Iran live updates: Tehran's military urges 'retaliation' for Khamenei killing

Iran has called for the release of three pilots it says have been detained in Qatar after ejecting from their aircraft following what Tehran described as "enemy anti-aircraft fire" at the start of the U.S.-Iran war.

In a letter published by Iranian state media on Saturday, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagherzadeh appealed to the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), alleging the pilots have been held in Qatar for the past six months.

"Despite all diplomatic efforts and follow-ups made, Qatar has not allowed the prisoners to meet, be interviewed, or contact their families and the responsible authorities," the letter said.

"Despite all diplomatic efforts and follow-ups made, Qatar has not allowed the prisoners to meet, be interviewed, or contact their families and the responsible authorities," the letter said.

Bagherzadeh accused Qatar of violating the pilots' "fundamental rights" and urged the ICRC to intervene.

Qatar has strongly rejected the allegations.

"We categorically deny the claims circulating regarding the detention of Iranian pilots," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Mohammed Al Ansari wrote on social media on Saturday, adding that Qatar had established contact with the pilots after what he described as "their violation of Qatari airspace," but received no response.

"The necessary measures were taken to defend our territory in accordance with international law," he said.

Al Ansari added that Qatar's search-and-rescue teams had "carried out their duties to the fullest in searching for the remains of the pilots."

He said Qatar had also contacted Iran to arrange the handover of the remains of one pilot whose body was recovered and had invited Iranian officials to visit the country for a briefing on the search and rescue operation. According to Al Ansari, Tehran has not responded to that invitation.

-ABC News' Jamie Dorrington

Hezbollah accused Israel of "deliberately" targeting families, children and women "in their homes, many of whom were reduced to human remains, followed by claims that the locations were military sites," in a statement Saturday.

"Netanyahu, who is the subject of proceedings before the International Criminal Court over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, is once again presiding over the killing of Lebanese civilians," Hezbollah said in a statement.

"More than 700 children, along with their mothers, have been killed in the war on Lebanon, and today another entire family has been wiped out following orders issued by Netanyahu," Hezbollah said.

Hezbollah said "false claims made by a leader whose forces have killed children will not deceive international public opinion, nor will they alter the overwhelming facts on the ground."

"Civilians may not be deliberately targeted, and their civilian status does not cease to protect them because of their political affiliation or alleged political sympathies," Hezbollah said.

"Where a ceasefire or truce is in effect, attacks against civilians remain subject to these fundamental protections. Any claim that a civilian location constitutes a military objective must be assessed according to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law and cannot, by itself, remove the protection afforded to civilians," Hezbollah said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire agreement by attacking soldiers in the security zone.

"The Hezbollah attack seriously injured three of our soldiers. The [Israel Defense Forces] responded by striking the Hezbollah terror headquarters which ordered the attack," Netanyahu's office said.

Netanyahu's office said the IDF only learned after the strikes on the headquarters that "Hezbollah deliberately put civilians in that military compound."

"Hezbollah is willing to do anything, including using its own civilians as human shields, to falsely accuse Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, which the IDF clearly did not," Netanyahu's office said.

In a separate statement released Saturday, the IDF says a Hezbollah battalion commander was killed when it struck the Hezbollah headquarters in the Ansar region of Southern Lebanon.

Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a Hezbollah commander in the Radwan Force unit, was killed alongside "several additional terrorists who were involved in advancing terror attacks against IDF," according to the statement.

The IDF also states Hassan's family were present in the Hezbollah headquarters during the strike and were "harmed."

The United Arab Emirates is condemning the latest attack on a vessel crossing the Strait of Hormuz, UAE's Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called it a "hostile Iranian attack" targeting a ship associated with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). The Emirates News Agency said the company confirmed the incident occurred on Friday evening and no injuries were reported.

This comes after two ADNOC ships were targeted on Thursday.