Khalil and his young family are sheltering in a theatre in south Lebanon's Tyre, refusing to leave despite Israeli bombardment on the city that is now almost cut off from the rest of the country.

"They'll have to take us by force," said the man in his thirties, who fled his home with his wife and two-year-old son, insisting they "will not surrender".

Despite Israeli ground operations and the spectre of a full-blown invasion, "we don't want to leave our land... our heart is here", he told AFP.

March 25 (Reuters) - Libya’s coast guard has begun towing away a damaged liquefied natural gas tanker that several Mediterranean countries warned posed an environmental risk after drifting unmanned for weeks, the Tripoli‑based Government of National Unity (GNU) said.

The Russian-flagged Arctic Metagaz, carrying LNG from the Arctic port of Murmansk, has been adrift since early March, when Russia’s Transport Ministry said it was hit by Ukrainian naval drones.

With no crew aboard, it eventually drifted close to the shores of the western Libyan port of Zuwara.

BAGHDAD, March 25 (Reuters) - Seven Iraqi soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded in an airstrike on a site belonging to Iraq's Shi'ite Popular Mobilization Forces near an army medical centre in western Anbar, security sources and the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry said the strike, which took place at around 0900 local time, hit a military clinic and a nearby engineering unit. Rescue teams were still searching the site for possible additional casualties.

By Emma Farge

GENEVA, March 25 (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday they face an existential threat from Iran as they condemned Iranian attacks on their infrastructure, which the U.N. rights chief said might constitute war crimes.

The nearly month-long U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has sparked large-scale Iranian retaliation in the form of drone and missile strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries, killing civilians and driving up oil prices.

By Jonathan Spicer

ISTANBUL, March 25 (Reuters) - Turkey "is playing a role passing messages" between Iran and the U.S. to encourage de-escalation and direct negotiations, Harun Armagan, vice chair of foreign affairs for President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, told Reuters on Wednesday.

He did not elaborate on the messages but said they were also being conveyed to Gulf nations, which have been caught up in the widening regional war sparked by the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

By Katya Golubkova and Irene Wang

TOKYO, March 25 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi asked International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol for an additional coordinated release of oil stockpiles when they met on Wednesday, as Tokyo seeks to hedge against a prolonged Middle East conflict.

After agreeing to release a record amount of oil stockpiles in coordination with the IEA to cover for the Middle East supply loss, Takaichi on Tuesday said Japan would also open up joint oil stockpiles co-owned by producing nations in the country.

BEIRUT, March 24 (Reuters) - Lebanese state media said on Tuesday that an air strike hit a Christian town north of Beirut, an area that had not yet been targeted in the expanding war between Israel and armed group Hezbollah.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the town of Sahel Alma. Witnesses in the area told Reuters they heard several blasts and saw white smoke emanating from the town.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily;Editing by Alison Williams)

March 25 (Reuters) - Drones targeted a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire but no casualties, Kuwait's Civil Aviation Authority said on Wednesday.

Emergency procedures were activated immediately, with firefighting teams responding to the blaze, it said, adding that initial reports indicated only material damage.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray and Yomna Ehab; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

By Karen Lema

MANILA, March 25 (Reuters) - The Philippines is working with Washington to secure waivers and exemptions that will allow it to obtain oil from U.S.-sanctioned countries and guarantee supplies, its ambassador to the United States said.

The Philippines, which relies heavily on imported fuel, declared a state of national energy emergency on Tuesday to deal with the fallout from the Middle East war, including the disruptions to oil procurement.

March 26 (Reuters) - Win Zaw is among five of a Myanmar family who fan out on motorcycles most nights from their small village in the rice-growing Irrawaddy delta to queue at fuel depots that might yield a few jerry cans of diesel for his tractor.

"Some even sleep there overnight," said the farmer, adding that lines of buyers on motorcycles and tractors formed as early as 3 a.m. "This is a total waste of manpower and time."