Israel strikes central Beirut, launches ground assault as war expands

IN BRIEF

• Israeli warplanes hit central Beirut, destroying apartment buildings in some of the most intense airstrikes on the center of the Lebanese capital for decades. READ MORE BELOW

• Israel has also launched a ground assault in southern Lebanon as the conflict expands. 

• Iran retaliated to the death of security chief Ali Larijani by firing multiple-warheaded missiles that Israeli authorities said killed two people near Tel Aviv. 

• Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was "eliminated" in a strike overnight. 

• Lebanese authorities say 900 people have been killed in the country and 800,000 forced to flee their homes, as casualties mount across the region. READ MORE BELOW

• The US military targeted sites along Iran's coastline near the Strait of Hormuz with powerful "bunker-buster" bombs.

• China will continue mediating to push for a ceasefire and an end to fighting, foreign minister Wang Yi said. READ MORE BELOW

• The Kremlin condemned what it called "the murder" of Iran's leaders in US-Israeli airstrikes. READ MORE BELOW

• A top US security official resigned, saying Iran had posed no imminent threat to the US. READ MORE BELOW

IN DETAIL

Iran strikes central Beirut as war expands

Israeli warplanes hit central Beirut in the early hours of Wednesday, destroying apartment buildings in some of the most intense airstrikes on the center of the Lebanese capital for decades, an expansion of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

A day after Israel killed Iran's powerful security chief Ali Larijani in the highest-level assassination since the war's first day, Iran retaliated by firing missiles with multiple warheads into Israel that Israeli authorities said killed two people near Tel Aviv.

On Wednesday, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was "eliminated" in a strike overnight. Katz said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorized the military to kill any other senior Iranian official being targeted without the need for additional approval.

Iran did not immediately respond to Katz's comments, but had previously said the killing of Larijani and other officials would not hinder its operations. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the United States and Israel failed to understand that the Islamic Republic was a robust political system that did not depend on any single individual.

Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has rejected proposals conveyed to Tehran by intermediary countries to de-escalate the conflict, saying that the United States and Israel must first be "brought to their knees", according to a senior Iranian official who asked not to be identified.

Worst strikes on central Beirut for decades

Israel has stepped up its strikes on Lebanon and staged a ground assault in the south in pursuit of Hezbollah, which has fired across the border in solidarity with Tehran.

In central Beirut's Bachoura district, Israel warned residents to leave a building, which it then completely flattened. Eyewitness video showed the structure crumbling into dust as it was struck at dawn. Firefighters later clambered over a vast pile of smoking rubble.

No such warning was given for strikes that hit apartment buildings in two other central districts, killing at least 10 people, according to Lebanese authorities. Smoke poured from the balcony of one building as residents swept debris from the street, surrounded by wrecked cars.

While Israel has been striking Hezbollah‑controlled southern suburbs of Beirut for days, the latest attacks were among the worst to hit central parts of the capital in decades.

Inside Israel, an Iranian missile tore a crater into the pavement and set cars ablaze in a residential area of Holon, just south of Tel Aviv.

Israel has also launched a ground assault in southern Lebanon. It acknowledged on Wednesday that its troops had fired from a tank at a UN base a week into the war, injuring three Ghanaian peacekeepers in what it said was a mistake.

Mounting casualties across region

Lebanese authorities say 900 people have been killed in the country and 800,000 forced to flee their homes. US-based Iran human rights group HRANA said on Monday that an estimated 3,000-plus people have been killed in Iran since the US-Israeli attacks began at the end of February.

Iranian attacks have killed people in Iraq and across the Gulf states. Fourteen have been killed in Israel.

Israel and the United States say their war aim is to prevent Iran from being able to project force beyond its borders and to destroy its nuclear and missile programmes. They have also urged Iranians to rise up and overthrow their clerical rulers. However, there has been no sign of organized dissent inside Iran since the bombing began.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck targets in Tehran on Tuesday that included the headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards' security unit tasked with suppressing unrest, and a maintenance center linked to Iran's internal security forces.

Iran told the UN nuclear watchdog that a projectile had also hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday evening but caused no damage or injuries. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reiterated his call for maximum restraint.

The United States military said on Tuesday it had targeted sites along Iran's coastline near the Strait of Hormuz with powerful "bunker-buster" bombs, saying Iranian anti-ship missiles there posed a threat to international shipping.

The strait, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass within a few miles of Iran's coast, remains largely closed as Iran threatens to attack tankers linked to the US and Israel. Oil prices have surged.

China will continue mediating for Middle East ceasefire 

China will continue mediating to push for a ceasefire and an end to fighting in the Middle East, its foreign minister said, adding the war should never have happened and had no reason to continue, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting in Beijing with the UAE presidential special envoy to China, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in which he also voiced support for the UAE in safeguarding its sovereignty and security.

Kremlin condemns US-Israeli 'murder' of Iran's leaders after Ali Larijani killing

The Kremlin on Wednesday condemned what it called "the murder" of Iran's leaders in US-Israeli airstrikes.

"We unequivocally condemn any actions aimed at harming the health of, or indeed murdering or eliminating, members of the leadership of sovereign and independent Iran, as well as those of other countries. We condemn such actions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Russia's reaction to Larijani's death.

Russia has strongly criticized the US-Israeli air strikes against Iran and has called for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations.

Top US security official quits, says Iran did not pose immediate threat

A top security official in US President Donald Trump's administration resigned over the war in Iran on Tuesday, saying the country had posed no imminent threat to the United States.

Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, is the first senior official in Trump's administration to resign over the conflict, now in its third week.

"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent wrote in a letter posted to social media. Some experts have said an imminent threat would be required for the United States to launch a war under the international law of war.

Kent's letter to Trump included "false claims," said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt in a statement.

"As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first," said Leavitt. "This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors."