Strikes over Middle East widen

Airstrikes across the Middle East showed no signs of abating on Tuesday, after Iran's retaliatory attacks hit United States and Israeli military and political assets in most Gulf states, as Israel dragged Lebanon deeper into the fray.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave approval to the military to "advance and seize additional controlling areas in Lebanon to prevent firing on Israeli border settlements".

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said earlier it had launched an attack on the Ramat David air base in northern Israel, targeting radar sites and control rooms at the base by deploying "a swarm of drones" at dawn on Tuesday in retaliation against Israeli strikes in several areas of Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported.

The same day, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense confirmed it intercepted and destroyed eight drones near Riyadh and Al-Kharj.

A "limited fire" broke out at the US embassy in Riyadh after two drones attacked the building. The US embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a shelter-in-place notification for its citizens in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran.

Saudi Arabia also halted some operations at its Ras Tanura oil refinery following an attack. The facility is home to one of the largest refineries in the Middle East and is a cornerstone of the country's energy sector. The complex has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day.

The Defense Ministry of the United Arab Emirates said its air defenses were engaging a "barrage" of ballistic missiles from Iran.

In the Emirate of Fujairah, authorities responded to a fire that broke out in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone after debris fell following the successful interception of a drone by air defense systems. The Fujairah Media Office reported no injuries.

Australia's Defense Minister Richard Marles confirmed reports that its military headquarters — the Al Minhad Air Base just 24 kilometers south of Dubai — had been hit over the weekend.

Qatar's Defense Ministry said its air force shot down two Sukhoi Su-24 bombers — the first time a Gulf country has hit Iranian planes.

As the attacks widened to energy facilities, QatarEnergy, one of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas exporters, suspended production after drone strikes on two of its sites.

In Iran, heavy Israeli strikes targeted the state TV broadcaster and other areas in Tehran.

A commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the Strait of Hormuz was "closed" and warned that vessels attempting to pass through the vital shipping lane would be attacked.

Meanwhile, Egypt and Iraq called for de-escalation to prevent the Middle East from sliding into "total chaos".

Urging a halt

Qatar, in its message to the United Nations concerning Iran's attack on its territory, reiterated its call for an immediate halt to all escalatory actions and a return to the negotiating table.

"Obviously, neither the US nor Israel bothered to calculate how this would affect the regional security or the global economy," Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, told China Daily.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that two US Defense Department employees were wounded when an Iranian drone struck a hotel in Bahrain's capital, Manama.

Hadi Rahmat Purnama, chair of the Center for International Law Studies at the Faculty of Law at Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta, told China Daily that the definitions of legitimate targets are changeable.

Under International Humanitarian Law, a civilian building, such as an airport or hotel, loses its protected status and becomes a legitimate military target "if it is being used to effectively contribute to military action", Purnama said.

"Civilian buildings or infrastructure can become targets if used for tactical defense, shelter for combatants or storing military supplies," he said.

Even if the target is military, the attack "is illegal if the expected incidental loss of civilian life or damage to civilian property is excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated", he added.

Under the law, the party being attacked — the US or the host nation — also has an obligation to avoid locating military installations close to dense civilian populations, he said.

"However, the failure to do so does not release the attacker from their obligation to follow the principles of proportionality and distinction," Purnama said.