Beirut Evacuation: Israel Warning Sparks Panic

Panic flooded Beirut this Thursday (03/05/2026) following an unprecedented call from Israel to evacuate the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, in anticipation of bombings against this Hezbollah stronghold.

Lebanon was embroiled in the war in the Middle East on Monday, after a first attack against Israel by the pro-Iran movement.

Hezbollah claimed to want to “avenge” the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died on the first day of the Israeli-American offensive on Saturday.

At least 77 people have been killed since Monday and another 90,000 have been displaced, according to Lebanese authorities, by the Israeli campaign of attacks.

“Save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” the Israeli Army urged residents of the entire southern outskirts of Beirut, where hundreds of thousands of people live, on Thursday. (afp, ap)

The airline group Lufthansa extended the interruption of its flights to the Middle East in the face of the escalation of violence in the region and the closure of the airspace of many countries after Israel and the US attacked Iran and Tehran’s response.

The airlines of the Lufthansa group, to which Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and ITA also belong, suspend their flights to Tel Aviv until March 22, to Beirut until the 28th of the same month, and to Tehran until April 30. Meanwhile, flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi will be suspended until March 10, and those to Amman and Erbil (Iraq) until March 15. (EFE, Reuters)

Azerbaijan put its Armed Forces on alert this Thursday (03/05/2026) after a drone attack attributed to Iran, which the Azerbaijani leader, Ilham Aliyev, described as a “terrorist act.” “Our armed forces – the Ministry of Defense, the State Border Service and all other special forces units – have been put on high alert and must be prepared to carry out any operation,” he declared at a meeting of the country’s Security Council, meeting urgently after the incident that left four injured today and whose responsibility was denied by Tehran.

Aliyev stated that the “dishonest people who committed that terrorist act will regret it.” “Don’t test our strength,” he warned. The Azerbaijani president affirmed that those responsible for the attack must be brought to justice and demanded explanations and apologies from the Iranian authorities. He also assured that Azerbaijan is not and will not participate in operations against neighboring Iran, where many ethnic Azerbaijanis live.

The Iranian Army denied this Thursday that it had attacked the airport in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan with drones, as well as a school, after the Government of Azerbaijan denounced it. (EFE, AFP)

The number of people who have died in the attacks by Israel and the United States against Iran since Saturday has now risen to 1,230, as reported this Thursday (03/05/2026) by the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation of the Persian country. “The number of martyrs who have been buried until March 4, 2026 is 1,230,” the foundation said, quoted in official Iranian media.

This Thursday, Israel launched the twelfth wave of attacks against Iran, which focused mainly on military targets – military headquarters, the Revolutionary Guard and weapons warehouses, according to the Israeli Army – in Tehran. However, the spokesperson for the Iranian government, Fatemeh Mohajerani, assured this same day that Israel and the United States attack civilian targets such as schools, universities and medical centers.

According to the official, to date they have attacked 20 educational centers, 11 hospitals, 6 emergency centers, 7 Red Crescent centers and 14 medical centers. The figures remain provisional due to access restrictions, the almost total interruption of the Internet and difficulties with independent verification on the ground. (EFE, AFP)

The Israel Defense Forces called this Thursday (03/05/2026) on the inhabitants of the entire southern outskirts of Beirut, one of the strongholds of the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement and where hundreds of thousands of people live, to evacuate “immediately.” “Urgent message to the inhabitants” of the southern periphery: “save your lives and immediately evacuate your homes,” said an Arabic-speaking spokesman for the Israeli army, Colonel Avichay Adraee, on X (Twitter). The spokesperson provided the population with routes to move north and east. “It is prohibited to move to the south. Any movement to the south can endanger your life,” he added. (EFE, AFP)

The Iranian Army denied this Thursday (03/05/2026) that it had attacked the airport in the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan with drones, after the Government of Azerbaijan reported it. “The Islamic Republic of Iran, while respecting the sovereignty of all countries, especially Muslim and neighboring countries, denies that its Armed Forces have launched any drone towards the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a statement.

Tehran also accused Israel of carrying out that attack to blame the Islamic Republic. (EFE, AFP)

France authorized this Thursday (03/05/2026) the presence of US aircraft at its bases in the Middle East, the scene of the war between the United States and Israel against Iran, declared the French General Staff. “In the framework of our relations with the United States, the temporary presence of their planes in our bases” in the region has been authorized, declared a spokeswoman for the General Staff, confirming information from the LCI network. “These aircraft contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf,” he added. (AFP, EFE)

Russia has not received any request for help from Iran, including requests for weapons, following the attacks by the United States and Israel on the Persian nation, declared this Thursday (03/05/2026) the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov. “In this case there has been no request from Iran,” he said during his daily telephone press conference.

Peskov noted that Russia’s position regarding the conflict in Iran “is well known to everyone” and stressed that “there is no change in this regard.” A day earlier, the spokesperson had expressed “our deep disappointment that (…) the situation deteriorated, in any case, into direct aggression.”

Moscow launched large-scale direct aggression against Ukraine in 2022. (EFE, AFP)

The Spanish Ministry of Defense announced this Thursday (03/05/2026) the sending of a frigate to Cyprus for “protection” tasks, in the company of a French aircraft carrier and other ships of the Greek Navy, after a British military base on that island was hit by a drone.

The frigate “Cristóbal Colón” will have “air protection and defense” duties and will help in “any evacuation of civilian personnel,” indicated the ministry’s statement, which made this announcement in full tension with the United States for its refusal to allow it to use Spanish bases against Iran, in a war that Madrid considers illegal. (AFP, EFE)

Spain will “consider” providing military aid to Cyprus if its European partners request it, said this Thursday (03/05/2026) the Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, in full tension with the United States over its refusal to allow it to use Spanish bases against Iran, in a war that Madrid considers illegal.

Spain “will take it into account and evaluate it” if “the European Union, to protect Cyprus, decides on some missions,” Robles said in an interview with Cadena Ser radio, after projectiles attributed to Iran fell on the British military base of Akrotiri, in Cypriot territory.

“It will be assessed, and at the time, what needs to be done will be done publicly. In this whole series of things we all have to be very prudent, we have to be very discreet,” added Robles, specifying that any decision will be made “always in accordance with the great general principles, always with an international framework.”
Cyprus is a member of the EU, but not NATO. On Sunday, the British Akrotiri military base in Cyprus was hit by a drone. (AFP, EFE)

This Thursday (03/05/2026) Iran attacked the airport and a school in the enclave of Nakhchivan, southwest of Azerbaijan, 10 kilometers from the border with the Persian country. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry accused Tehran of what happened. “As a result of the attack, the airport was damaged and two civilians were injured. Baku strongly condemns this incident; these actions contravene the norms and principles of international law and contribute to the escalation of tensions in the region,” it said in a statement. (EFE, AFP)

Italy will send air defense means to the Gulf countries affected by the Iranian attacks in retaliation for the offensive by the United States and Israel, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said this Thursday (03/05/2026), who stressed that Rome “is not at war.”

“Italy, like the United Kingdom, France and Germany, intends to send aid to the Gulf countries. We are clearly talking about defense, air defense (…) because there are tens of thousands of Italians in that area and around 2,000 soldiers that we must protect,” he said. Furthermore, Meloni said in statements to RTL 102.5 radio, “the Gulf is vital for energy supplies.”

Asked about the possible involvement of the three US military bases in Italy, Meloni said they had authorization for “non-bombing operations.” Any change in this orientation, he noted, would have to be considered by the government, and probably by the Italian parliament. But “to date, we have no requests in this regard,” he said. (AFP, EFE)

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard stated this Thursday (03/05/2026) that it attacked a United States oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf and that the ship is on fire. “The American tanker was hit early today by fighters from the Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force in the northern Persian Gulf and is currently on fire,” the elite military body said in a statement.

The incident, which has yet to be independently confirmed, comes as the Guard claims to have “full control” of the Strait of Hormuz, a key point for the global oil trade. (EFE, AFP)

The Iranian Armed Forces announced this Thursday (03/05/2026) that they launched an attack against positions of Kurdish groups in Iraqi Kurdistan, after the President of the United States, Donald Trump, spoke with leaders of that ethnic group about American “bases” in northern Iraq.

“We have attacked the headquarters of the Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles,” indicates a military statement cited by the Irna agency. These bombings, which according to a spokesman caused the death of a member of an Iranian Kurdish group in exile, came preceded by warnings from the Iranian authorities.

“Separatist groups should not imagine that a new wind has blown and try to act,” warned Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Iran considers the Komala and the Kurdish Democratic Party organizations – opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran – terrorist groups and has bombed their facilities in Iraq on several occasions in recent years. (EFE, AFP)

The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces denied this Thursday (03/05/2026) that it had launched a missile against Türkiye. “The Islamic Republic of Iran respects the sovereignty of Turkey, a neighboring and friendly country, and denies any launch of missiles into its territory,” he said in a statement reported by Iranian media.

NATO defenses in Turkey intercepted a ballistic missile “fired from Iran” over the eastern Mediterranean on Wednesday and the remains of the anti-aircraft munition fell in the extreme south of the country, without causing any casualties, according to the Turkish Government, in the first incident on Turkish soil since Saturday. (EFE)