Live updates: Israel targets presumed new Hezbollah leader in massive Beirut strikes; Iran’s leader issues warnings in rare speech
Israeli strikes also cut off a key crossing used by tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring Syria, Lebanon’s transport minister said.
- Israel launched intense strikes on Beirut targeting Hezbollah’s presumed new leader as he met with other senior militants, an Israeli official told NBC News. The IDF is still assessing whether Hashem Safieddine was killed.
- An Israeli airstrike cut off a key road that thousands of Lebanese had been using to cross into relative safety in Syria. Israel’s bombardment has displaced more than a million people, filling shelters, and killed more than 1,300 people, according to local officials.
- Iran’s supreme leader vowed his country and its allies would not back down after its “brilliant operation” against Israel as he delivered a rare sermon with a rifle by his side and led prayers commemorating Hezbollah’s powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah.
- President Joe Biden said he won’t “negotiate in public” with Israel over possible retaliatory targets for Iran’s missile attack, but said he does not believe there will be “all-out war” in the Middle East.