Top News

Reported by: Timothy Jones with Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered the military to strike Beirut's southern suburbs
• Kuwait says its air defenses have been responding to missile and drone attacks
• The US military said it has targeted radar and drone sites in Iran
• Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it has struck a US base in retaliation for the US attacks

This is a roundup of the developments in Iran and the Middle East on Monday, June 1:

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Israel says orders strikes on southern Beirut suburb

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday said they had told Israel's military to carry out strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut's southern suburbs.

"In light of the repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the attacks on our cities and citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to strike terror targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut," a joint statement said.

Dahiyeh, a Shi'ite suburb known as a stronghold of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia, has come under Israeli attack several times in the past two decades.

Israeli strikes and evacuation orders in Lebanon have displaced more than 1.2 million ⁠Lebanese since March 2, when Hezbollah began firing missiles and drones into Israel to support its ally Iran as it faced a US-Israeli offensive.

The Israeli offensive has so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the ​Lebanese government.

⁠Israel says more than 20 of its soldiers and four civilians have been ⁠killed over ​the same period.

Tens of thousands of Israelis in the country's north have also been forced from their homes by Hezbollah rockets and drones.

Security Council set for emergency meeting on Lebanon — diplomatic sources

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday on the conflict in Lebanon as Israeli forces move deep into the country during their offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, diplomatic sources told the AFP news agency.

The meeting has been requested by France, with President Emmanuel Macron saying "nothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that his country was facing "a vicious and reprehensible Israeli aggression" after Israel captured the medieval Beaufort Castle, marking its deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years.

The continued fighting in Lebanon comes despite a truce that began April 17 but has never brought any respite.

Hezbollah has said it has targeted Israeli forces near Beaufort Castle as well as army positions and infrastructure in Shlomi and Nahariya in northern Israel.

A US official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ongoing diplomatic negotiations, asserting that Hezbollah must be the first to cease its attacks.

The official said Rubio had proposed a plan to allow for "gradual de-escalation."

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in response to the US-Israeli killing of Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Kuwait reports drone and missile fire

Kuwait, which hosts a major US base, said on Monday it was intercepting incoming drone and missile fire, without giving details as to where it was coming from.

Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has, however, said that it has targeted a US base in response to the US weekend strikes on Iranian military sites, making it seem likely that it is behind the Kuwait attacks.

Gulf states have come under several attacks from Iran during the current conflict, with Tehran saying it is targeting the US military presence there.

US bombed military sites in Iran on weekend — US military

The US military said on Monday it had targeted radar and drone control sites in Iran over the weekend after Iranian forces shot down a US MQ-1 Predator drone.

The US military's Central Command said it conducted the strikes in Iran around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island.

"The measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters," it said.

"US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters," it added.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted an air base used by the US for an attack on southern Iran in response.

It did not identify the base.

The attacks come despite a weekslong ceasefire that has already been undermined by numerous military actions on both sides.

Welcome to our coverage

The current war in the Middle East, triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, is still going on after three months despite numerous exchanges between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the conflict.

A ceasefire that went into effect on April 8 has mitigated the fighting, but both the US and Iran are continuing with limited attacks.

Israel has meanwhile not ceased its military efforts to combat the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, with its forces over the weekend marking the deepest incursion into the country in 26 years with the capture of Beaufort Castle.

DW brings you reports and background on a conflict that has spread throughout the Middle East region and that is having a major impact on economies around the world.

(Disclaimer: This report first appeared on Deutsche Welle, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.)