War in the Middle East: latest developments

Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:

- Jerusalem blasts -

Explosions rang out over Jerusalem, AFP reporters heard, shortly after the Israeli military warned that it had detected incoming missiles from Iran.

The military said its "defence system is operating to intercept the threat".

- Kharg exports 'normal' -

Oil export operations from Iran's Kharg island in the Gulf were "continuing as normal" after US strikes on the crude export hub which caused no casualties, said regional official Ehsan Jahaniyan, quoted by the IRNA news agency.

The Fars news agency, citing sources on the island, earlier reported there had been no damage to oil facilities after President Donald Trump said US strikes had destroyed only military targets.

- Lebanon paramedics killed -

Lebanon's health ministry said that Israeli strikes had killed 26 paramedics and wounded 51 others since conflict erupted between Israel and Hezbollah.

It came after Lebanese authorities said an overnight Israeli strike killed 12 doctors, paramedics and nurses working at a healthcare centre in the southern town of Burj Qalawiya, following another strike on the town of Sawaneh that left two paramedics affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal dead.

- UAE consulate targeted -

The UAE slammed the targeting of its consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan for the second time in a week, the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

"The United Arab Emirates expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the treacherous terrorist attack by a drone, which targeted the UAE Consulate General in Iraqi Kurdistan, for the second time in a week, and resulted in the injury of two security personnel and caused damage to the consulate building," it said.

- UAE energy hub hit -

Smoke could be seen rising Saturday from the direction of a major United Arab Emirates energy installation, in what appeared to be the latest strike targeting the Gulf's petroleum facilities hours after the US struck Iran's Kharg Island oil hub.

An AFP journalist said clouds of dark black smoke were seen coming from Fujairah, which is home to a major port and oil export terminal where Iranian attacks have already targeted an oil storage and trading hub.

- Tehran warns UAE residents -

Iran's military warned that it considers ports in the UAE to be legitimate targets and urged residents to "evacuate" port areas, in a statement carried by state TV.

Tehran "considers it its legitimate right to defend its national sovereignty and territory by striking American enemy missiles located in ports, docks and US military hideouts", the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, said.

- France thanks Iraq -

President Emmanuel Macron said he had expressed gratitude to the Iraqi prime minister for taking measures to protect French forces, after a drone strike killed a French soldier in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Arnaud Frion, 42, was killed and six other French soldiers were wounded on Thursday evening in a drone attack in the Erbil region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraq's prime minister has vowed to prevent further attacks.

Macron also Saturday urged Israel to hold "direct talks" with Lebanon and offered to host the meeting in Paris.

- Israeli strikes -

The Israeli army told people in an industrial zone in the west of Iran's northern city of Tabriz to leave ahead of military operations on Saturday.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike hit an apartment building in a northern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut and targets in the country's south, local media said.

- US embassy attacked -

A drone struck the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, an Iraqi security official said, as an AFP journalist saw smoke rising from the complex. The attack followed strikes targeting the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah, killing two members including a "key figure", security sources told AFP.

None of the sources said who was believed to be behind the embassy strikes, and the Kataeb Hezbollah group has not commented.

burs/giv/rmb