IDF targets Hezbollah command centers, weapons sites in strikes on Beirut suburbs

IDF bolstering troops in northern Israel amid fighting with Hezbollah

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks with officers on the northern border, March 2, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it is bolstering troops in northern Israel amid the ongoing fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Following a fresh assessment, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has instructed that the Golani Brigade be sent from the Southern Command to the Northern Command, the military says.

“Subsequently, and in accordance with a situation assessment, it will be decided whether to reinforce with additional forces,” the IDF says.

Bahrain redirects aircraft to alternative airports

Bahrain’s Civil Aviation Affairs says it coordinated the successful transfer of aircraft from Bahrain International Airport to alternative airports.

The authority said the repositioning was carried out to enhance operational readiness.

Earlier today, two drones were downed over Dubai’s airport, injuring four people.

Iran will target US-Israeli economic and banking interests in region — state media

People walk past a branch of Bank Leumi in Jerusalem on February 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Iran will target economic and banking interests linked to the US and Israel in the region, a spokesperson of the country’s Khatam ol Anbia joint command says, adding that this threat follows an attack on an Iranian bank.

“Following their failed campaign, the terrorist US army and cruel Zionist regime have targeted one of the country’s banks,” state media quotes Ebrahim Zolfaqari as saying. “With this illegitimate and uncommon action, the enemy is forcing our hand to target economic centers and banks linked to the US and Zionist regime in the region.”

The spokesperson warns people of the region to stay away from banks.

UK police ban pro-Iranian London march due to ‘extreme tensions,’ in rare move

Illustrative: Metropolitan police stand in front of protesters at an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstration in support of the group Palestine Action as the UK government gears up to ban it, in Trafalgar Square, central London, Great Britain, June 23, 2025. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

British police say they have banned a pro-Iranian march due to take place in London on Sunday, citing the possibility of “extreme tensions” with counter-protesters and the risk posed by Tehran during the war in the Middle East.

The Al Quds march in central London is organized annually by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, which the police say supports the Iranian regime.

The threshold to ban a protest is high in Britain, with the police saying this is the first time the power had been invoked in 14 years, but the risks of public disorder are “so severe” that it is right to block it. The ban also applies to any counter-protest marches.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission has previously claimed on X that the march is being held in support of Palestinian liberation.

Police say that previous Al Quds marches have resulted in arrests for supporting terrorist organizations and antisemitic hate crimes, and that even with the ban in place they are facing a “challenging, potentially violent weekend.”

“We have taken into consideration the likely impact on protests of the volatile situation in the Middle East, with the Iranian regime attacking British allies and military bases overseas,” the police statement published late on Tuesday says. “We must also consider that the security services have been publicly clear about the threats we are facing on UK soil from the Iranian regime.”

British police have faced heavy scrutiny of their handling of regular, large pro-Palestinian protests in London since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, with supporters and opponents at odds over the right of free speech, the support shown for the proscribed group Palestine Action and the impact on the Jewish community.

Last week, British police arrested four men on suspicion of helping Iran’s intelligence services carry out surveillance of people and locations linked to the Jewish community in London.

Should the Islamic Human Rights Commission go ahead with a static assembly, which there is no law to ban, police say it will be placed under strict conditions.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. 

Ex-hostage Aviva Siegel writes book about her captivity in Gaza

Former captive Aviva Siegel with her new book, announced during the 2026 US-Israel war with Iran (Courtesy)

Former hostage Aviva Siegel announces via social media that her book, “The Main Thing is To Wake Up to a New Morning,” written following her November 2023 release from captivity, will hit bookstores on April 8, first in Hebrew, then in English translation.

Siegel and her husband, Keith Siegel, were taken hostage together from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists. Aviva Siegel was released in the first Israel-Hamas ceasefire in November 2023, and then joined the struggle for her husband’s release, which came during the next ceasefire, in February 2025.

“The book is what happened day after day and what I felt and what I did with my feelings and how everyone helped me and how I helped others,” Siegel tells The Times of Israel. “It’s very deep.”

Siegel, originally from South Africa, says she walked around with notebooks wherever she went, eventually filling five with notes.

Siegel adds that until the February 2025 release of her husband and thoseof other hostages they were close to, her mind “was in Gaza most of the time. October 7 is at the center of my brain.”

The memoir is one of several written by Israelis who were taken hostage in Gaza.

Two drones intercepted near Dubai airport, four hurt

An Emirates aircraft takes off from Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 8, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

The United Arab Emirates downs two drones near Dubai International Airport, the Dubai government says.

Three foreign nationals — two Ghanaians and one Bangladeshi– are lightly injured in the attack, and an Indian is moderately injured, according to Dubai.

Flight have now resumed at the world’s busiest airport.

205 admitted to hospitals over past day due to Iran war — Health Ministry

The Health Ministry reports that in the past 24 hours, 205 injured people have been taken to hospitals as a result of the conflict with Iran.

The figure includes both civilians and soldiers.

Among those being treated, one is in critical condition, two are in moderate condition, and 193 are in good condition.

Eight people have been treated for anxiety, and on is undergoing medical evaluation.

The ministry also says that since the beginning of the war with Iran on February 28, 2,557 people have been admitted to hospitals, 84 of whom are currently hospitalized.

Among those hospitalized, 10 people are in serious condition, nine are in moderate condition, and 71 are in good condition.

Team Israel beats Netherlands 6-2, finishes World Baseball Classic at 2-2

Israel's Spencer Horwitz runs after hitting a single during the sixth inning of a World Baseball Classic game against the Netherlands, March 10, 2026, in Miami. (AP/Lynne Sladky)

Team Israel beat the Netherlands 6-2 in its final game of the World Baseball Classic, finishing the first round of the tournament with a 2-2 record.

It will not advance to the international tournament’s second round.

The team came in third out of the five teams in its pool, behind powerhouses Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, both studded with major league all-stars. Its performance was in line with what analysts predicted before the tournament started last weekend.

The Netherlands scored two runs in the first inning, and Israel answered with a run in the second and then a big five-run sixth inning. Jake Gelof, who has played in the minor leagues in the LA Dodgers’ farm system, hit a bases-loaded two-run single, which was followed later by a two-run double from Matt Mervis, a first baseman with the Washington Nationals.

The team is composed primarily of Jewish American baseball players.

The Netherlands will also not advance to the next round of the tournament.

Iranian women soccer players evacuate from safe house in Australia after location exposed

Iran players pose for a team photo ahead of the Women's Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, on March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAP Image via AP)

Iranian women soccer players claiming asylum in Australia evacuated from their safe house today after one team member changed her mind and revealed their location to the Iranian embassy, Canberra says.

Seven members of Iran’s visiting women’s soccer delegation had sought sanctuary in Australia after they were branded “traitors” at home for refusing to sing the national anthem.

But one member of the group had second thoughts after speaking to other players who had turned down asylum in favor of returning to Iran, Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says.

The woman exposed the location of the other asylum seekers when she contacted Iran’s embassy in Australia.

“As a result of that it meant the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was,” Burke says. “I immediately gave them instructions for people to be moved and that has been dealt with immediately.”

Australian officials had “made sure this was her decision,” Burke says.

There were fears male minders traveling with the team might try to prevent them seeking asylum.

It was not immediately clear which of the seven had changed her mind.

The Asian Football Confederation says the rest of the Iranian squad is at an unnamed hotel in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur while awaiting the next leg of their long journey home.

The governing body says it will “provide all necessary support to the team during their stay until their onward travel arrangements are confirmed.”

France to provide 60 tons of humanitarian aid for Lebanon

France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot talks to journalists upon arrival for a EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on January 29, 2026. (SIMON WOHLFAHRT / AFP)

France will provide 60 metric tons of humanitarian aid for Lebanon, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot says.

“And what we have decided is to triple the volume of aid that will arrive this week. This aid will reach… 60 tons of humanitarian aid for the Lebanese, including sanitation kits, hygiene kits, mattresses, lamps, and also a mobile medical post,” Barrot says in an interview with French radio TF1.

The announcement comes amid renewed fighting between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, which began firing missiles at Israel last week in support of its patron Iran. Israel has since responded with waves of strikes on Hezbollah targets and called for large areas of the country to evacuate.