Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday told his Israeli ⁠counterpart Gideon Saar that China opposes military strikes launched by Israel and ⁠the United States against Iran as the conflict in the Middle East escalated further on its fourth day, with Israel sending new ground troops into Lebanon and explosions ringing out in Iran’s capital.

Hundreds of people have been killed, the vast majority in Iran.

"Force cannot truly solve problems; instead, it ⁠often creates new ones and leaves serious long-term consequences. The real value of military power lies not on the ⁠battlefield, but in preventing war," the Foreign Ministry in Beijing quoted Wang as telling Saar.

Iran expanded its targets on Tuesday, striking the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia as Washington began to pull many staff out of the Middle East.

An attack from two drones on the embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire,” according to Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry, and the embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound.

It followed an attack on the US Embassy in Kuwait that announced it had been closed until further notice.

The US State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Several other countries arranged evacuation flights for their citizens.

Across Iran’s capital, explosions rang out throughout the night into Tuesday, with aircraft heard overhead.

Strikes caused two explosions at a broadcasting facility in Tehran, Iranian state TV said, adding that no one was injured.

Local media also reported air strikes hit the Tehran building of a body tasked with electing Iran's new supreme leader, showing footage of the building severely damaged.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes on Saturday.

The US-Israeli strikes have killed at least 787 people so far, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

In Israel, where Iranian missiles struck several locations, 11 people were killed.

The Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah has also attacked Israel, whose retaliatory strikes killed 52 people in Lebanon.

The US military has confirmed six deaths of American service members.

In addition, three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates, and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.

In Lebanon, more than 30,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Israel is continuing to carry out air raids in Lebanon in a campaign against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, particularly on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut and the south of the country, after issuing evacuation warnings to residents.

Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said at a press conference in Geneva that many people "slept in their cars on the side of roads, or were still stuck in traffic jams on the roads leaving the south of Beirut".

"Heavy displacement is being reported across parts of southern Lebanon, the Bekaa and southern suburbs of Beirut," he added.

Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had targeted three Israeli military bases in response to Israeli strikes on the group's strongholds in Lebanon, including the south Beirut suburbs. (Agencies)


Edited by Edmond Fong