Here’s What Happened in the War in the Middle East on Friday

The Israeli military and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon traded strikes on Friday as the war on Iran reached the end of its second week, and the Trump administration said the United States was increasing the pace of its aerial attacks.

The U.S. military conducted a large bombing raid on Kharg Island, a key port and Iran’s oil export hub, President Trump said on social media on Friday night. He said that the raid had “totally obliterated” military forces on the island, but that he had directed the Pentagon not to damage its oil infrastructure “for reasons of decency.”

Earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had said Friday would be the most intense and lethal day of the U.S. air campaign in Iran so far. But he offered few details on how the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route that Iran has largely closed since the start of the war, could return to the busy shipping artery it was before the war began. In a radio interview with the Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Mr. Trump softened his call for Iranians to rise up against their clerical rulers and overthrow the regime. He has delivered mixed messages over when the war would end and how a new government could take shape in Iran.

Here’s what else happened on Friday:

Death toll: At least 1,940 people have been killed since the start of the war, most in Iran. More than 1,348 civilians there had been killed as of Wednesday, said Iran’s representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Iravani. Iran has offered no updates to the death toll in the country since then. Up to 3.2 million people are now displaced inside the country, according to preliminary assessments by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In Lebanon, officials said that nearly 800 people have been killed — including more than 100 children — and nearly 2,000 others have been wounded as of Friday. More than 800,000 people there have been displaced. Roughly one in 10 children in the country was among the displaced, according to the international charity War Child.

At least 13 American service members have been killed in operations related to the war, including six crew members on a U.S. military KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in Iraq on Thursday.
Iran: Thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran, the Iranian capital, for a rally against Israel and the United States. Demonstrators chanted, “Death to America” and carried posters bearing the image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader killed on Feb. 28. The rally, known as Quds Day, is held annually by the government on the last Friday of Ramadan.

Later in the day, the Israeli military said it began a new wave of strikes on Tehran, as residents reported heavy explosions. In the strikes on Kharg Island, U.S. bombers targeted the island’s military infrastructure, striking missile storage sites and sites that housed Iranian mines, a military official said. He said the United States did not target the economic infrastructure on the island.

Mr. Hegseth said on Friday that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, had been “wounded and likely disfigured” in one of the attacks since the start of the war two weeks ago. The younger Mr. Khamenei issued his first public statement on the war Thursday without accompanying audio or video.

Lebanon: The Israeli military said it struck a bridge over the Litani River in southern Lebanon that was being used by Hezbollah to transfer munitions. The bridge was also a link used by civilians trying to move north because of Israeli strikes in the southern areas known for being Hezbollah strongholds.

The day after deadly Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut, Israeli planes dropped leaflets in the Lebanese capital on Friday, urging people to disarm Hezbollah. Some of the leaflets referred to the Israeli invasion of Gaza as “a remarkable success,” unnerving residents who feared Israel may be preparing a large-scale ground invasion.
Persian Gulf: Air defenses of the United Arab Emirates intercepted Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles on Friday morning, according to the U.A.E. defense ministry. Debris struck the facade of at least one building in central Dubai, U.A.E. officials said. No injuries were reported.

Iran has shown no signs of easing its grip over the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for a fifth of the world’s oil between the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The Iranian military has attacked multiple ships in and around the waterway, following the younger Mr. Khamenei’s directive to continue blocking the vital oil route, leading to a jump in oil prices.

On Friday, Mr. Hegseth vowed that the U.S. military would counter Iran’s efforts to block the strait but offered few details on how or when. It is “something we’re dealing with and have been dealing with it and don’t need to worry about,” he said.
Israel: A missile attack in northern Israel injured dozens of people early Friday, Israel’s emergency medical service said. Hezbollah said that it had launched missiles toward that area.