At least 682 people were confirmed missing as of March 16, making the start of 2026 the deadliest on record for the route, according to the International Organization for Migration, though officials say the true toll is likely significantly higher.

Humanitarian groups and researchers say a growing lack of transparency from authorities is obscuring the number of deaths at sea, with fewer incidents documented or independently verified.

“It’s a strategy of silence,” said Matteo Villa of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, pointing to the absence of official data releases and limited responses to media inquiries.Even the IOM has struggled to track cases. Julia Black, who leads its Missing Migrants Project, said the agency has created a separate dataset for “unverifiable cases,” with more than 400 already recorded this year alone.

Concerns intensified after Cyclone Harry struck in late January, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and high waves that disrupted migration routes.Groups including Refugees in Libya reported more than 1,000 people missing following the storm, though authorities have neither confirmed nor denied those figures.

In the weeks after the cyclone, bodies were found along coastlines in Italy and Libya, while others were seen floating at sea. Only one known survivor has been identified from boats reported missing during that period.Limited official responseRepeated requests for information by media outlets to authorities in Italy, Tunisia and Malta have gone unanswered.

Agencies have either declined to comment or said they lack verified information.Frontex said it detected several migrant boats during the cyclone period, with some rescued, but confirmed that the fate of others remains unknown.

Analysts say the information gap reflects a broader policy shift. Tunisia curtailed public data on migrant interceptions in 2024, citing security concerns, while Italy gradually reduced reporting on rescue operations, discontinuing detailed updates in recent years.

The tightening flow of information has coincided with wider crackdowns on migration across the region, including restrictions on humanitarian groups and reduced funding, limiting independent monitoring.

For families of missing migrants, the absence of verified information has compounded the humanitarian toll, leaving many without answers about the fate of their relatives.

In an interview, Herzog said “Europe should support any effort… to eradicate Hezbollah,” while also welcoming diplomatic initiatives, including an offer by Emmanuel Macron to host direct talks between Israel and Lebanon.

The Israeli military said its troops had begun “limited and targeted ground operations” against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, describing the campaign as part of broader defensive efforts to dismantle infrastructure and neutralize threats to northern Israel.

The operations followed intensified air and artillery strikes in border areas. Military chief Eyal Zamir said more than 400 Hezbollah fighters had been killed in the latest phase of fighting.

Lebanon’s government said more than one million people had been displaced within two weeks of fighting. Authorities reported that Israeli strikes since March 2 had killed 886 people, including 111 children, according to state figures.

The conflict widened after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel on March 2, citing retaliation for the killing of Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli strikes. Israel has since responded with extensive air raids and troop incursions.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets and drones at northern Israel, including the city of Nahariya, where emergency services reported injuries and property damage.

Regional and international concern has grown over the potential for further escalation. Turkey condemned Israel’s ground operations, warning of worsening instability and the risk of a humanitarian crisis.Leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom said a large-scale Israeli offensive could have severe humanitarian consequences and lead to a prolonged conflict.

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said displaced Lebanese civilians should not return to areas south of the Litani River until security conditions for northern Israel residents improve, as the military signalled operations would continue as needed.

European countries more than tripled their arms imports in the 2021–2025 period compared with 2016–2020, according to the report from the Sweden-based research institute. The increase reflects efforts to supply Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s invasion and to rebuild European militaries after decades of relatively low defence spending.

“The sharp increase in arms flows to European states pushed global arms transfers up almost 10%,” said Mathew George, director of the institute’s Arms Transfers Programme.

Europe accounted for 33% of global arms imports during the period, a sharp rise from 12% in the previous five-year timeframe, the report showed.

The surge in European procurement followed Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which prompted governments across the continent to replenish stockpiles and modernise armed forces.

Military assistance to Kyiv and the need to restore national inventories after decades of reduced defence spending have driven demand for advanced systems, including aircraft and air-defence capabilities.

Despite expanding domestic production, European governments continued to purchase significant volumes of equipment from the United States, particularly combat aircraft and long-range air-defence systems, according to the data.

The figures highlight the continuing reliance of many European countries on American defence technology even as European governments seek to strengthen their own defence industries.

Arms imports by Middle Eastern states declined by 13% during the same five-year period, although the region remains a major buyer of military equipment.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar ranked among the four largest individual arms importers globally.Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the institute, said the decline mainly reflected large Saudi procurement orders placed in the previous reporting period that are still being integrated into the country’s military inventory.

He added that many governments in the region had already placed new orders before the latest escalation involving the United States, Israel and Iran, meaning the impact of those purchases is not yet fully reflected in the figures.

Wezeman said the current regional conflict is likely to boost demand further, particularly for anti-missile and air-defence systems.

“They will first replace what they have used, but also that they are going to look at buying more equipment to protect themselves even better than they can do now,” he said.

On the supply side, the United States increased its share of the global arms export market to 42%, up from 36% in the previous period, reinforcing its position as the world’s leading weapons exporter.

France ranked as the second-largest supplier with 9.8% of global arms exports.

Russia saw its share fall sharply to 6.8% from 21% following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to the report.Combined European arms exports accounted for 28% of the global market, a figure roughly four times larger than Russia’s share and five times greater than that of China, underscoring Europe’s growing role in the international defence trade.