Israel hits Beirut, south Lebanon; 12 dead as Middle East war escalates

Dubai/Colombo, Mar 8: Israel has struck southern Lebanon and Beirut again early Sunday and killed 12 more people, the Lebanese health ministry said, as the war in the Middle East keeps escalating.

Israeli airstrikes killed eight people in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, and local media reported that an Israeli drone hit a hotel in Beirut, killing four and wounding 10 others. The deaths come on top of at least 47 others killed on Saturday in Israeli strikes.

Israeli officials said the strikes targeted commanders of the Lebanese branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised "many surprises" for the next phase of the conflict.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it would "not allow Iranian terrorist elements to establish themselves in Lebanese territory."

Israel's military also said on Sunday that it had struck a series of fighter jets that pre-revolutionary Iran purchased from the United States.

The fleet of F-14s parked at Isfahan Airport, south of Tehran, was a pillar of the Iranian air force and historically used to defend its airspace. The Israeli military did not say whether the jets were destroyed. It also said it had struck detection and air defence systems.

On Saturday, an Israeli attack hit an oil storage facility in Tehran, which sent up pillars of fire that could be seen in Associated Press video as a glow against the night sky. It appeared to be the first time a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war.

The war, which erupted on Feb 28 after joint US-Israeli strikes hit Iran, has so far killed at least 1,230 people in the Islamic Republic, more than 300 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials.

Meanwhile, at least 22 Iranian sailors of IRIS Dena, the Iranian ship that was torpedoed by the US, have been discharged, hospital authorities said on Sunday.

"They were dispatched in ambulances to the Sri Lanka Air Force facility at Koggala outside Galle under heavy security," officials said. Another 10 sailors remain under treatment at the National Hospital Galle in Karapitiya.

The magisterial inquiry and the post-mortems on 84 bodies were concluded in the southern port town of Galle on March 5. Eighty of the 84 personnel were identified by the survivors.

The sailors of the second ship IRIS Bushehr are currently at the naval facility at Welisara outside Colombo.

Sri Lanka is yet to make a decision on their repatriation. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath has said Sri Lanka would strictly adhere to the relevant international laws to deal with the situation.

AP