Middle East War: The intensifying clashes involving Iran, the United States and Israel have now started spilling across Lebanon, with central Beirut experiencing its latest incident after an airstrike launched by Israel led to many casualties. Israel said it targeted Iranian commanders operating in the Lebanese capital.
4 killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut hotel
At least four people were killed after an Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Ramada hotel building in central Beirut on Sunday, Reuters reported.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, ten people sustained injuries following the airstrike.
The attack marked the first Israeli strike to hit the heart of Beirut since Israel-Hezbollah hostilities resumed last week, the report added.
Israeli strike targeted key IRGC commanders
Israel said it targeted key commanders of Iran’s elite Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards but did not name them, according to Reuters.
“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Hotel housed displaced people
The hotel was housing displaced people fleeing the war in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, and some were seen leaving the building for fear of further air strikes, Reuters reported.
Last week, Israel said it had killed the commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon, Daoud Ali Zadeh, in a strike in Tehran.
Over 1,000 Iranian civilians died so far
Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said on Friday that at least 1,332 Iranian civilians have died so far in the conflict with Israel and the US, and that thousands more have been injured, Reuters reported.
Speaking to reporters at the United Nations in New York, Iravani asserted that the US and Israel had deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure, while Iran had targeted military sites, not civilians.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has signalled a bold stance, suggesting that war against Iran could only end if the country eliminates both its military and leadership.
According to news agency Reuters, Trump raised the possibility of the war against Iran ending only once that country no longer has a functioning military or any remaining leadership in power.
Iranian President apologises for recent strikes; vows no attacks unless provoked
Iran’s president has apologized on Saturday for attacks on countries in the region, even as its missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states, underscoring Tehran’s political leadership’s lack of full control over the Islamic Republic’s armed forces, and rejecting US President Donald Trump’s repeated demands for surrender.
“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” the president said. “From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”
“I think we need to solve this with diplomacy rather than fighting and having problems with neighboring countries,” he added, as quoted by CNN.
