Fragile US-Iran ceasefire begins as Israel hits Beirut, Tehran hits Gulf
Despite a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the US announced late on Tuesday, attacks across the region continued on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said it carried out its largest assault on Lebanon since the start of the war, with heavy bombardment in south Lebanon as well as southern and central Beirut. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that Wednesday’s attacks have left hundreds of casualties.
The strikes on central Beirut came without advance warning from the military, which later said it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and that “most of the attacked infrastructure was located in the heart of civilian populations.” While Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the ceasefire would extend to Lebanon, Israel has rejected the claim.
Israel also came under multiple waves of Iranian missile fire after the ceasefire was announced, while Iranian media reported airstrikes targeting an oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island on Wednesday morning. The Israeli military has denied involvement in the strikes on Lavan.
Following the Lavan attack, Iranian outlets reported that Iran carried out missile and drone attacks on Kuwait and the UAE. In Abu Dhabi, three people were injured by falling debris following an interception that was reported soon after the ceasefire was announced. Later on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which connects Gulf crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, was hit by a drone strike.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump agreed to halt strikes on Iran for two weeks on the condition that Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran later said it had also accepted the temporary truce, with talks set to begin Friday in Islamabad.
On Wednesday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran could partially reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday or Friday.
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump said that the US will be “talking Tariff and Sanctions relief with Iran.” He added that any country supplying Iran with weapons will face immediate 50% tariffs on goods exported to the US.