The human face of the broader regional war was perhaps most visible in Lebanon, where 850,000 people had been displaced and more than 800 killed as Israel continued an intensive campaign against Hezbollah that showed no sign of easing. The figures, released on Saturday, made Lebanon’s displacement crisis one of the worst in the country’s recent history. Israel warned that the campaign would not slow, and successive waves of airstrikes continued to push civilians from their homes in southern Lebanon and other Hezbollah-controlled areas.
The Lebanon front was one of several simultaneous conflicts that had erupted alongside the main US-Iran war, which began on February 28. While the Hormuz crisis and the bombing of Kharg Island dominated international headlines, Lebanon’s suffering was unfolding at a scale that would have commanded global attention on its own in less turbulent times. The death of 31 Lebanese paramedics in Israeli strikes added to the humanitarian alarm, with Israel accusing Hezbollah of using ambulances to move fighters and weapons — claims that aid organisations and human rights monitors disputed as lacking credible evidence.
The main conflict continued to escalate simultaneously. US warplanes struck Kharg Island on Saturday for the second consecutive day. President Trump said in public remarks the island had been effectively demolished and called on allied nations to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. He named China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. Iran launched ballistic missiles at the UAE’s Fujairah oil port, suspending loading operations. Iranian commanders threatened any Gulf energy facility with American ties. Iran continued firing rockets at Israel as well, keeping every front active.
Israel conducted dozens of raids inside Iran on the same day it was attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon, demonstrating a remarkable and costly military operational tempo. At least 15 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a factory in Isfahan. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed Iran’s leadership was “desperate and hiding” and wounded. Iranian officials confirmed Khamenei’s injury but called it minor. The International Crisis Group assessed the regime as intact. Trump ruled out negotiations.
The full human toll of the conflict, across all its fronts, was becoming staggering. More than 1,400 Iranians had been killed in the bombing. Thirteen Israelis had died, and roughly 20 people across Gulf states. The 800 killed in Lebanon and 850,000 displaced added a further dimension of suffering to a regional crisis without parallel in recent memory. Six US troops died in an aircraft crash in Iraq. The US embassy in Baghdad was struck, and Americans in Iraq were ordered to leave. The scale of human displacement and death demanded an urgent search for peace that neither side appeared yet ready to undertake.
