Trump Promises Immunity to Iranian Rebels as Bombs Level Military Sites

In an extraordinary appeal broadcast from the White House, President Donald Trump directly addressed the Iranian people, urging them to overthrow their government and promising full immunity to those who helped end the clerical regime. The offer came as American B-2 bombers continued to pulverize Iran’s military infrastructure and Israeli jets transformed southern Beirut into a landscape of rubble.
The military campaign has been brutally effective in targeting Iran’s hard power. Dozens of 2,000-pound penetrating bombs were dropped on deeply buried ballistic missile launch sites. A major Iranian naval vessel used as a drone platform was struck and potentially destroyed. The defense secretary said American firepower would increase significantly in the days ahead. The IDF chief said Israel was moving into a new phase designed to further dismantle the Iranian regime and its military capabilities.
Iran has fought back on multiple fronts. Missiles and drones struck at US military bases across four Gulf states. Additional missiles were aimed at Israeli territory. The Revolutionary Guards claimed to have targeted a military airbase and radar installation in Israel. Hezbollah continued its rocket barrage against northern Israeli communities and used anti-tank missiles to wound five Israeli soldiers operating near the Lebanese border.
Lebanon is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in its troubled history. Over one million people were forced to flee their homes after Israel issued its largest-ever evacuation orders. The Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut, home to hundreds of thousands, was reduced to an abandoned ruin of smoke and shattered buildings. Hundreds of thousands more had already been displaced from southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. The Red Cross described ordinary people fleeing on foot with nothing, heading nowhere in particular.
The international community has reacted with alarm but limited effect. France and Ireland condemned an attack on the UN’s Ghanaian peacekeeping battalion in Lebanon. The UK deployed additional fighter jets to support allies. The UN human rights chief called for immediate steps to contain the conflict. Trump, unmoved, reiterated his demands for surrender and insisted he wanted to shape the selection of Iran’s new supreme leader, describing the leading candidate as wholly inadequate for the role.