Israel strikes Beirut as Middle East conflict widens
Hit on Lebanon comes as Donald Trump confirms first US deaths and signals weeks of attacks as Middle East conflict worsens.
Source: The White House
Israel has struck what it says are “senior Hezbollah terrorists” in Beirut as the conflict in the Middle East worsened on Monday.
Britain’s Royal Air Force base Akrotiri in Cyprus was also hit by a suspected drone strike overnight, with limited damage and no casualties, Cypriot authorities and the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
Israeli struck targets of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in the Lebanese capital and across the country, after the group launched missiles and drones towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The projectiles launched by Hezbollah on Monday were the first since the start of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The Shi’ite Muslim group said it launched the attack against Israel in response to Israel killing Khamenei and continuous Israeli violations against Lebanon.
It came after US President Donald Trump confirmed three US troops have been killed and another five seriously wounded in the US-Israeli operations that began against Iran a day earlier – and said “sadly there will likely be more”.
They were reportedly at a US base in Kuwait.
“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Trump said in a video on his Truth Social platform.
“Sadly, there will be likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is. [There will] likely be more but we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case.”
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The US military said its aircraft and warships had struck more than 1000 Iranian targets since Trump ordered the start to major combat operations on Saturday. As the conflict entered its second day, Trump said 48 Iranian leaders – including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – had been killed.
The US military has started sinking Iran’s Navy, destroying nine warships so far and “going after the rest”. Trump said the remaining Iranian warships would soon be sunk.
“They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea,” he said.
“Other than that, their Navy is doing very well!”
He told the Daily Mail on Sunday that the US operation in Iran will take roughly four weeks.
“It’s always been about a four-week process so – as strong as it is, it’s a big country, it’ll take four weeks — or less,” he said.
In other developments on Monday (Australian time), Foreign Minister Penny Wong said about 115,000 Australians were stranded in the war zone as airspaces remain closed.
“The fastest way to get people home would be if commercial flights recommence,” Wong said on Monday.
“We are always looking at [how] we might support Australians … and airspace is not open. Whether or not it is an Australian flight or a commercial flight, the flights are not able to occur.”
Wong said Australians stranded in Iran, Israel, Qatar and the UAE could access a portal with up-to-date information.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said US facilities in Australia were not used in the weekend attacks, describing Iran’s leadership as “abhorrent”.
“We do support the action that the United States has taken, and we very much stand with the Iranian people in this moment,” he told ABC radio.
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Asked if the attacks were deemed legal under international law, Marles said: “Ultimately, the legality of these measures is a matter for both the United States and Israel to go through.”
Also on Monday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the US would be allowed to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.
“The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region,” he said in a video message on X on Monday (Australian time).
Starmer reiterated that Britain was not involved in the joint US-Israel air strikes on Saturday, and nor would it join further waves of strikes.
He said Iran had retaliated by launching sustained attacks across the region and its missiles had hit airports and hotels where British citizens were staying.
“Our decision that the UK would not be involved with the strikes on Iran was deliberate, not least because we believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement, one in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon,” he said.
“But Iran is striking British interests nonetheless, and putting British people at huge risk.”
His announcement on Monday (Australian time) came as the European Union’s 27 nations called for “maximum restraint” and full respect for international law in the Iran conflict.
In other developments, oil prices surged more than 8 per cent to their highest in months as Iran and Israel stepped up attacks in the Middle East.
At least three tankers were damaged off the Gulf coast and one seafarer was killed as Iranian retaliation for US and Israeli strikes on Iran exposed ships to collateral damage, shipping sources and officials said on Sunday.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll has found only about one in four Americans approve of the latest strikes. If the Strait of Hormuz, the passage for about 20 per cent of world oil supplies, remains closed for more than a few days, squeezed US consumers will start to feel the pressure on prices at the pumps.
Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil a day – about 20 per cent of the world’s oil – are shipped through Hormuz, making it the world’s most critical oil chokepoint, according to Rystad Energy.
Tankers travelling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran.
On Sunday, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels a day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting.
The countries boosting output include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.
-with AAP
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