Thousands flee as Israel pounds Beirut and strikes Tehran amid Iran counterattacks

Thousands of residents fled the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut early Friday after a new wave of Israeli airstrikes that the Israel Defense Forces said targeted Hezbollah positions and other objectives. The military also announced strikes on Tehran as the conflict spread into its seventh day, triggering retaliatory launches by Iran and stepped-up U.S. strikes at sea.

The evacuation orders and heavy bombardment prompted scenes of mass displacement in Beirut, where families forced from their homes huddled on streets to break the Ramadan fast. Local officials and aid groups reported “thousands” leaving the southern outskirts — the heaviest attacks on the Lebanese capital since the 2024 exchange with the Iran-backed militia. A government-arranged evacuation flight from Oman reached London Stansted overnight; one evacuee described boarding the plane as “surreal.”

Israel framed the operations as a new phase of its campaign. Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the chief of staff, said the military had “completed the initial stage of ‘surprise opening blow’ and that it was now moving to the next phase of the campaign,” and added, “We will intensify the strike on the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities.” The IDF said it carried out a broad-scale wave of strikes, including an operation Israel described as attacking a leadership bunker with 50 jets.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and state agencies said their forces had launched counterstrikes. “Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have launched a wave of drones and missiles at targets in Tel Aviv,” a state news agency statement said. Separately, an Iranian army statement carried by Mehr said, “Over the past few hours, various types of destructive drones of the army’s ground forces have targeted American military bases in Kuwait in large numbers. These attacks will continue in the coming hours.”

The United States has responded with targeted actions at sea and in the region. U.S. Central Command reported it degraded Iranian drone-launch capabilities, saying it sank one drone carrier over the weekend and struck a second on Thursday while targeting launch sites. U.S. officials characterized the campaign as sharply degrading Iran’s ability to retaliate, even as Gulf states reported intercepting incoming strikes overnight.

At the moment Israeli emergency services reported no confirmed civilian casualty figures from the latest strikes, and Israeli authorities later said the immediate threat to population centers had subsided. Tehran residents described the previous night as the worst so far after strikes that sent plumes of smoke over the capital.

Beyond the immediate human toll, the multi-front exchanges are already affecting economic and energy risk calculations. Regional counterstrikes have disrupted oil flows in the Gulf, and military activity near shipping lanes and tanker routes pushes up the cost of insurance and raises the prospect of rerouted voyages or delayed deliveries. Market watchers will be monitoring price volatility in Brent and regional refining margins, while governments and airlines review flight paths over the eastern Mediterranean and Gulf.

The conflagration shows rapid escalation across air, land and sea with named militaries and irregular forces engaged. With Israeli commanders signaling further phases and Iranian forces vowing continued strikes, the practical consequences for civilians, regional commerce and global energy markets are likely to grow unless diplomatic or military de-escalation alters the trajectory.