Civilian sites hit in Tehran, Israeli strikes hit Beirut

0:00Al Jazeera Podcasts Thousands of people have gathered in the Iranian capital for the funerals of high-ranking military officials killed in recent US-Israeli attacks. And senior leaders of Iran and its armed forces have been targeted by the US in Israel since the war began 12 days ago. Five pictures from Tehran and that includes former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who is killed by a US air strike in Tehran. His funeral has been repeatedly delayed because of ongoing attacks. Over night air strikes have hit near Tehran's Macrabad airport in earlier attacks. Israeli forces claim they were targeting military command centers. The red crescent says a residential building was hit and rescue teams have been digging through rubble searching for people. Israel is waging a war on two fronts, escalating tension in the region and increasing this risk of spillover conflicts.

1:03For 12 days, Israeli and US forces have been bombing Iran. Those attacks have so far killed more than 1,300 people and in Lebanon attacks over the past 10 days have killed more than 570 people. Meanwhile, more than 700,000 people are estimated to be internally displaced across the country. Israeli forces have launched several attacks across Lebanon on wednesday killing more than a dozen people. Israel has repeatedly issued forced evacuation orders for large areas in the south and in Beirut claiming it's attacking Hezbollah sites. Well, three commercial ships have been hit by unidentified projectiles near the state of Hamuz. That's according to the UK Manitain Trade Operations Centre which monitors activity in the waterway. The strait is a major international shipping route for oil and gas. Iran's revolutionary guard closed it shortly after the war began. Israel and the US are also bombing targets in the strait. Iranian officials have blamed the security situation on the US.

2:04About 20 percent of global oil supplies are transported through the waterway. Meanwhile, the US Central Command has released images of what President Trump says are 16 Iranian vessels that the US military destroyed near the strait of Hamuz. He says they were planning to lay mines, but Washington does not have any reports of them doing that. Trump has warned of grave consequences if Iran continues to block the strait. And the last week President Trump said the US Navy would soon begin escorting tankers. However, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kane, has revealed there are no plans to do so yet. If tasked to escort, we'll look at the range of options to set the military conditions to be able to do that. And like we always do with every potential mission, come to the Secretary and the President with both what are the resources required, what is the command and control required, and what are the risks and how do we mitigate those risks. So we're looking at a range of options there and we'll figure out how to solve problems as they come to us.