War in the Middle East: latest developments

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Ukraine-Qatar deal -

Qatar and Ukraine signed a defence agreement including cooperation on countering threats from missiles and drones, the Gulf state's defence ministry said, as Iran pressed an aerial campaign against its neighbours.

"The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems," the ministry said in a statement during a visit to Qatar by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

- Israel kills journalists -

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned an Israeli strike that killed three journalists, including one for Hezbollah's Al Manar TV and another for the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen channel, in southern Lebanon as "a blatant crime".

The Israeli military said it believed the Al Manar journalist was a "terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Force".

A military source told AFP that the three were killed in an Israeli strike in Jezzine.

- Iran hails Pakistan mediation -

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian hailed mediation efforts by Pakistan, which is preparing to host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey for talks on the Middle East war.

- Kyiv denies UAE drone depot hit -

Kyiv denied Iran's claim that Tehran had targeted and destroyed a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in the United Arab Emirates, calling it a "lie" and a "disinformation".

Iran's military said it had hit and destroyed the depot, which it said was used to assist US forces.

- Jerusalem blasts -

AFP journalists reported two blasts heard over Jerusalem, after the Israeli military said it had detected incoming missiles launched from Iran.

The apparent attack came shortly after the Israeli military said it had completed a wave of strikes across the Iranian capital Tehran.

- Indonesia says tankers to pass Hormuz -

Indonesia is in talks with Iran to secure safe passage for its tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran responding favourably to Jakarta's diplomatic efforts, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

- Maersk halts Oman port ops -

Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations had been temporarily halted at Oman's port of Salalah after a drone attack injured a foreign worker and damaged a crane.

Maersk, whose subsidiary APM Terminals runs the port, said "it was immediately evacuated and operations across the facility were temporarily suspended", predicting it would remain closed for 48 hours.

Iran said it had targeted a US logistics vessel "at a considerable distance from the port".

- Iran says dozens killed -

Iranian media said US-Israeli strikes hit multiple residential areas, killing more than a dozen people overnight, though AFP was not able to independently verify any of these tolls.

Israel's military earlier said it launched strikes on Iranian "regime targets", as an AFP journalist in the capital Tehran reported hearing around 10 intense blasts and seeing a plume of black smoke.

- Bahrain denies Shia crackdown -

Bahrain denied it was cracking down on citizens based on their religion after activists reported a slew of arrests they said had mainly targeted Shias amid the Middle East war.

Two Bahraini rights groups had told AFP that more than 200 people, the vast majority of them from the Shia community, had been arrested since the beginning of the war. Shia Islam is Iran's state religion, and also a major religious branch in Bahrain, alongside Sunni Islam.

- Kuwait airport damaged -

The radar system at Kuwait's international airport was heavily damaged in a drone attack, Kuwaiti authorities said.

The attack on the tiny Gulf country caused no casualties, a civil aviation spokesperson told Kuwait's official news agency

burs-sbk/rmb