Iran attack: Regime may have felt it needed to flex its muscles to try to stem Israel’s expanding actions
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There were celebratory fireworks set off in parts of the Lebanese capital Beirut as Iran launched volleys of missiles in its most serious attack yet against Israel.
Israel has made plenty of enemies not just in Lebanon but throughout the region.
It can be no coincidence that the attack came on the same day that Israeli troops invaded Lebanon to carry out what they described as “limited operations” against Hezbollah, the militant group allied closely with Iran.
Latest updates on Iranian attack against Israel
The attack coincided with a previous turbulent 24 hours for the so-called Axis of Resistance during which Israel bombed a range of groups linked to Iran.
Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen were hit; Iranian-aligned groups in Syria were attacked and Hamas, also supported by Iran, continued being bombarded in Gaza.
All of this is on top of bombarding Iran’s closest and most strategically important partner in the region, the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
It very much looks like Iran may well have judged it needed to flex its muscles to try to stem Israel’s expanding actions and alleviate the pressure on its most powerful ally Hezbollah.
For two weeks, Hezbollah has been hammered by Israeli forces.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburb. Pic: AP
The militant group unilaterally embroiled Lebanon in this war by mounting attacks on Israel last October in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.
Israel has retaliated by launching about five times as many strikes inside Lebanon, according to figures from Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED).
Tehran’s representative at the UN posted on X that the strike on Israel was “Iran’s legal, rational and legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime”. The mission also warned of a “crushing response” if Israel retaliates.
But will it? Israel’s UN envoy immediately promised a “severe response” to the Iranian missile attack. The signs aren’t good – and escalation seems to be the only common language right now.
Even as I am writing, we’ve just heard the boom of an Israeli airstrike landing in the southern city of Tyre. The country will be nervously awaiting potentially much more.
When we moved through Tyre earlier, it seemed unusually quiet and empty. A lot of the shops were closed and the businesses shuttered.
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Lebanese families wiped out in village
The Israeli military had earlier issued directives to vehicles not to cross from the north to south of the Litani river because of what it described as the security situation.
Civilians urged to leave area
We saw Lebanese army troops positioned around the river urging civilians to leave the area and not venture further south. One soldier told us they were helping out in evacuations of villages close to the Israeli border.
The images of Israeli troops massing on their southern border followed by announcements that troops were carrying out ‘limited operations’ in their country have alarmed residents even more.
An estimated million people have already been displaced according to the country’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati.
But in the old city of Tyre, we found some who are refusing to leave.
Elias Barbour has vowed not to leave
“I’m not leaving,” Elias Barbour told us. “No matter what they do, we won’t leave. This is my business. Everything we have is here and we’re not going to leave it.”
Lebanese bury their dead
They’re still holding mass funerals in the village of Ain-el-Delb on the outskirts of Sidon.
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Mass funerals held for victims in Lebanon
We saw another 13 people buried who were killed in the deadliest single Israeli attack in the country in nearly a year.
The bombs levelled two residential apartments packed with families, killing 45 including women and children. Some of the families had taken in a few of those who were among the million people who have fled their homes.
The villagers are grief-stricken but they are also angry.
Ellen says ‘everyone just wants this to stop’
Ellen, a 27-year-old masters student who had left her studies in France to join her family told us: “Everyone just wants this to stop, to end. It’s our land, it’s our home, it’s our people. We just want to live in peace – that’s what we want.
“They should not attack any kilometre of our land. It’s ours.”
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The Iranian ballistic missile attack, according to the Revolutionary Guards, was aimed at military bases.
It was followed up with a message from the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian who warned: “This is only a corner of our power. Do not enter into a conflict with Iran.”
A situation that was already dire just seems to have got even more dangerous.
:: Alex Crawford reports with camera Jake Britton, specialist producer Chris Cunningham and Lebanon producers Jihad Jneid and Sami Zein.