Israel Kills Iranian Intel Chief; Fighting Intensifies in Lebanon
Iran has vowed retaliation following the killing of its intelligence chief in an Israeli strike. Meanwhile, the death toll in Lebanon surpasses 950 as Israeli airstrikes continue to pound Beirut and the south.
Sercan Roni
The security situation across the Middle East deteriorated further on Thursday as Israel confirmed it had killed Iran's intelligence chief, Esmail Khatib, in a targeted strike, marking the latest in a string of high-profile assassinations that have decimated Tehran's leadership since the war began. Khatib's death follows the killing of security chief Ali Larijani, as Israel presses a campaign to eliminate senior Iranian officials .
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Khatib's killing as a "cowardly assassination," while the country's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed retaliation. "Every drop of spilled blood comes at a price," he said in a written message . In Washington, US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told Congress that while the Iranian government remains "intact but largely degraded," Tehran has not resumed nuclear enrichment activities .
The conflict has expanded dramatically on the Lebanese front, where fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified. The Lebanese Public Health Emergency Operations Center reported that between March 2 and March 18, Israeli attacks and airstrikes in Lebanon have killed 968 people and injured 2,432 others . Strikes hit central Beirut multiple times on Wednesday and Thursday, sending residents fleeing from affected areas.
A line of cars stretched along Lebanon's southern coast as residents fled to the ancient city of Sidon in search of safety. Nidal Ahmad Chokr, a 55-year-old resident of the village of Jibchit, described the escalating violence: "Bakers died while making bread in the village square and municipal workers were martyred while using bulldozers" . French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot traveled to Lebanon on Thursday in a visit that the ministry said "underlines France's support and solidarity with the Lebanese people, dragged into a war they didn't choose" .
In Iraq, the pro-Iranian armed group Kataeb Hezbollah announced it would halt attacks on the US embassy for five days, setting conditions including an end to Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and a halt to attacks on residential areas in Iraq. No drone or rocket fire targeting the heavily fortified US embassy in Baghdad was reported from Wednesday night through Thursday morning .
