The Middle East is ablaze on multiple simultaneous fronts as the US-Israeli offensive against Iran produces retaliation and counter-retaliation across a geographic arc stretching from Lebanon in the west to Kuwait in the east. President Donald Trump has demanded Iran’s unconditional surrender while Iran has refused and struck back at every available target. The war has become a conflict without a clear front line.
In Iran, American B-2 stealth bombers have struck deeply buried ballistic missile infrastructure with dozens of 2,000-pound penetrating munitions. A large Iranian naval vessel has been hit and possibly destroyed. Witnesses in Tehran described explosions shaking homes across the capital. Explosions also rocked Kermanshah, home to key missile facilities. Internet coverage has been reduced to approximately 1% of normal levels.
In Lebanon, Israel has issued the largest evacuation orders in the country’s recent history, displacing over one million people. Hezbollah’s strongholds in Beirut have been struck repeatedly, with the Dahiyeh district reduced to rubble. Hezbollah has fought back, launching rockets at northern Israel and wounding five Israeli soldiers near the border with anti-tank fire. The UN peacekeeping mission reported its Ghanaian battalion headquarters was struck, critically wounding two soldiers.
In the Gulf, Iran has launched missiles and drones at US military bases and oil infrastructure in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Some attacks were intercepted; others caused civilian and infrastructure damage. Six American soldiers were killed in Kuwait earlier in the week. Fresh waves of Iranian projectiles crossed Kuwaiti airspace on Friday. The British ambassador to Bahrain confirmed the UK would help defend the country with its fighter jets.
In Israel, missiles continued to be fired from Iran and by Hezbollah from Lebanon. Residential areas have been struck. Five soldiers have been wounded near the Lebanese border. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards claimed strikes on a military airbase and radar installation. Israel has continued its own offensive operations against every front simultaneously. In Washington, Trump has watched all of this and concluded that what is needed is not negotiation but more firepower. The war on every front continues.