Middle East crisis live: US says nearly 2,000 targets hit in Iran war; Trump says navy may escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz

US military says strikes in the first 24 hours was nearly double the scale of the 2003 ‘shock-and-awe’ operation in Iraq; US president orders insurance to be provided for shipping in crucial waterway

• Trump administration has still not settled on reasons for war

• Middle East attacks intensify as Trump rejects Iran’s attempt to talk

Lebanese state media said that four people were killed and six more were wounded in an Israeli strike on a building in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday.

“The initial toll is four killed and six wounded, and work is underway to rescue families from under the rubble,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.