Israel's Incursion Into Lebanon, NATO and Strait Of Hormuz, Cuba's Blackout and Trump

Israel's defense minister says they killed two senior Iranian officials in air strikes on Tehran. And another front in the war is raging in Lebanon as Israel says it is expanding its ground operations in the country. Hi, Martinez. That is Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. President Trump scolds allies for not doing more to protect the Strait Of Hormuz. I always said, you know, the problem with NATO is we'll always be there for them, but they'll never be there for us. European leaders are hesitant to get involved in the war with Iran. And the president is musing about a takeover of Cuba. Whether I free it, take it, think I could do anything I want with it. You want another to? He made those comments as the island nation goes into a total blackout. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day. Israel's defense minister says the Israeli military has killed two senior Iranian officials. They are the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the commander of Iran's paramilitary besieged forces. Iran did not immediately confirm the killings. NPR's Hadeel al Shailchi is in Beirut and has the latest information for us. Good morning, Hadeel. Good morning. So how significant are these latest killings? These would be the highest profile assassination since the February that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. Defense minister Israel Katz says Israel killed Ali Larijani, head of the Supreme National Security Council and public policy adviser to the supreme leader. An Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity described him as Iran's de facto leader and that he's been directing Iran's attacks in this war. Now Larajani is a former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser. He used to advise the late supreme leader on strategy and nuclear talks with the Trump administration. He also served as a secretary of Iran's top security body known as the Supreme National Security Council. And the Israeli military also confirmed the death of Rola Am Reza Soleimani, who was the head of the Besiege Forces. That's the militia responsible for violently cracking down on street protests against the Iranian government earlier this year. It killed thousands in those protests, and it's estimated that the militia is made up of 1,000,000 members. Now Iran is not the only front in this war. So let's move to where you are, Lebanon. Israel announced a ground incursion into the South. What can you tell us about that? Right. So the Israeli military here says it has begun, quote, limited and targeted ground operations against Hezbollah, the Iranian backed militant group. Troops are going deeper into parts of Southern Lebanon. Israel has also issued new evacuation orders for people in the South. The Lebanese government now says a million people are displaced. I was in the South over the weekend, and the couple of towns I visited in the Bekaa Valley are already empty because of …