Israel hits Iran hard
The IDF says it struck roughly 200 Iranian military sites in the past 24 hours and is lining up “thousands” more targets as the campaign — Israeli officials warn — could run for weeks, focused on degrading missile and production capacity rather than a ground invasion coverage and reports. Southern Lebanon is heating up too: Israel has widened buffer‑zone operations there while U.S. and French mediation is reportedly being pitched to open direct Israel‑Lebanon talks amid Hezbollah flareups coverage and on‑the‑ground posts.
President Donald Trump said U.S. forces “totally obliterated” military targets on Kharg Island in a bombing raid on March 13, 2026 (apnews.com). Kharg Island is the hub for roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports, a vulnerability traders and analysts say could roil markets if infrastructure is hit further (usnews.com). The IDF has told analysts it has rendered more than 300 Iranian mobile ballistic‑missile launchers inoperable since the campaign began on Feb. 28, 2026 (understandingwar.org). Israeli officials also said the air campaign has flown over 1,600 sorties against Iranian targets in the first weeks of operations, according to military briefings cited by local outlets (jns.org). U.S. and Israeli assessments reported to Bloomberg estimate that strikes have degraded up to about 80% of Iran’s integrated air‑defence networks, a factor analysts link to the drop in Iranian missile salvos in recent days (understandingwar.org). Iran, meanwhile, has launched several hundred ballistic missiles at Israel since the war began, according to Israeli tracking and local reporting (timesofisrael.com). The IAF carried out concentrated, multi‑wave attacks across western and central Iran this week, with operations striking sites in Tehran, Shiraz, Ahvaz and Isfahan, and the military describing some days as 20 separate strike waves (lokmattimes.com). A missile that hit a factory in Isfahan on March 14 was reported by Iran’s Fars news agency to have killed at least 15 people, according to international wires (english.alarabiya.net). On the Lebanon front, the IDF announced limited ground operations and an expanded buffer‑zone push in southern Lebanon on March 16 as clashes with Hezbollah intensified, with Israeli forces moving to secure border areas (france24.com). France has offered to host direct Israel‑Lebanon talks in Paris and, together with U.S. envoys, is reported to be pressing a mediation package that would include a political declaration and steps toward Hezbollah disarmament, according to French and regional diplomatic reporting (aljazeera.com).
