Beirut, Lebanon – Em Walid was in the clothing shop she owns in central Beirut when the sound of explosions rang out.

“Even the street cats outside started running,” she said, after Israel carried out its heaviest and deadliest air attacks on Lebanon in years.

At least 254 people were killed and more than 1,160 were injured in dozens of attacks on Beirut, its suburbs, the south of the country and the eastern Bekaa Valley. There are fears the toll could rise as more victims are recovered from the rubble following the strikes – a sharp escalation since Israel ramped up its attacks on Lebanon early last month amid its joint war with the United States against Iran.

The strikes came hours after a Pakistani-negotiated ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect. There was initial confusion about Lebanon’s place in the two-week truce, with Pakistan and Iran insisting it was part of the agreement.

Israel and the US, however, argued otherwise. Speaking to US media, US President Donald Trump said Lebanon was a “separate skirmish”, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon”.

“Netanyahu wants to take advantage of the fluid situation to maximise operational achievements in Lebanon,” Dania Arayssi, a senior analyst at New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, told Al Jazeera.

“He must take into account that a US-Iran deal might include ceasing the war on Iranian proxies, which would greatly complicate the Israeli war effort against Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

Israel intensified its war on Lebanon for the second time in less than two years in early March following a salvo of rockets launched by the Lebanese group Hezbollah. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah had ostensibly been in place since November 27, 2024, but Israel continued carrying out near-daily attacks that killed hundreds of Lebanese.

The Iran-backed group claimed its March 2 attack – its first response to more than a year of Israeli ceasefire violations – was retaliation for the US and Israeli assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei two days earlier, on the first day of the US-Israel war on Iran.

Since then, relentless Israeli bombardment and a ground invasion have killed some 1,700 people in Lebanon and forced more than 1.2 million from their homes.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it has a “right” to respond to the attacks, affirming “that the blood of the martyrs and the wounded will not be shed in vain, and that today’s massacres, like all acts of aggression and savage crimes, confirm our natural and legal right to resist the occupation and respond to its aggression”.

‘Just way too many of them’

The wave of attacks came as some of those displaced attempted to return to their homes in the south amid confusion over Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire. Strikes happened across the country, including in parts of Beirut that had been spared over the past month and in 2024.

The first round included dozens of attacks in fewer than 10 minutes. The Israeli military claimed it attacked more than 100 Hezbollah headquarters and military targets, though many strikes were in densely populated residential areas.

No warnings were given.

Hospitals, frantically dealing with high casualty counts, started putting out calls for blood donations.

At the American University of Beirut Medical Center, in the Hamra neighbourhood, dozens heeded the call. Among those cramming the third-floor reception was a 20-year-old American University of Beirut student, majoring in philosophy. His family had fled Dahiyeh, in southern Beirut, when the attacks started in early March. They had taken refuge near the Basta neighbourhood, in the centre of the capital.

He was at the university, near the hospital, when the first rounds of attack happened.

“I heard several explosions,” the student, who did not give his name, said. “There were just way too many of them.”

The student recalled looking up and seeing smoke rising in the distance in multiple places around the city. Reports began coming in of attacks all over the nation. There was one near his aunt’s place in the Aley district, about a half-hour drive from Beirut, he said. She was fine – but a neighbour had been killed.

In the Manara neighbourhood, near Beirut’s seafront, Najib Merhe smoked a cigarette and chatted with neighbours. An Israeli attack had destroyed an apartment a few floors above his restaurant, Hani’s, a long-standing, popular burger joint.

He was not on site when the attack happened, but his son was. Luckily, he was unharmed.

“People are afraid,” Merhe said. “This kind of situation no one can afford nor endure.”

Across the street, the glass facade of his restaurant had been destroyed. Light fixtures hung from the ceilings. People swept glass on the street, and old men walking along the seafront gathered to look at the hole in the wall where the apartment had been just a couple of hours earlier.

Security forces had cordoned off the area and directed passersby to beware of falling glass from the adjacent building.

This was one of the smaller strikes. It was targeting a specific apartment. In other parts of town, Israel took down entire buildings.

Further down the street in Manara, a sweat-drenched member of Beirut’s civil defence forces sat in the back of his emergency response vehicle. “I heard ‘woooooo’ and then strikes all over the place,” he said, adding that he’d never seen anything like this before.

As the day continued, people feared Israel was not finished. In televised remarks, Netanyahu said that his military’s operations against Hezbollah, and thus Lebanon, would continue.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López and Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler were ejected after getting into a brawl Tuesday night.

Soler homered off López in the first inning, then was hit by a 96 mph fastball from the right-hander his next time up. In the fifth, Soler charged the mound after López threw a high-and-inside wild pitch that tipped off catcher Jonah Heim’s mitt.

At first, López held up his hands as the two glared at each other before both started throwing punches.

“I asked him if everything was OK and the answer he gave me, I didn’t like it,” Soler said through a translator, according to MLB.com. “That’s why I went out there.”

The benches and bullpens emptied as players from both teams tried to separate the two. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss was among those who tackled Soler, the 2021 World Series MVP with the Braves.

“I love Soler. We were teammates here,” Weiss said. “But that’s a big man, and so I just felt I’ve gotta get him off his feet because he’s gonna hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, yeah, because he was on a warpath.”

López was still holding the baseball when he landed a punch on Soler’s batting helmet.

The two were teammates in Atlanta during the second half of the 2024 season.

“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” López said through a translator, according to MLB.com. “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So, again, it’s just a shame.”

Atlanta led 4-2 when the fight occurred and went on to a 7-2 victory.

Soler’s two-run shot in the first made him 14 for 23 with five homers and three doubles against López.

“Obviously, I have good numbers against him,” Soler said. “After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that, and then he missed way too high and close to my head. At this level, you can’t miss like that.”

Weiss understood why Soler was mad.

“I know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers against Lópey, and he hit a homer, he hit him. It didn’t look good,” Weiss said. “Lópey’s not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get ’em out. Our job is to get ’em out. But I understand why Soler got angry. And he’s a really mild-mannered guy. So, I think the switch flipped for him.

“There was no intent there. I just think that Lópey’s just overthrowing, because he’s had a hard time getting him out. But he’s certainly not trying to hit him,” Weiss added.

López pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

“Obviously, guy’s got good numbers off López, and hits a homer his first at-bat. Gets drilled up high in the wrist his second at-bat and then third one takes a good swing and then throws the next one head-high. It wasn’t over his head but it was head-high coming in,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said.

“I don’t blame Jorge one bit. He went out there and words were exchanged and Jorge went out,” Suzuki added. “You get thrown at your head, you have a family, your career, you know, it’s dangerous. I know it’s part of the game. I know it happens.”

The Angels won 6-2 on Monday in the opener of the three-game series. Tuesday night’s game was more eventful, to say the least.

“It gets your juices flowing a little bit, on both teams I’m sure,” Weiss said. “So, as long as nobody gets hurt, it’s kind of a good time. But as long as nobody gets hurt. But yeah, I was proud of our guys the way we handled everything tonight.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations took a swipe at President Donald Trump on Tuesday hours before Trump’s deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, calling one of the president’s posts on Truth Social “deeply irresponsible” and “profoundly alarming.” 

Trump has given the Iranian regime until 8 p.m. ET to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a key waterway — or face strikes against its power plants and bridges.  

In a post Tuesday morning, Trump said, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” and, “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” 

“Today the President of the United States again resorted to language that is not only deeply irresponsible but profoundly alarming, declaring that, quote, ‘the whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back,’ unquote,” Amir-Saeid Iravani said at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday afternoon.

RUSSIA, CHINA VETO UN RESOLUTION AIMED AT REOPENING STRAIT OF HORMUZ, HOURS BEFORE TRUMP DEADLINE

“It is regrettable and alarming that while in full view of the international community, the President of the United States shamelessly and brazenly issues threats to destroy all civilian infrastructure in Iran, including bridges, power plants and energy facilities, by setting a deadline and openly reveals this intent to commit vile crimes and crimes against humanity,” Iravani added. 

The White House, when asked by Fox News Digital for reaction, said, “The Iranian regime has committed egregious human rights abuses against its own citizens for 47 years, just murdered tens of thousands of protestors in January, and has indiscriminately targeted civilians across the region in order to cause as much death as possible throughout this conflict.”

CHINA AIDING IRAN MISSILE PROGRAM AMID US-ISRAELI STRIKES, REPORTS SAY

“As President Trump said today, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, and the Iranian people welcome the sound of bombs because it means their oppressors are losing. The President will always stand with innocent civilians while annihilating the terrorists responsible for threatening our country and the entire world with a nuclear weapon,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly added. “Greater destruction can be avoided if the regime understands the seriousness of this moment and makes a deal with the United States.”

Trump also said Tuesday, “now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” the president added. “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!”