Dahiyeh in southern Beirut, Lebanon is set ablaze by Israeli airstrikes, March 5, 2026 (Hassan Ammar/AP)
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UPDATE 1058 GMT:
The Israel Defense Forces say they carried out “a broad-scale wave” of 26 strikes in the Dahieh area of southern Beirut overnight.
The IDF say targets included a command center of Hezbollah’s executive council and a facility storing drones for attacks against Israel.
UPDATE 1012 GMT:
Hezbollah has issued its own threat as Israel bombs Beirut, telling Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5 km (3.1 miles) of the border.
Your military’s aggression against Lebanese sovereignty and safe citizens, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the expulsion campaign it is carrying out will not go unchallenged.
UPDATE 0755 GMT:
Canada says it may assist the defense of Gulf States against Iranian retaliation, but will not join the US-Israel war on Iran.
The head of the Canadian military, Gen. Jennie Carignan, said allies will meet Friday. Without specifying the nature of support, she said “any operation would have to be within that zone of self-defense”.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The US and Israel expanded their wars in Iran and Lebanon on Thursday, with the Israelis launching mass strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut.
The Israelis warned more than 500,000 residents of southern Beirut, where Hezbollah is based, to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately”. Hours later, amid panic, its warplanes struck.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasted that the strikes would make the area “look like Khan Younis”, the city in southern Gaza almost entirely destroyed by Israeli bombing.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said on Thursday afternoon that Israeli strikes have killed at least 123 people and injured 683 since Monday.
Traffic gridlocked in Beirut. Thousands of people gave up vehicles and walked. Women pushing strollers holding infants through the stalled traffic. Families appealed for rescue services to help extract elderly people who could not leave their homes.
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee set out preapproved routes north and east for flight. He added, “Beware, heading south is prohibited. Any southward movement could endanger your lives. We will inform you of the safe time to return to your homes.”
Trump: I Should Choose Iran’s Next Leader
Israel’s military warned residents in eastern parts of Iranian capital Tehran to evacuate. “Today is worse than yesterday,” one resident said. “We have nowhere to go. It is like a warzone. Help us.”
In Washington, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cheered the sinking of Iranian ships, including the frigate Iris Dena with the killing of at least 87 crew in the Indian Ocean. As footage confirmed assaults on civilian as well as military areas in Iran’s cities, he pledged, “If you think you’ve seen something, just wait.”
Donald Trump said, “We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future, “We don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again.”
He said Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader assassinated in the initial wave of US-Israel strikes last Saturday, is a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” successor.
At the White House, in front of the visiting Inter Miami soccer team, Trump urged the Revolutionary Guards to abandon the regime. He said they will be given immunity if they lay down their weapons, but otherwise will face “guaranteed death”.
The Iranian Red Crescent said it has confirmed 1,230 killed since Saturday.
