West Asia truce shaky as Iran missiles target Kuwait, Israel escalates Lebanon campaign

A fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran showed dangerous signs of collapse after Iranian missiles struck Kuwait late Wednesday (May 27), drawing sharp condemnation from the US military, which called the attack an “egregious ceasefire violation”. The American military said Kuwait intercepted the missiles launched by Tehran. The attack was the latest flare-up in the regional conflict, which started on February 28 with joint Israel-US strikes on Iran.

Iran said it had retaliated after strikes earlier in the week on a US base in a Gulf state it did not name.

Iran moves after US strikes

The Iranian strike came after, earlier in the week, the US said it had struck Iranian missile launch sites, minelaying boats and attack drones it said posed threats near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

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The US carried out fresh overnight strikes in Iran targeting a military site that officials said posed a threat to American forces and commercial maritime traffic in the Strait, a US official was quoted as saying by Reuters on Wednesday.

Israel steps up attacks on Lebanon

Israel was not sitting idle either. Early on Thursday (May 28), it significantly stepped up its military campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah, attacking its fourth-largest city, Sidon, which killed at least 14 people across the country's south. The dead included five women, children, and a Lebanese soldier, with dozens more wounded, according to Lebanon's health ministry and state news agency.

An Israeli soldier was also killed in a Hezbollah drone attack in northern Israel, the Israeli military said.

The intensification comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion in the Israeli military's attacks in Lebanon, apparently sparked by Hezbollah's use of fibre-optic exploding drones that have struck Israeli troops in Lebanon and reached some of Israel's northern border towns.

The latest strikes take place on the eve of the Lebanese and Israeli military officials’ security talks in Washington. The talks have extended a nominal ceasefire that went into effect on April 17, although the attacks have since intensified, while sparing the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Hezbollah has dismissed the talks and instead endorsed its key ally Iran, which has made ending the war in Lebanon a condition for its own talks with Washington, brokered by Pakistan.

Also read: Iran blasts fresh US strikes as sign of ‘bad faith’; ceasefire talks face new strain

Before Thursday’s attacks, Israeli military Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued warnings to eight buildings in Lebanon’s coastal city of Tyre along the Mediterranean and surrounding neighbourhoods. Many people have fled the region.

In Sidon, an Israeli drone struck an apartment building where some displaced families lived, killing five people and wounding 21 others, among them five children. Among the killed was Hossan Zeidan, who was once a correspondent for Iran's Arabic-language al-Aalam television.

Mohammad Al-Gharbi, who lived across the street from the building in Sidon, woke to the sound of the explosion.

“I was in my room when part of the wall and shattered glass fell on me, and everything was thrown into chaos,” he said. “This building that was hit had six apartments occupied by poor families who had fled from the south to escape the attacks there, only to be hit here.” In the nearby coastal town of Adloun, an Israeli drone struck a car with a family that was fleeing, killing six people, of whom four were two children and their parents, the Lebanese health ministry said.

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Another drone strike that came without warning killed two people on a motorcycle near Tyre. The target of the attack was not immediately clear, NNA reported.

Hezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it says targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The group said Thursday it has launched several attacks on Israeli troops and tanks that have crossed the Litani River into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqieh near Nabatiyeh, as close-range fighting continues.

Over 1 million displaced in Lebanon

Over a million people in Lebanon have been displaced by the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which was triggered when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, two days after the war began.

At least 3,269 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, with nearly 10,000 injured.

(With agency inputs)