Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed at least 31 people, authorities said, following rocket fire from Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
Israel’s military vowed to intensify its attacks on the country and make Hezbollah pay a “heavy price” after launching several strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and south Lebanon, areas where Hezbollah holds sway.
The escalation came as Lebanese authorities, who have been trying to spare the country from any repercussions of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, said Hezbollah’s rocket fire gave Israel “excuses” to ramp up its attacks.
Hezbollah’s attack on Israel overnight was the first time the Lebanese movement claimed responsibility for an operation against Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of hostilities between the two.
The group announced around that it had targeted an Israeli army site south of Haifa city “with a barrage of high-quality missiles and a swarm of drones”.
It said the move was “retaliation for the pure blood” of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, blaming his death on Israel after it launched attacks in a joint operation with the United States on Saturday.
“Hezbollah chose the Iranian regime over the State of Lebanon and initiated an attack on our civilians... they will pay a heavy price,” said Rafi Milo, head of the Israeli military’s Northern Command.
“The strikes continue, their intensity will increase,” he was quoted as saying in a military statement hours after the first strikes were fired.
Lebanon’s health ministry gave an “initial toll” of 31 killed in Israel’s strikes, 20 in Beirut’s southern suburbs and 11 in the south. It said at least 149 were wounded.
The bombings triggered a mass exodus from the area, according to AFP correspondents, with families hastily leaving their homes on motorcycles or in cars.
Israel has carried out regular strikes on Lebanon since the 2024 ceasefire came into effect, usually saying it targets the militant group and accusing it of truce violations.
A military statement this morning said Israeli forces “precisely struck” senior Hezbollah members in the Beirut area, and another in the south.
Israel then issued an evacuation warning to residents of about 50 towns and villages in Lebanon’s south and east - both Hezbollah strongholds.
Around three hours before Hezbollah’s statement, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Telegram channel said that “Hezbollah officially entered the war”.
The Israeli military said that “several projectiles” fired from Lebanon “fell in open areas”, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said attacks from the country’s territory risked drawing the country into regional conflict.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, whose government has pushed for Hezbollah’s disarmament, called the rocket fire “irresponsible”.
He vowed to “stop the perpetrators and protect the Lebanese people”.
Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said, according to a statement, that “Hezbollah opened a campaign against Israel overnight, and is fully responsible for any escalation”.
Lebanese authorities had repeatedly said they do not wish to involve their country in the outbreak of conflict in the region, which started after a massive US-Israeli attack on Iran.
US President Donald Trump has signalled the US-Israeli military assault on Iranian targets could continue for weeks.
Shortly after 7am local time (5am Irish time) air raid sirens were triggered across Israel, including in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, warning of a fresh Iranian attack.
A new wave of missiles is being launched from central parts of Iran towards “enemy locations”, Iran’s state media said this morning.
The Israeli military said late last night that its air force had established aerial superiority over Tehran, and that a wave of strikes across the capital had targeted intelligence, security, and military command centres.
Sounds of explosions were heard in different parts of the Iranian capital Tehran this morning, according to state media, while Reuters witnesses heard loud blasts in Dubai and the Qatari capital Doha.
Kuwait said its air defences intercepted hostile drones, in a third consecutive day of Iranian retaliatory strikes on neighbouring Gulf states.
Britain’s RAF base Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by a suspected drone strike overnight, but damage was limited and there were no casualties, Cypriot authorities and the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
A senior White House official told Reuters that while Mr Trump would at some point talk with new potential leadership in Iran, the military campaign would go on. The official did not identify any individuals as part of the new leadership.
“President Trump said new potential leadership in Iran has indicated they want to talk and eventually he will talk. For now, Operation Epic Fury continues unabated,” the official said.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian yesterday said a leadership council composed of himself, the judiciary head and a member of the powerful Guardian Council had temporarily assumed the duties of Supreme Leader.
In an X post this morning, Ali Larijani, who was adviser to Iran’s Khamenei, said his country would not negotiate with Mr Trump. He said the US president had “delusional ambitions” and was now worried about US casualties.
The first US casualties of the campaign, including the deaths of three service personnel were confirmed. Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US service members were killed on a base in Kuwait.
Mr Trump paid tribute to the three killed as “true American patriots” but warned that there will likely be more casualties. “That’s the way it is,” he said.
An extended military campaign could pose a major political risk for Mr Trump’s Republican party ahead of US midterm elections that could decide the fate of Congress.
Only around one in four Americans approve of the operation, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll yesterday.
But in a video, Mr Trump vowed military strikes on Iran will continue until “all our objectives are achieved” without providing specifics. He said the assault had so far wiped out Iran’s military command and destroyed nine Iranian navy ships and a naval building.
US aircraft and warships have struck more than 1,000 Iranian targets since the start of major combat operations on Saturday, the US military said.
Mr Trump called on Iran’s military and police, including the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, to stop fighting, promising immunity for those who surrender and threatening “certain death” for those who resist.
He reiterated calls for the Iranian people to revolt against the government.
“I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic and take back your country,” Mr Trump said in the pre-recorded video yesterday. “America is with you.”
In interviews with multiple news outlets, Mr Trump said the military campaign against Iran could continue for at least four weeks.
Following the death of Khamenei, Iran faces a power vacuum that could leave it in chaos, but the Trump administration has not outlined longer-term aims for the country.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had hit three US and UK oil tankers in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and attacked military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain with drones and missiles. Shipping data showed hundreds of vessels including oil and gas tankers dropping anchor in nearby waters with traders expecting sharp jumps in crude oil prices today.
Global air travel was also heavily disrupted as continued air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports closed, including Dubai - the world’s busiest international hub - in one of the biggest aviation interruptions in recent years.
Asian airline shares plunged, with some major carriers down more than 5%.It remained unclear what the longer-term prospects were for Iran to rebuild its leadership and replace 86-year-old Khamenei, who had held power since the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
Experts said that while his death and those of other Iranian leaders would deal Iran a major blow, it would not necessarily spell the end of Iran’s entrenched clerical rule or the sway of the elite Revolutionary Guards over the population.
Still, it was too early to say how the Iranian people would respond to the changes. A new analysis of Iranian social media from Redpoint Advisors, a global intelligence firm, suggests the public is already looking beyond Khamenei for his replacement.
Source: RTE
--Agencies
