Israeli troops have advanced into southern Lebanon and ordered thousands to evacuate their villages, in the latest escalation of the Middle East conflict.
Residents of more than 80 Lebanese villages were ordered to evacuate by the Israeli military, as it launched major airstrikes against Beirut, reducing large buildings to rubble and expanding its targets beyond Iran.
Thousands of Lebanese people have fled their homes with more than 30,000 forced into shelters, the UN said.
US president Donald Trump warned on Tuesday the US will do “whatever it takes” to fulfil its objectives after launching strikes at the weekend.
In a blunt post on social media, Trump wrote: “Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’”.
The US president also launched a series of verbal attacks on Sir Keir Starmer, who he said should have done more to support the US strikes on Iran.
Trump told reporters at the White House he was “not happy” with the UK and that “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with”, in apparent reference to the prime minister.
Appearing to refer to the Chagos Archipelago, the president continued: “I will say the UK has been very, very unco-operative with that stupid island that they have, that they gave away and took a 100-year lease; having to do with, perhaps, indigenous people claiming the island that never even saw the island before. What’s that all about?”
Trump’s comments came after Sir Keir announced he would send Type 45 air defence destroyer the HMS Dragon and helicopters with counter drone capabilities to Cyprus to help defend the RAF’s Akrotiri base, which was targeted by an Iranian drone on Sunday.
Iran’s attack on Akrotiri came after Sir Keir said the US would be permitted to use British bases in Cyprus to launch attacks on Iranian missile depots.
But the UK still insists it will not join offensive operations against Iran, which have so far killed at least 787 people, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. The US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA), reports that 742 civilians have been killed, including 176 children.
On Tuesday, the UN human rights office called for an investigation into the “horrific” attack on a school in Iran that authorities say killed at least 165 people, without naming who it thought was responsible. Neither Israel nor the US have accepted culpability.
The full death toll in Lebanon is not yet confirmed with images showing significant devastation in Beirut’s southern suburbs after a fresh wave of Israeli strikes on Tuesday came without warning. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah officials.
Israel’s advances into southern Lebanon, which the Israeli military says have been carried out “in a defensive manner” came after Hezbollah fired rockets and drones towards northern Israel on Monday - after which the military retaliated with a wave of airstrikes that killed 52 people.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group has now warned that it is ready for an open war.
A senior Hezbollah official said that after more than a year of abiding by a ceasefire as Israel’s strikes continued on Lebanon, the group’s patience has ended, leaving it with no option “but to return to resistance” and fight an open war with Israel.
“This displacement is harder than the last one," said Nuzha Salame, a woman sheltering in the city of Sidon after fleeing her village. “Now we're in hardship and deprivation, and we're still out in the streets.”
Elsewhere, Iran’s retaliatory attacks on targets across the region continued.
An Iranian missile fell in central Israel on Tuesday, where at least 11 people have so far been killed by Iranian attacks, the military said. It is unclear how many casualties there were, but search and rescue forces are “currently operating at the impact sites in central Israel”, the military added.
Iranian drones struck the US embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, having previously struck the US mission in Kuwait. Washington responded by shutting both embassies.
The embassy warned of a potential imminent missile or drone attack over the eastern city of Dhahran, where a US consulate and the headquarters of Saudi state oil giant Aramco are situated.
In Oman, the US embassy has instructed its staff to “take cover” and advised all residents to find a secure location, with a supply of food, water and medications.
Iranian forces also targeted a US airbase in Bahrain, the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement via the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
It said 20 drones and three missiles were launched in the attack on the Sheikh Isa area of Bahrain, “destroying the base’s main command headquarters”.
America’s Beirut embassy said it would remain closed until further notice.
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