The conflict between Israel and Iran has spilled into Lebanon, after Hezbollah launched missiles and drones toward Israel and drew a swift Israeli response in what marks a significant expansion of the regional war.
The Iran-allied Lebanese armed group said its strikes were carried out in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and for what it called “repeated Israeli aggressions.” It marks the first time in more than a year the Lebanese militant group had claimed a strike against Israel — a move that Lebanese government officials had pleaded with Hezbollah not to make, fearing another devastating war on Lebanese soil.
Israel responded with strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and other targets across southern Lebanon, saying it was hitting sites connected to the Iran-backed militant group. Lebanese health officials said the attacks killed at least 31 people and wounded 149 more.
The Lebanese escalation came as the broader Israel-Iran campaign continued to intensify. A source briefed on Israeli operations described the current strikes against Iran as significantly more extensive than the 12-day conflict between the two countries last June. Iran’s Red Crescent Society said at least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far, with more than 130 cities coming under attack. Eleven people have been killed in Israel.
Iran launched fresh waves of strikes against Israeli cities, with air raid sirens sounding across Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Monday morning. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted Israel’s government complex in Tel Aviv, along with military sites in Haifa and East Jerusalem, and warned that attacks would expand. An Iranian missile strike on the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh on Sunday killed nine people.
The conflict is now reaching further across the region. Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq claimed drone attacks on U.S. forces at Baghdad airport and a base in Erbil. Cyprus reported a drone struck Britain’s RAF Akrotiri base, causing limited damage and no casualties. Explosions were also reported in Bahrain and Dubai, and smoke was seen near the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. The first American military deaths of the campaign were confirmed Sunday — three U.S. service members killed at a base in Kuwait.
The current wave of conflict began in the early hours of Saturday, February 28, when Israel and the United States launched a joint attack on Tehran and other Iranian cities. President Donald Trump claimed the strikes aimed to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” Iran retaliated almost immediately, striking Israel and other countries hosting U.S. military bases — a rapid escalation that came despite renewed U.S.–Iran diplomatic talks in February over Iran’s longstanding nuclear program.
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