Israel vows response to Iran missile attack
CNN
Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters engaged in fighting on the ground in Lebanon, after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel. Follow for live news updates.
• Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters have engaged in fighting on the ground in southern Lebanon, after Iran launched its largest-ever attack on Israel Tuesday. The Israeli military said eight soldiers were killed in combat on Wednesday. • Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles in Tuesday’s barrage, which it said was in response to the killings of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran “will pay,” as fears grow of a wider all-out war between the two regional military powerhouses. Iran’s military chief warned of broader strikes if Israel responds. US President Joe Biden said he does not support a potential Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites. • People in Tehran are on edge ahead of a possible retaliatory attack on Iran. In Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes have killed hundreds of people and displaced about 1 million residents. A CNN team on the ground heard three loud explosions around 11:40 p.m. local time (4:40 p.m. ET), and saw smoke rising above Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold. Shortly afterward, the Israel Defense Forces said it “conducted a precise strike in Beirut.”
As tit-for-tat strikes strain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah less than a week since it went into effect, Israel’s defense minister on Tuesday threatened to directly target the Lebanese state should the agreement fall apart.
Syrian and Russian jets are stepping up strikes on opposition forces in northern Syria in retaliation for the sudden offensive that has cost the regime control of the country’s second largest city, Aleppo.
Syria’s civil war is back in the spotlight after a new rebel coalition launched a surprise attack, sweeping into the country’s second largest city, Aleppo.