AS IT HAPPENED: Iranian projectile started fire at Australia base; Global travel industry losing $844 million per day; Iran confirms killing of leading general

That's where we'll leave our live coverage for today.

Australian military personnel stationed at the Al Minhad air base in the UAE today escaped injury after it was struck by an Iranian missile.

Iran confirmed its top security official Ali Larijani, as well as the country's top commander General Gholam Reza Soleimani, were both killed in strikes.

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on central Beirut have killed at least six and wounded two dozen others.

Trump has vowed an exit from the war "in the very near future", also lambasting Western allies including Australia for their lack of assistance in the war.

We'll be back in the morning with more rolling coverage as events in the Middle East drag on.

Thanks for reading.

Images of Israel's overnight strikes on Beirut have begun to emerge.

As reported earlier, at least six people were killed and 24 wounded in two separate stirkes on the Lebanese capital, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

It's understood these images show a separate strike on the neighbourhood of Bachoura.

People on the ground heard gunshots following the notice, a tactic typically used to wake residents and draw attention to evacuate.

One image shows a burst of flames erupt from the building, while another shows rescue workers scouring through an enormous pile of rubble.

It's estimated that approximately 900 people have been killed in the strikes in Lebanon so far, and tens of thousands more displaced.

Top Trump administration national security officials will face the first of back-to-back congressional hearings starting on Wednesday (tomorrow AEST).

They are expected to be pressed on the war in Iran, including a deadly strike on a school, as well as the FBI's capacity to prevent terror attacks inside the US.

The annual worldwide threats hearings involving the government's senior-most intelligence officials are taking place at a time of scrutiny over the US military campaign in the Middle East and heightened concerns about terrorism in the homeland following recent attacks at a Michigan synagogue and Virginia university.

Testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees is expected to centre on the war and in particular the revelation that outdated intelligence likely led to the US firing a missile that hit a school in Iran and killed over 165 people.

The outdated targeting data was reported to have come from the Defence Intelligence Agency, whose director, Lt Gen James H Adams, is among those set to testify.

The White House says the strike is still under investigation.

The death toll is mounting across the Middle East as the war sparked by a US-Israeli attack on Iran drags on.

Here are the current death tolls, based on officials from those countries:

Iran - 1300 people, including many civilians

Lebanon - 900 people

Israel - 12 people

USA - 13 service members killed and around 200 wounded

Pharmaceutical companies have been forced to urgently reroute critical medical supplies to ensure they reach Australia.

The ongoing blockade on the critical trade route, the Strait of Hormuz, has disrupted the movement of goods including medicines.

Medicines Australia chief executive Liz de Somer told the ABC some pharmaceutical companies have had to redirect medical supplies from sea to air freight, using alternative routes that avoided the Middle Eastern airspace.

This has come with significant cost impacts, as well as logistical challenges.

In addition, critical ingredients used to make common drugs could soon be in short supply.

Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) chief executive in the UK, Dr Leyla Hannbeck, said common drugs such as paracetamol, ibuprofen and antibiotics rely on petroleum-based ingredients as well as other raw materials from the Middle East.

She has called on the UK to implement legislation banning the export of 150 drugs.

Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, wrote on the messaging app Telegram that Israel's constant killing of top officials couldn't be allowed to go on.

"We should not have allowed the enemy to be able to carry out another successful assassination," he wrote.

"If we cannot stop the Zionists' assassination machine, we will suffer a defeat."

At least six people have been killed in early-morning strikes on central Beirut, Lebanon's Health Ministry has claimed.

The two Israeli strikes hit residential apartments in central Beirut's Basta and Zokak Al-Blat neighbourhoods early this morning (local time), killing at least six and wounding 24, according to the Associated Press.

Zokak Al-Blat is a densely populated area close to the government's headquarters and several embassies.

"Human remains have been recovered from the site, and the identities of the victims will be determined once DNA testing is completed," the ministry added.

The strikes, which came without warning, hit areas far from Beirut's southern suburbs, for which the Israeli army had issued evacuation notices.

Chilling new details have emerged about communications between Israeli and US diplomats.

Israeli officials told their US counterparts that Iranian protesters face being "slaughtered" if they took to the streets in an uprising against the regime, the Washington Post reported.

In a cable circulating the US Embassy in Jerusalem last week, seen by the Post, the Israelis had assessed that Iran's regime was "not cracking" and would "fight to the end".

The revelation comes just months after tens of thousands of Iranians were killed during a surge of anti-government protests.

And it comes on the heels of Iran's exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, this week calling for Iranians to take to the streets to mark the ancient Persian "Festival of Fire".

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Australian military personnel stationed at the Al Minhad air base in the UAE have escaped injury after it was struck by an Iranian missile.

The attack happened at the Al Minhad base (pictured in 2013) only hours ago.

"I can assure everyone that every person there is safe, I've spoken to the defence minister about this, and its important that we recognise that the Iranian regime are engaging in frankly random attacks across the Gulf region," he said

"There was minor damage to an accommodation block and a medical facility due to a small fire, that was created as a result of that projectile hitting a road leading up to that base."

READ MORE

Iran has confirmed top security official Ali Larijani was killed along with his son and aides.

Israel said overnight it had struck and killed Supreme National Security Council secretary Larijani and General Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force.

Larijani was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war.

He hailed from one of Iran's most famous political families, which many media outlets have compared to the Kennedys in the United States.

A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser, he had advised the late Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration.