Israel launches new strikes as Iran squeezes Strait of Hormuz

BREAKING :

Israel is dropping bombs on civilian homes in Aramoun, Mount Lebanon — massacring ordinary people in the middle of the night.pic.twitter.com/zpIOZTwCRu

Governments scrambled to evacuate citizens stranded in the Middle East, where Iran expanded a retaliatory missile and drone barrage on the fifth day of a war that sent stocks sinking.

🔴 NEW: 8 killed, 12 injured in Israeli strike on residential home in Baalbek, eastern Lebanon. https://t.co/jwazt5oNrT

The war took a growing toll on Lebanon, where Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has launched drones and rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the US-Israeli opening strikes.

Early Wednesday, the Israeli military called on residents to leave 16 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, in an "urgent warning" before using force against Hezbollah militants.

Lebanese state media said Israeli attacks on a building killed four in Baalbek in Lebanon's east, far from the border, as well as a Beirut hotel in an area so far spared the violence.

This frame grab from AFPTV video footage taken on March 4, 2026 shows first responders inspecting the damage at Comfort Hotel after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Beirut's eastern suburb of Hazmieh. PHOTO: AFP

In Aramoun and Saadiyat -- two towns south of Beirut and outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds -- the health ministry said Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded eight. It cautioned that this was a "preliminary toll".

It was not immediately clear what was targeted in these towns or in Baalbek, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which earlier announced "broad-scale strikes" against Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 52 people in Lebanon, according to the government, while the United Nations said that more than 30,000 people were displaced.

This frame grab from AFPTV video footage taken on March 4, 2026 shows a wounded woman receiving medical treatment at the lobby of Comfort Hotel after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Beirut's eastern suburb of Hazmieh. PHOTO: AFP

In a throwback to earlier wars, Israel said it was moving troops across the border to create a buffer zone inside Lebanon.

Read: Iran war enters fourth day in 'smoke and blood' as global markets slide

With global energy prices already on the rise over the expanding war, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said it has "complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial chokepoint into the Gulf.

But Trump said the US had "knocked out" Iran's navy, along with its air force and radar systems, and that the US Navy was ready to escort tankers through the waterway through which one-fifth of global seaborne oil pass.

Israel's military said it launched a "broad wave of strikes" after midnight across Iran, which in the hours before had launched three separate missile barrages at Israel, causing mild injuries to a woman in Tel Aviv.

The US military has hit nearly 2,000 targets since attacking Iran alongside Israel on Saturday, targeting ballistic missiles and "all the things that can shoot at us", said Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command.

U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are delivering unrelenting, overwhelming firepower from regional waters. DAY and NIGHT. pic.twitter.com/3YTiFkFc1V

"These forces bring a massive amount of firepower, representing the largest buildup by the US in the Middle East in a generation," he said in a video message, describing the first day's barrage as bigger than the so-called "shock and awe" against Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 2003.

The US and Israeli attacks have killed 787 people in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, a toll that could not be independently confirmed by AFP.

Iran vowed to inflict a heavy price in retaliation. Drones struck adjacent to the US consulate in Dubai, starting a fire but inflicting no casualties, and against the US military base at Al-Udeid in Qatar.

The attacks came a day after strikes on the US embassies in Riyadh and Kuwait City and on a US air base in Bahrain.

"We are saying to the enemy that if it decides to hit our main centres, we will hit all economic centres in the region," Islamic Revolutionary Guard General Ebrahim Jabbari said.

The United States and Israel launched the attack on Saturday and quickly killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two days after US envoys had been speaking to Iran in Geneva on a nuclear accord.

Trump insisted that Iran wanted to resume talks, but it was "too late".

He also walked back a statement the day before from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the US attack's timing was precipitated by Israel's plans.

"If anything, I might have forced Israel's hand," Trump said as he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.

Trump boasted that "just about everything's been knocked out" in Iran, including its navy, air force and air defence, and said the attacks had killed even leaders who could have taken over.

"Most of the people we had in mind are dead," Trump said. "Now we have another group. They may be dead also, based on reports."

Read More: US faces missile shortages amid ongoing US-Israeli offensive on Iran: report

According to Iranian media, US and Israeli strikes targeted a building on Tuesday in the holy city of Qom belonging to the committee that is to elect a new supreme leader.

The Tasnim news agency reported that strikes had already targeted the body's main headquarters in Tehran the day before.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have urged Iranians to rise up, but Trump said regime change was not the goal.

The assault came weeks after Iranian authorities clamped down on mass protests, killing thousands.

In Tehran, photos showed damage to Mehrabad airport, which handles mainly domestic flights.

The Israeli military also announced a strike on an underground facility on the eastern outskirts of Tehran, where it alleged scientists were covertly working on a nuclear programme.

The United States ordered non-emergency personnel to leave embassies in much of the region. The Washington Post reported that the Iranian drone in Riyadh hit the CIA station.

The United States encouraged all Americans to leave the region if they could find commercial flights, even though air travel had been severely disrupted. The State Department said that some 9,000 Americans have found a way home.

Qatar said it had downed missiles targeting Hamad International Airport in Doha. Oman reported several drones attacking the port of Duqm, and in the UAE, falling debris from an intercepted drone caused a fire at an oil storage and trading zone, authorities said.

Also Read: Merz seeks early end to Iran war

In Tehran, residents who have not fled remained shut away in their homes for fear of the US-Israeli bombardment.

The Iranian capital is normally home to around 10 million people, but in recent days, "there are so few people that you'd think no one ever lived here", said Samireh, a 33-year-old nurse.

Authorities had previously urged people to leave the city, and police officers, armed security forces and armoured vehicles have been stationed at main junctions, carrying out random checks on vehicles.

In the more upmarket north of Tehran, the meowing of cats and chirping of birds replaced the usual din of traffic jams.

Iranian authorities said a strike on a school in the city of Minab on the first day of the war killed more than 150 people. AFP has been unable to access the location independently to verify the toll or circumstances.

The US military began naming the first of six troops who have been killed. In Israel, nine people died Sunday when a missile hit the town of Beit Shemesh.

At least eight people have died across the Gulf.

The United States and Israel have received lukewarm support, with Western nations limiting involvement to helping Gulf states and repatriating citizens.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had backed the strikes, said Wednesday in Sydney that it was time for "rapid de-escalation".