Israel has launched a series of strikes on Lebanon’s capital Beirut and has ordered evacuations in the country’s south, as it continues its offensive against the Hezbollah.
One blast flattened a building in the city centre, this isn’t the so-called Hezbollah heartland of southern Beirut, but an area surrounded by businesses and hotels.
Meanwhile, the US military says it has used powerful “deep penetrator” bombs to hit Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz; the vital waterway for transporting oil has been effectively blocked by Iran since the war began.
That the US is using 5,000lb (2270kg) bunker busters is further evidence that Iran keeps many of its weapons buried deep underground.
US Central Command (Centcom) did not specify which penetrators it used against what it called hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz.
But there are two known variants that fit the criteria: the GBU (Guided Bomb Unit)-28 laser-guided bomb and the newer GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator.
The latter is the one more likely to have been deployed.
First tested in 2021, the bomb is a large Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) free-fall precision munition guided to target by satellites and Inertial Navigation System.
At the time of testing, the US Air Force (USAF) said the GBU-72 was “developed to overcome hardened deeply buried target challenges and designed for both fighter and bomber aircraft.
“The weapon design and its projected effectiveness were developed using advanced modeling and simulation techniques and processes before the first warhead was forged.”
Meanwhile, Iranian media reports that a man described as an “Israeli spy” was executed today.
The man, identified as Koroush Keyvani, was arrested during the 12-day war with Israel in June 2025, accused of passing images and information about the country’s “sensitive sites” to the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, according to a report by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps affiliated news agency, Tasnim.
It reports that Keyvani was initially identified by Israeli security in Sweden in 2023 after clicking on an online advertisement for group trips.
The report states that he was then recruited by a Mossad officer, and, after two years of training in six European countries and in Tel Aviv, he was sent to Iran to carry out operations.
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Iran’s army chief has warned of a “decisive” response after Israel killed security chief Ali Larijani, the most senior official to be killed since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
His death deepens a crisis at the heart of Iran’s leadership.
Also, retaliatory strikes by Iran and its allied militia groups continue, in Israel, two people are killed in Tel Aviv, with blasts and drone interceptions reported in the UAE’s Dubai, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
however, in Iran, residents are living in constant dread, with a woman in Tehran telling the BBC she’s too scared to go to work, adding that “leaving home is like gambling with my life.”
