Large numbers of civilians have been leaving Beirut and southern Lebanon as Israeli strikes intensified on the third day of the widening conflict involving Iran and its regional allies. The Israeli military said early Monday it was targeting Hezbollah positions across Lebanon after the group launched missiles and drones toward Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah, a longstanding ally of Tehran, claimed responsibility for striking an Israeli base in Haifa, describing the attack as a response to continued Israeli operations and assassinations.

Explosions were reported in Beirut, particularly in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, an area regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold. Lebanese security sources said Israeli forces hit targets there, while the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for nearly 50 villages in eastern and southern Lebanon. Separate displacement orders affected about 53 towns and villages, prompting hundreds of thousands to flee overnight. Major roads in southern Lebanon and out of Beirut were congested as residents sought safer locations. The upheaval coincided with Ramadan, with families abandoning preparations for the pre-dawn meal in order to escape. Israel also announced a new series of strikes aimed at what it called the “heart of Tehran,” with residents of the Iranian capital reporting powerful explosions.

In Iran, casualties continued to mount. Iranian officials said a missile strike on a girls’ school in the southern city of Minab killed roughly 180 children, making it the deadliest single incident of the US-Israeli campaign so far. Iranian authorities also reported that the same type of missile was used in an attack on Gandhi Hospital in Tehran. The home of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran was destroyed, though his status was not immediately confirmed.

The United States confirmed that three service members were killed and five seriously wounded during operations against Iran, marking the first acknowledged American fatalities since strikes began. US Central Command said the casualties occurred as part of Operation Epic Fury. President Donald Trump stated that additional losses were possible and said combat would continue until US objectives were met. In media interviews and public remarks, he asserted that 48 Iranian leaders had been killed in joint US-Israeli operations and warned Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to surrender or face further action. He also said Iran’s new leadership had expressed interest in talks and that he had agreed, though Iran’s National Security Council secretary, Ali Larijani, publicly rejected claims that Tehran was pursuing negotiations with Washington.

The conflict has spread beyond Iran and Lebanon. At least one person was reported killed in Bahrain during Iranian retaliatory attacks, and explosions were heard near a US base outside Baghdad. A suspected drone strike targeted RAF Akrotiri, a British base in Cyprus, causing limited damage but no casualties. Cyprus said it was coordinating closely with the United Kingdom following the incident. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged that the UK had allowed US forces to use British bases to strike Iranian missile sites and said contingency plans were underway for a large-scale evacuation of UK nationals from the Gulf.

Regional governments including the US, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates issued a joint statement condemning Iranian attacks and affirming their right to self-defence. Airspace closures across the Middle East disrupted aviation, with several major airports that serve as transit hubs between Europe, Africa and Asia suspending operations, affecting hundreds of thousands of travelers.

Financial markets reacted sharply. Brent crude surged as much as 13 percent in early Asian trading, briefly reaching a barrel - a 14-month high - amid concerns about the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route. Prices later eased but remained elevated, trading around .48 per barrel by midday in Tokyo. Asian equity markets declined, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling about 2 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, while US stock futures pointed to further losses on Wall Street.

In the United States, public opinion appeared divided. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 27 percent of Americans supported the strikes that killed Iran’s leader, while roughly half - including a quarter of Republicans - believed the president was too inclined to use military force. Anti-war protests were reported in several US cities, including outside the White House and in New York’s Times Square, as demonstrators voiced opposition to American involvement in the escalating regional conflict.