US-Israel strikes intensify across Iran and Lebanon
Israeli airstrikes pounded the capitals of Iran and Lebanon as the US apparently struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea, intensifying its campaign targeting the Islamic Republic’s fleet of warships.
Iran launched new retaliatory attacks early Friday against neighbouring countries that host US forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The latest strikes mark a full week of attacks affecting countries across the Middle East. The Israeli military said that the fighting has destroyed most of Iran’s air defences and missile launchers, while US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that strikes against Tehran were “about to surge dramatically.”
Tehran has warned of the destruction of the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure, and the war has rattled financial markets.
Qatar condemns Iranian attack on Bahrain
Qatar has denounced an Iranian attack on Bahrain that targeted buildings housing elements of its forces there.
Doha says the attack targeted the unified military command of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation bloc in the region.
It says none of the Qatari sailors were hurt and called the assault “a direct threat to its security and stability and the security of the region.”
Lebanon’s PM calls for international help
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is calling on the international community to help Lebanon amid the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war.
“A humanitarian disaster is looming” because of huge displacements of people, Salam said.
Salam criticized both Israel and Hezbollah over the current crisis saying that the Lebanese state and people “did not choose this war.” Speaking to heads of diplomatic missions in Beirut, Salam appealed to the friends of Lebanon to support “us in this endeavor” and called on the international community to help stop Israel’s attacks and spare the country’s infrastructure.
Iran launches a new missile attack
Iranian state television announced a new missile attack, including the Islamic Republic firing off its larger Khorramshahr-4 missiles.
Some Chinese airlines resume flights to Mideast
Air China, China Southern and a few other Chinese carriers are resuming direct flights to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Air China resumed a flight from Beijing to Riyadh on Thursday, state media reported.
China is also helping citizens evacuate from the region, saying it received a plane carrying 300 passengers from Dubai on Wednesday. “We once again remind that the situation in the Middle East remains complex and severe, with considerable uncertainty,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said about the evacuations and flights.
UN rights chief pleads for peace
Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, says that “the world urgently needs to see steps to contain and extinguish this blaze.”
He lamented that “instead we are only seeing more inflammatory, bellicose rhetoric, more bombings, more destruction, killings and escalation, that fuels it further.” Turk is urging the countries involved in the war “to take immediate steps to de-escalate, to give peace a chance.” And he says that other countries should “call clearly on those involved to pull back.”
He’s also “extremely concerned” about the situation in Lebanon following Hezbollah’s strikes on Israel and Israel’s counterstrikes.
Turk said he’s particularly worried about what he described as “blanket, massive displacement orders” by Israel to civilians in Lebanon.
“Obviously, this raises serious concern under international humanitarian law and in particular when it comes to issues around forced transfer,” he said.
Israel targeting Lebanon’s capital again
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The Israeli military says it’s conducting new strikes on Beirut.
Australian Greens say country part of illegal war’
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The Australian Greens party says Australian sailors’ presence aboard the US submarine that torpedoed an Iranian warship made Australia “part of an illegal war.”
Australia’s Government confirmed that three Australians were aboard a submarine that sank the Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka this week, killing at least 87 people.
Sen. David Shoebridge, the influential party’s defense spokesperson, told reporters on Friday: “This makes Australia obviously, clearly, unambiguously, part of an illegal war.”
The Australians were aboard the boat as part of the trilateral US, Australian and British partnership known as AUKUS that will deliver Australia a fleet of submarines powered by US nuclear technology.
Blasts heard in Tel Aviv
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The sound of explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv, Israel, after the warning about incoming missile fire from Iran, as air defense systems worked to intercept the barrage.
