A joint Israeli-US military operation continues to attack multiple points in Iran from the early morning of February 28, 2026. On the ninth day of war, Israel bombed Beirut for the first time and attacked 400 targets in Iran, while the ayatollahs chose their new supreme leader and the death toll in Lebanon rose to 394.
New Supreme Leader of Iran, elected but still anonymous. Two ayatollahs from Iran's Assembly of Experts, a body of clerics responsible for electing the new supreme leader, announced on Sunday that they have already reached a consensus on the successor to the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, although his name has not yet been announced. The announcement came after days of pressure from other ayatollahs to accelerate the process, in which US President Donald Trump has tried to influence to prevent the election of the deceased leader's son, Mojtaba Khamenei. The Israeli Army reiterated on Sunday in its Farsi-language X account that it will attack whoever is designated as the new supreme leader and "any person who seeks to appoint a successor" to the ayatollah whom Washington and Tehran killed at the start of the war on February 28.
Nearly 400 dead in Lebanon. Another 19 people, mostly women and children, were killed in another Israeli strike that on Sunday collapsed a three-story building in the southern town of Sir al Gharbiya, one of the largest massacres so far in Lebanon, where Israel had already killed 41 people in Nabih Chit on Saturday. In total, Israel has killed at least 394 people, including 83 children, in its attacks in Lebanon, which began on Monday after Hezbollah attacked Israel, Lebanon's Ministry of Health reported on Sunday. The offensive in the country has also left more than 1,000 injured and at least 112,000 displaced, while Hezbollah continues to launch limited-impact attacks against military targets in northern Israel.
Iran continues to attack the Persian Gulf. Iran, for its part, continued to attack the Persian Gulf, warning of a dangerous escalation after early morning strikes on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain and the subsequent launch of 17 projectiles and 117 drones at the United Arab Emirates, most of which were intercepted. The attacks made it clear that the promise of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to stop attacking neighboring countries is unlikely to be fulfilled, which has generated criticism within Iran. Iran's offensive in those countries, which has not only affected US targets but also civilian areas such as airports, ports, and hotels, has left at least 14 dead, according to a count by The New York Times, while Iran claims that more than 1,300 civilians have already died in its country.
First seriously injured person in Israel in a week. At least one person was seriously injured on Sunday in the Israeli Tel Aviv region following a barrage of missiles launched by Iran, marking the first serious injury reported in seven days in Israel, which has reported only ten deaths in total.
Israel intensifies its attacks on Iran and Lebanon, while Tehran elects a new supreme leader.
