JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, March 2 — Israel launched new air strikes targeting Tehran and expanded its military campaign to include attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday.
This is as United States President Donald Trump signalled the US-Israeli military assault on Iranian targets could continue for weeks.
Israel said it was attacking sites connected to Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim armed group Hezbollah, one of Tehran's principal allies in the Middle East, after Hezbollah acknowledged launching missiles and drones toward Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Israeli military said it intercepted a projectile launched from Lebanon, while others landed in open areas of the country.
Israel carried out air strikes on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday, with more than a dozen explosions rocking the Lebanese capital. Israel said it also struck senior Hezbollah militants near Beirut.
People fled on foot and by car in Beirut, clogging the roads, after the series of strikes began around 2.40am.
Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024 after more than a year of fighting that left Hezbollah severely weakened.
The Hezbollah and Israel tit-for-tat attacks widen the conflict that has spread through the Middle East since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, sending oil prices soaring and snarling air travel.
Lebanon's presidency said on Saturday it had been told by the US ambassador that Israel would not escalate against Lebanon as long as there are no hostile acts from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah was "fully responsible for any escalation" and warned residents of dozens of villages in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate.
The Israeli military said late on Sunday that its air force had established aerial superiority over Tehran, and that a wave of strikes across the capital had targeted intelligence, security, and military command centres.
