Qatar, Emirates, and Etihad in limbo.

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AP is reporting a drone has struck an industrial oil facility in Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast.

The fire is “advanced”, the Fujairah Media Office says, but no casulties have been reported so far.

Israeli Minister for Culture and Sports Miki Zohar has warned the war between the US, Israel, and Iran could be prolonged, warning of an “escalation” in the coming days, Al Jazeera is reporting.

“All of the State of Israel, all of us, need to be more prepared in the coming days,” Zohar said on an Israeli radio station.

“It is very likely that the war will take several more long weeks.”

The European Union will consider action to protect safe shipping passage in the Strait of Hormuz, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

“It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that’s why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard,” Ms Kallas told reporters before a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

“From the European side, we have been in touch with the US colleagues on different levels on this but of course, the situation is very volatile.”

US president Donald Trump previously warned a lack of action would be “very bad for the future of NATO”, although Ms Kallas refuted the President’s words.

“It is out of NATO’s area of action,” she said.

“There are no NATO countries in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The Abu Dhabi media office are reporting a civilian has bene killed by a falling rocket in Al Bahyah in the outskirts of the UAE capital on Monday morning.

The person, who is believed to be of Palestinian nationality, was inside a vehicle when it was struck by the rocket.

US House of Representatives minority leader Hakeem Jeffries says the House will vote on another war powers resolution to curb President Donald Trump’s authority in the US’ conflict with Iran, according to CNN.

The original resolution was narrowly voted down 53-47 on March 3, with the split mostly divided along party lines.

“We brought a war powers resolution to the floor of the Congress that fell a few votes short when we were in session earlier this month. Upon our return, we’ll continue to do the same thing,” Jeffries said in an interview with MS NOW.

Although four Democrats in the House voted against the resolution, Jeffries says the situation had changed since the vote nearly two weeks ago.

“Several of them have indicated that the next time we bring such a resolution to the floor, they will be prepared to support it,” he said.

Fuel retailers will face a “compliance blitz” from both State and Federal levels amid widespread concerns over price gouging in the wake of the US-Israel-Iran conflict.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has been the latest leader to put dodgy fuel retailers on notice as he vowed the state would beef up compliance checks.

The state has “doubled” its number of inspectors after reports some retailers had unnecessarily lifted prices almost as high as $3 per litre.

Ahead of an urgent fuel roundtable on Monday with key stakeholders, Mr Minns told a press conference that while panic buying was clearly occurring, retailers shouldn’t be unfairly capitalising.

“We’ll also be bringing forward compliance checks for fuel checks,” he said.

“Which is a compliance blitz for fuel checks run by New South Wales Fair Trading to ensure that there is appropriate and legal distribution of petrol at the retail level.

“That enforcement … will be brought forward a week with double the number of inspectors across New South Wales.

“I want to make it clear that, as it stands today, we have the supplies on shore to deal with our energy needs, and we are just asking consumers, motorists across the state to be responsible with fuel buying.”

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