Middle East: Kuwait hit by missiles and drones

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, 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.

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.

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.