{"id":332966,"date":"2026-03-07T01:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/332966\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T01:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:18:08","slug":"trump-demands-irans-surrender-as-un-peacekeepers-in-lebanon-are-hit-by-missile-attacks-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/332966\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump demands Iran\u2019s \u2018surrender\u2019 as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are hit by missile attacks \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

US<\/a> president Donald Trump<\/a> called for Iran<\/a>\u2019s \u201cunconditional surrender\u201d on Friday, a dramatic escalation of his demands a week into the war the US has launched alongside Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s remarks on social media were a setback to hopes for a quick end to the conflict<\/a>. They came after Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said some countries have begun mediation efforts to end the war, without providing details. Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Oman have all offered to mediate since the war started on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Axios reported that US secretary of state Marco Rubio<\/a> told Arab foreign ministers on Thursday that the war is expected to last several more weeks. Israeli military officials said the army has attack plans for the coming weeks in Iran.<\/p>\n

On the ground, the Israeli military said it struck the Iranian leadership\u2019s main bunker in Tehran on Friday. The bunker complex, under the compound of slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>, was being used by senior Iranian officials and was destroyed. Israel said it was assessing which regime figures were eliminated.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s UN Ambassador Amir \u200cSaeid Iravani said on Friday that at least 1,332 Iranian civilians have died so far in \u200cthe conflict with Israel and the US, and that thousands more have been injured.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters at \u200bthe United Nations in New York, Iravani asserted that the US and Israel had deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure, while Iran had targeted military sites, not civilians.<\/p>\n

The US and Israel have said \u200bthe opposite is the case. Iranian attacks \u2060have killed 11 \u200bpeople in Israel.<\/p>\n

Why have the US and Israel attacked Iran? Our Europe Correspondent, Naomi O’Leary, takes us through the latest. Video: Naomi O’Leary <\/p>\n

The number of projectiles Iran is firing towards Israel has declined significantly. In Lebanon<\/a>, the pro-Iranian Hizbullah<\/a> militia is maintaining rocket and drone fire from the north, despite evacuation orders issued by Israel to hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens in areas under Hizbullah control.<\/p>\n

Lebanon\u2019s health ministry said 217 people have been killed since Monday and the United Nations<\/a> has expressed concern that Israel\u2019s forced displacement of residents could be a violation of international law.<\/p>\n

The UN refugee agency, Unrwa, declared the Middle East situation a humanitarian emergency. About 300,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in the past four days, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.<\/p>\n

The headquarters of Ghana\u2019s United Nations \u200cpeacekeeping battalion in Lebanon was hit by missile \u200battacks on Friday, leaving two soldiers critically injured, Ghana\u2019s armed forces said \u200bin a statement.<\/p>\n

Ghanaian soldiers are deployed \u200cas part of the \u200bUN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) mission of which Ireland is also a part.<\/p>\n

Irish troops and bases were not targeted or hit in the missile attack, the Defence Forces said in a statement. However, it confirmed the Ghanaian UN post was struck by fire \u201cwhich has resulted in casualties\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIrish Defence Forces personnel of the 127th Infantry Battalion have responded and are providing both casualty evacuation and fire fighting assistance. All necessary force protection measures continue to be observed and all Irish personnel are well and accounted for,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe aftermath of overnight Israeli air strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday morning. Photograph: AFP\/Getty <\/p>\n

A Unifil spokesman said \u201camidst heavy firing\u201d, three peacekeepers were injured inside their base in Al Qawzah, southwestern Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unacceptable that peacekeepers performing security council-mandated tasks are targeted. We strongly remind all actors of their obligations under international law to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and properties at all times.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny attack on Unifil peacekeepers constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law … and may amount to a war crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the first repatriation flight for Irish citizens stranded in the Gulf is due to leave Oman on Saturday. The flight was due to depart from Muscat to Dublin<\/a> on Friday, but Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee<\/a> said it had been delayed. Department sources indicate 180 people are due to fly on the aircraft. <\/p>\n

The war has led policing agency Europol to warn that Europe is facing a \u201cheightened\u201d level of threat from lone-wolf terror attacks. \u201cThe conflict has immediate repercussions for serious and organised crime and terrorism in the EU,\u201d said a Europol spokesman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe terrorist and violent extremist threat level on EU soil is assessed to be heightened.\u201d \u2013 Additional reporting: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US president Donald Trump called for Iran\u2019s \u201cunconditional surrender\u201d on Friday, a dramatic escalation of his demands a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[106857,1844,969,8788,42,1556,123265,11829,3410,150432,14396,43,26574,40,38,41,39,41870,115,23242,90],"class_list":["post-332966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-defence-forces-of-ireland","tag-department-of-foreign-affairs","tag-donald-trump","tag-europol","tag-headlines","tag-helen-mcentee","tag-hizbullah","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-israel-iran-conflict","tag-lebanon","tag-news","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-unifil","tag-united-states","tag-united-nations-un","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}