Israel kills Iranian intelligence chief and intensifies attacks on Lebanon

By Nathan Morley

Israel says Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, has been killed in an overnight strike.

The report comes a day after Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, was killed in a separate Israeli attack.

Retaliatory strikes by Iran and allied militia groups continue across the Middle East.

In Israel, two people were killed in Tel Aviv, while explosions and drone interceptions were reported in Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, the U.S. military said it used bunker‑busting “deep penetrator” bombs to hit Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway, a key route for global oil shipments, has been effectively blocked by Iran since the war began.

Israel has also launched a series of strikes on Beirut as its offensive against Hezbollah intensifies.

One blast flattened a building in the city centre in an area surrounded by businesses and hotels.

Earlier this week, the Israeli military said it had begun “limited and targeted ground operations” against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

The escalation comes as more than 800,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced since U.S. and Israeli forces began their war against Iran, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration.

Meanwhile, the International Maritime Organization is preparing for an emergency meeting in London as concern grows over the impact of the conflict on commercial shipping. 

Thousands of seafarers and vessels remain stranded in or near the Gulf. 

The two‑day session is expected to consider draft resolutions, including a proposal for a safe maritime corridor to remove ships and crews from the Persian Gulf.