By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - More than 20,000 Israelis have returned to the country since the start of the Iran air war that began on Saturday, the Transportation Ministry said on Thursday, adding that about 120,000 more Israelis currently abroad are seeking to come home.

Israel began to open its airspace on Thursday and allowed a handful of flights to land at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.

Iranian authorities were issuing warnings to people connecting to the internet in defiance of a communications blackout that had left the Islamic republic largely cut off from the outside world, witnesses told AFP on Thursday.

Iran's internet connectivity was currently running at "around 1 percent of ordinary levels", monitor group Netblocks said on Thursday, leaving most Iranians struggling to access basic information, navigation tools or communication apps.

By Laila Bassam

BEIRUT, March 5 (Reuters) - Hezbollah has deployed elite fighters to confront Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, sending them back into the border region from which they withdrew after a war in 2024, three Lebanese sources familiar with the deployments said, as the Iran-backed group wades deeper into the conflict in the Middle East.

The Middle East war has forced the World Health Organization to suspend operations at its global emergency logistics hub in Dubai, the UN agency's chief said Thursday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the impact of the conflict, sparked by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Saturday, "goes beyond the immediately affected countries".

"Operations at WHO's logistics hub for global health emergencies in Dubai are currently on hold due to insecurity," he told a press conference.

By Alexander Cornwell and Rami Ayyub

TEL AVIV, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel's war in Iran is entering a second phase that will see its fighter jets attacking ballistic missile sites buried deep underground, two sources familiar with Israel's military campaign said.

The joint air assault with the U.S. in Iran is nearing the end of its first week after opening salvos killed the country's leaders and set off a regional war with Iranian attacks in Israel, the Gulf and Iraq, and Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday the alliance was vigilant and ready to defend every inch of its territory after Iran fired a ballistic missile towards NATO member Turkey.

Rutte also addressed France's shift in nuclear doctrine and responded to criticism from some over the way he lavishes praise on U.S. President Donald Trump.

Here are highlights from the interview.

ON SHOOTING DOWN OF BALLISTIC MISSILE HEADED FOR TURKEY

LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will address a press conference on Thursday afternoon to give an update on the escalating conflict in the Middle East, his spokesman said.

Starmer will speak to journalists at 1400 GMT in London, his spokesman said.

Britain, which was not part of the assault on Iran that began at the weekend, has announced it will start moving military resources to the region after an attack on one of its bases in Cyprus.

By Jonathan Saul and Anna Hirtenstein

March 5 (Reuters) - More tankers came under attack in Gulf waters on Thursday as the U.S.–Iran war escalated, and Iranian drones entered Azerbaijan, threatening to spread the crisis to more oil producers in the region.

A Bahamas-flagged crude oil tanker was targeted by an Iranian remote-controlled boat laden with explosives while anchored near Iraq's Khor al Zubair port, according to initial assessments. A second tanker at anchor off Kuwait was taking on water and spilling oil after a large explosion on its port side.

By Andrew Gray

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron's pledge to expand his country's nuclear deterrent but said the U.S. nuclear umbrella would remain the ultimate guarantor of European security.

Macron this week announced France would increase its nuclear arsenal and potentially allow European partners to host French warplanes on deterrence missions, following concerns among allies about the reliability of the U.S..

RIYADH, March 5 (Reuters) - Diplomats and staff at embassies in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter have been told to shelter in place due to a potential threat, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

They did not have further details.

(reporting by Timour Azhari in Riyadh)