Israel has sharply escalated its military campaign in Lebanon, ordering new airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs while pressing ahead with what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a major turning point in the conflict. Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz jointly announced the decision, saying that, following repeated ceasefire violations by Hezbollah and attacks on Israeli cities and civilians, they had instructed the military to strike targets in the southern Beirut district known as Dahiyeh.
Large numbers of residents have reportedly fled Dahiyeh, causing heavy traffic congestion on roads leading out of the suburb, a stronghold of Hezbollah support. The strikes came a day after Israeli forces seized Beaufort Castle, a centuries-old fortification in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters have said that a battle of attrition remains underway in the area.
Iran has responded to the widening conflict by suspending all indirect exchanges of messages with the United States. Tehran’s negotiating team cited the intensity of Israeli military operations as the reason for the move.
Meanwhile, the United States and Iran have also carried out fresh military strikes despite ongoing diplomatic contacts. Tehran said it targeted an air base allegedly used in an attack on a telecommunications tower. The United States said it conducted what it described as “self-defence strikes” against command-and-control sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island after the alleged shooting down of a drone over international waters.
Kuwait’s military said its air defence systems intercepted hostile missile and drone attacks. In a statement posted on X, the General Staff of the Kuwaiti Army said that any explosion sounds heard by residents were the result of air defence systems engaging incoming threats.
The Kuwait incident has added another flashpoint to an already volatile region. US forces conducted what Washington described as self-defence strikes on Iranian radar and drone command sites over the weekend. Iran retaliated by firing two ballistic missiles at American forces stationed in Kuwait on Sunday night. US Central Command confirmed that both missiles were successfully intercepted and that no American personnel were harmed. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have since claimed responsibility, describing the strike on Kuwait as a direct response to the American attacks.
In the Gulf, the Revolutionary Guards also reported that 28 commercial vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz under strict naval monitoring. Israeli forces, meanwhile, have carried out fresh military incursions into the Syrian provinces of Quneitra and Daraa, further widening the geographic footprint of the conflict.
