President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Iranian state television confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes. His son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen on Sunday to succeed him.
Iran is responding to the operation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and multiple Gulf nations. Israel is also intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
US refueling aircraft goes down in western Iraq: CENTCOM
A U.S. refueling aircraft "went down" in friendly airspace in western Iraq, with rescue efforts ongoing, U.S. Central Command said Thursday.
"Two aircraft were involved in the incident," CENTCOM said in a brief statement. "One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely."
The incident resulted in the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft, CENTCOM said. The other aircraft involved was also a KC-135 tanker, according to a U.S. official.
"This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," CENTCOM said.
FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tanker aircraft takes off from the Kadena Air Base airfield in Kadena town, west of Okinawa, southern Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
Hiro Komae/AP
Mar 12, 2026, 3:05 PM EDT
Over 1,100 children injured or killed in Middle East: UNICEF
More than 1,100 children have been reported injured or killed since Feb. 28 amid the "intensifying conflict" in the Middle East, according to UNICEF.
"This includes 200 children reportedly killed in Iran, 91 in Lebanon, four in Israel and one in Kuwait," UNICEF said. "These numbers will likely climb as the violence intensifies and spreads."
Coffins are assembled as funerals are held for students and staff from a girls' school, who authorities said were killed in a US-Israeli strike on February 28, on March 3, 2026, in Minab, Iran. Iranian authorities said that over 160 people were killed in the blast, which occurred on the first day of the joint US-Israeli attack on sites across Iran.
Handout via Getty Images
The organization called for an end to the conflict while detailing the impact on children.
"Widespread disruption to education has left millions of children out of school across the region, while hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced by unrelenting bombardment," UNICEF said. "Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and water and sanitation systems -- upon which children depend to survive -- have been attacked, damaged, or destroyed by parties to the conflict."
"Nothing justifies the killing and maiming of children, or the destruction and disruption of essential services that children depend on," it continued.
"This operation will not be short. We will bring additional troops and capabilities to the north. We will continue to act with great determination. We continue moving forward," Zamir said during a visit to the Northern Command.
A man looks at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 12, 2026.
AFP via Getty Images
Zamir said there have been "excellent results" from the operation in Lebanon so far, with "most" missile launchers thwarted after they fired and "dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites at the heart of terror in Beirut" struck.
The commander, deputy commander and "many" staff officers of the Imam Hussein Division, a militia affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, were also killed, Zamir said.
Mar 12, 2026, 12:25 PM EDT
47,000 Americans have returned from Middle East: State Department
About 47,000 Americans have safely returned to the U.S. from the Middle East since Feb. 28, a senior State Department official said.
The official said the State Department has offered departure options to nearly every American in the region who has asked for help. Most Americans who requested help ended up declining seats when offered by the State Department, choosing to remain where they were or choosing to book a commercial flight, the official said.
By the end of the day Thursday, the State Department will have completed more than 48 flights to evacuate Americans, the official said.
