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Dubai: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday, March 29, that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon.

He said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us.”

There were no immediate details.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered Iranian attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states.

US-Israeli attacks killed 250 Iranian students, teachers

At least 250 students and teachers have been killed and around 600 educational facilities targeted since the US–Israel war on Iran began.

Hossein Sadeghi, head of the Information and Public Relations Center at Iran’s Education Ministry, told IRNA that 184 students and teachers have also been injured in the attacks.

In Tehran alone, 16 students and five teachers were killed, while eight students and five educators were injured, he said.

Overall, about 200 administrative, cultural and educational facilities have been damaged since February 28, Sadeghi added.

Iran threatens retaliatory strikes on Israeli and US universities

Iran on Sunday warned of escalation after Israeli airstrikes hit several universities, including ones that Israel claimed were used for nuclear research and development. Concerns over Iran’s nuclear program are at the heart of tensions.

The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that Iran would consider Israeli universities and branches of US universities in the region “legitimate targets” unless offered safety assurances for Iranian universities, state media reported.

US colleges have campuses in Qatar and the UAE, including Georgetown, New York and Northwestern universities.

“If the US government wants its universities in the region spared, it should condemn the bombardment” of Iranian universities by midday Monday, the Guard said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Saturday that dozens of universities and research centres have been hit, among them the Iran University of Science and Technology and Isfahan University of Technology.

Both sides in the war have threatened to attack civilian facilities, which critics have warned could be a war crime.

Death toll continues to climb

Iranian authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed in the Islamic Republic, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.

In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,100 people have been killed.

In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died.

In the Gulf states, 20 people have been killed. Four have been killed in the occupied West Bank.

We will burn you down: Iran to US-Israel

Earlier in the day, Iranians parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned the US against a ground invasion, saying its troops would be set “on fire,” as regional diplomats met Sunday in Pakistan in hopes of opening direct US-Iran talks and ending the monthlong war.

He said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to Iranian state media. He also dismissed the talks as a cover after some 2,500 US Marines trained in amphibious landings arrived in the Middle East.

“Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased,” Qalibaf said.

Several Iranians cross Iraq cheaper goods

Iranians crossed into southern Iraq via the Shalamcha border on Sunday, hours after an airstrike hit the Iranian side, cutting power and halting trade for several hours, said Haider Abdul Samad, the crossing’s deputy director.

“We don’t know at what moment our homes could be targeted,” said Razzak Saghir al-Mousawi, 71, describing relentless airstrikes as Iranians crossing into Iraq urged the United States to end the war. “I am definitely afraid.”

The war has threatened global supplies of oil, natural gas and fertiliser and disrupted air travel. Iran’s grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz has shaken markets and prices, and now the Iranian-backed Houthis’ entry into the war could threaten shipping on another crucial waterway, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to the Red Sea.

Two more Indian LPG tankers cross Strait of Hormuz

Two Indian-flagged LPG tankers, carrying roughly a day’s supply of the country’s cooking gas, have safely navigated through the war-hit Strait of Hormuz and are expected to reach Indian shores in the next couple of days.

“Two LPG carriers, BW TYR and BW ELM, carrying a combined LPG cargo of about 94,000 tonnes, have safely transited the region and are moving towards Indian shores,” an official statement said.

While BW TYR is proceeding towards Mumbai with an expected arrival on March 31, BW ELM is en route to New Mangalore with an estimated arrival date of April 1.

Ten Kuwaiti soldiers wounded in Iranian missile strike

Ten Kuwaiti military personnel were injured in an Iranian attack on an army camp, the country’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said the injured are receiving medical treatment and confirmed “material damage” at the site.

It added that over the past 24 hours, 14 ballistic missiles and 12 drones had entered Kuwaiti airspace.

Qatar intercepts drones launched from Iran

Qatar has been targeted by an attack involving a number of drones launched from Iran, its Defence Ministry says.

The military “successfully intercepted and neutralised all incoming drones”, it said.

Iran attacks chemical factory in Israel

Iranians missiles targeted the Neot Hovav industrial zone, a chemical plant in Beersheba, southern Israel. The country has reported no hazardous leak was found upon inpsection.

“After a thorough inspection, no concern was found for a leak of hazardous materials or a risk to the public. It was decided to open the roads and resume activity, including releasing workers from protection,” Enviroment Protection Minister Idit Silman said.

With inputs from agencies