Massive blast rocks Lebanon's capital

According to the Indian Embassy in Beirut, the first batch of 177 Indian nationals was repatriated to New Delhi on a charter flight arranged by their employer on Wednesday. The group was seen off at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport by India's Ambassador to Lebanon, Noor Rahman Sheikh.

Jaishankar said in a post on X, "Appreciate the exchange of assessments today with FM Jean-Noël Barrot of France on the West Asia conflict. Look forward to continuing it in person."

The Iranian envoy claimed that strikes on fuel storage facilities had caused toxic pollutants to enter the air.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the envoy said that on March 8, the Israeli government had carried out a targeted strike at the Ramada Hotel in Beirut.

In a post on X, IDF wrote, "The IDF conducted an additional wave of airstrikes targeting assets and storage facilities of the Hezbollah affiliated Al-Quard Al-Hassan Association in Lebanon, used to finance the purchasing of weapons and terrorist salaries, as part of ongoing efforts to further degrade Hezbollah's military capabilities."

UNICEF on Monday decried the rise in child casualties amid rising hostilities in Lebanon and called on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. It urged immediate efforts to de-escalate the situation and prevent further harm to children.

Two persons were murdered in Bogura and Cox's Bazar, on March 6 and March 7, while crude bombs were thrown at a Hindu temple in Cumilla city during a puja on March 8, triggering significant panic, as per rights group the Bangladesh Jatio Hindu Mohajote (Bangladesh National Grand Alliance).

The Israeli Defence Forces shared on Monday that it has eliminated 5 senior commanders in the IRGC Quds Force's Lebanon Corps in a precise strike in Beirut.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lebanon, Youssef Raggi, stated in a post on X that during his participation in a meeting of the League of Arab States Council at the level of foreign ministers, he voiced Lebanon's "strong condemnation and unequivocal denunciation" of Iranian aggressions against the Arab Gulf states, Jordan, and Iraq and emphasised that such hostile acts violate international norms and standards.

Meanwhile, LBCI Lebanon News, the leading TV station and news website in Beirut, reported, citing sources, that Russian aircraft departed from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport shortly after midnight between Saturday and Sunday carrying 117 Iranian nationals. The LBCI report quoted the sources as saying that the flight also transported the bodies of five members of an Iranian family.