Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Gaza fuel fears of wider regional conflict

Israeli military operations intensified across the region on Sunday, with three senior Lebanese soldiers killed in strikes in southern Lebanon and at least eight Palestinians reported dead after an attack on a displacement camp in Gaza City.

The fresh violence comes as the wider West Asia conflict threatens to spill further across the Gulf.

In a parallel diplomatic push, Pakistan's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran carrying what he described as an “important message” from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief Asim Munir to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. Islamabad is seeking to revive stalled US-Iran talks and prevent the conflict from escalating further.

The diplomatic outreach comes amid a sharp rise in tensions after Iran launched missiles and drones towards Bahrain and Kuwait, saying the attacks were retaliation for recent US strikes on Iranian coastal surveillance and radar sites. Bahrain and Kuwait reported intercepting the incoming threats, while the United States said its forces also shot down Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz.

Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemned Tehran's strikes on the two Gulf states, warning that the attacks risk widening the conflict and undermining regional stability.

Tehran, meanwhile, accused Washington of lacking the political will to de-escalate the crisis, saying US actions had pushed the region further from stability despite ongoing mediation efforts.

The latest exchanges have placed renewed strain on an already fragile ceasefire and complicated efforts to restart meaningful negotiations between Iran and the United States.