Lebanon
18-03-2026 | 09:17
Iran attacks Israel and Gulf countries after an Israeli strike kills its security chief
Iran escalated region-wide strikes after Israel killed top security leaders, while Israeli attacks hit central Beirut, deepening civilian casualties and erasing any sense of safe zones in the capital.
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Iran launched strikes toward Israel and neighboring Gulf countries early Wednesday, with explosions heard in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar and interceptions reported in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks came hours after Iranian state media confirmed Israel’s military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike, as well as Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force, known for its role in suppressing protests.
An Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in Bachoura, central Beirut, completely flattening it as day broke. Two earlier strikes on residential apartments in other central Beirut neighborhoods early Wednesday killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Israeli strikes targeting central Beirut have become increasingly frequent in recent days, with or without prior warning. The attacks have hit far from the city’s southern suburbs, for which the army issued evacuation notices early in the war with Hezbollah.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, more than 900 in Lebanon and 14 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The U.S. military says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.
Here is the latest:
Israeli strikes in central Beirut unsettle residents
Israeli strikes overnight against central Beirut have destroyed the illusion of safe areas in the capital, residents and first responders said.
In the renewed fighting with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Israel has concentrated most strikes where the group has a strong presence in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
But several attacks early Wednesday hit city center neighborhoods, some without warning.
“Today, Beirut is no different from the southern suburbs,” fire brigade Capt. Neshat Berri said in the Bachoura neighborhood, where emergency crews dug through rubble.
Near a building damaged by a strike in the Basta neighborhood, resident Hassan Jaber said there was “no safety.”
“We will continue to be exposed to this. Beirut is no different (from other areas),” he said. “May God protect us.”