Fears of wider war in Middle East grow as Israel and Iran trade threats

The Middle East moved closer to a long-feared regional war Wednesday, a day after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel and Israel said it began limited ground incursions into Lebanon targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

Israel said it intercepted many of the missiles, and officials in Washington said U.S. destroyers assisted in Israel's defense. Iran said most of its missiles hit their targets. There have been no reports of casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, which he said “made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it.” An Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel retaliates. U.S. President Biden said Wednesday that he would not support an Israeli attack targeting Iran's nuclear program.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting for Wednesday to address the spiraling conflict.

Israel said Wednesday that eight of its soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Satellite images appear to show damage to Israeli air base after Iranian attack

WASHINGTON — At least one aircraft hangar at a key Israeli military air base appears to have taken a direct hit during a massive barrage of Iranian missiles, according to a satellite image analyzed by The Associated Press.

Images of the Nevatim air base in southern Israel on Wednesday show a large hole blown in the roof of a row of buildings near the main runway. Large pieces of debris can be seen spread around the building.

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the satellite images.

Nevatim is home to the Israeli Air Force’s most advanced aircraft, including U.S.-produced F-35 Lightening II stealth fighter jets. It is not clear from the satellite imagery whether any aircraft were in the hanger when it was struck.

Nevatim also sustained light damage during an Iranian missile and drone attack in April.

Lebanon’s UN ambassador says 2006 resolution could end fighting on border

UNITED NATIONS – Lebanon’s U.N. ambassador says his government rejects the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants in the country.

Hadi Hachem told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Wednesday that the government wants the enforcement of a U.N. Security Council resolution that was supposed to end the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. It called for all armed groups, including Hezbollah, to be disarmed and the deployment of Lebanese forces to the southern border with Israel. None of this has happened.

The Lebanese ambassador said fully implementing the resolution is the only solution to the ongoing war and Israel’s “barbaric aggression.” He said Lebanon is opening enlistment for 1,500 new soldiers to strengthen the national army’s presence in the south.

“Lebanon today is stuck between the Israeli destruction machine and the ambitions of others in the region,” Hachem said, alluding to Iran’s support for Hezbollah.

Around 100 American citizens and family members leave Lebanon

WASHINGTON — The State Department says about 100 American citizens and family members have left Lebanon on a flight contracted with a commercial airline.

Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday that the flight to Istanbul was not a charter flight but also was not on the Lebanese national carrier Middle East Airlines, which is the only commercial airline flying scheduled flights in and out of Beirut.

Since Sept. 28, MEA has made about 800 seats on its flights out of Beirut available for American citizens, but Miller could not say how many had taken those MEA flights.

He said some 6,000 American citizens have now asked for information from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on how they might be able to leave the country, although only a small fraction of those have asked for actual assistance.

Thousands flee southern Lebanon for Syria, seeking respite from Israeli strikes

QUSAIR, Syria — Thousands of Syrians and Lebanese continue to pour into Syria to escape Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, an Associated Press team saw hundreds crowding the Jousieh border crossing, one of several points of entry into Syria. The crossing is around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Syria’s central city of Homs, where many said they were headed.

Most of those waiting to enter Syria were from eastern Lebanon’s city of Baalbek and surrounding areas, which have been hard hit by Israeli airstrikes in recent days. The militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence in that region, but many of those killed and wounded have been civilians.

Some came from as far as the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Ola Hallaq, her husband and two kids were among those waiting to be processed. Originally from Homs, she fled Syria at the start of the civil war in 2011 and settled in Baalbek. Now, as Israel pounds eastern Lebanon, the family is returning home despite the uncertainty and lack of income.

“I’m returning to my country because of the war … there was so much destruction all around,” she said.

Dabbah Mashaal, an official at the crossing, said 10,000 displaced Syrians and 7,700 Lebanese have crossed the border in recent days.

UN decries Israeli ban on secretary-general entering the country

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations says Israel’s ban on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres entering the country is a “political statement.”

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying Guterres is “persona non grata” is “one more attack on the United Nations staff that we’ve seen from the government of Israel.”

Katz accuses Guterres of being biased against Israel, and says he never condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel. Israel also claims staff from the U.N. aid agency helping Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, are Hamas members who participated in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Dujarric countered that Guterres has repeatedly condemned the Hamas attacks and sexual violence, and stressed that the U.N. still engages with Israel “at the operational level and other levels.”

Biden says he will not support an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — President Joe Biden says he will not support an Israeli attack on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.

“The answer is no,” Biden said Wednesday, when asked if he would support such retaliation after Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday.

Biden’s comments came after he and fellow Group of Seven leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday to discuss coordinating new sanctions against Iran.

The White House said in a statement that the G7 leaders “unequivocally condemned Iran’s attack against Israel” and Biden reiterated the United States’ “full solidarity and support to Israel and its people.”

All the while, the administration has signaled that it’s urging that Israel display restraint in how it responds to Tuesday’s missile attack, which Biden said was “ineffective and defeated.”

Hamas' military wing claims responsibility in Jaffa shooting

CAIRO — Hamas’ military wing has claimed responsibility for a mass shooting in Tel Aviv that left seven people dead and wounded 16 more.

It said the two attackers, Mohammed Mesek and Ahmed Himouni, were its militants who hailed from the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Israeli police said the two opened fire Tuesday evening in the Jaffa neighborhood of Tel Aviv, including shooting directly into a light rail carriage crowded with passengers that was stopped at a station. Police said the pair were shot and killed by security guards and armed pedestrians.

The attack came moments before Iran launched a massive barrage of rockets towards Israel, sending people into bomb shelters across the country.

It remains unclear how the two men entered Israel from the West Bank. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, is active in various cities and refugee camps in the West Bank.

On Wednesday, locals left flowers and candles at the train stop, where bullet holes peppered the signs and benches.

Maya Brandwine said she was at a coffee shop on the street when the shooting broke out. During the subsequent Iranian missile attack, she took cover in a bomb shelter as police swept for suspects.

“It’s a nightmare, and we’re starting to get used to it,” she said, blaming the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for the violence.

Israeli airstrike in Damascus kills 3, Syrian state-run outlet says

DAMASCUS — An Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Mezzeh area of Damascus Wednesday evening, killing three people and wounding at least three more, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene says the missile appeared to have targeted the bottom floor of a four-story apartment building.

There has been no comment from Israel, which frequently strikes targets linked to Iran or allied groups in Syria but rarely claims responsibility.

The strike comes amid a multi-front escalation in the ongoing war in the Middle East. Israel has launched a heavy aerial bombardment and what it describes as a limited ground incursion in Lebanon. It says that incursion aims to push the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah back from the border after nearly a year of low-level clashes.

On Tuesday, Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel, which it said was in retaliation for attacks that killed the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas — both backed by Iran — in Beirut and Tehran.

Pakistan voices concern over escalating hostilities in the Middle East

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has expressed its deep concern over “escalating hostilities” in the Middle East, urging all parties to prioritize peace.

The carefully worded remarks by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wednesday come after Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel. Pakistan shares a long border with Iran and has no diplomatic ties with Israel.

In a statement, the ministry says Israel has “increasingly acted in violation of international law and the UN Charter, resulting in grave humanitarian crisis.” It said “Israel has endangered regional peace and security with the ongoing genocide in Gaza”.

It says Israel’s recent invasion of Lebanon has further intensified these tensions and that the “people of Palestine, Lebanon, and the wider region deserve to live free from fear and violence.”

Pakistan says it is “crucial for all sides to step back from the brink and for the international community to take swift action to de-escalate the situation”.

UK and Cyprus call for peace in the Middle East

NICOSIA, Cyprus — The U.K. and Cyprus are jointly calling for peace in the Middle East.

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey held talks Wednesday with his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas, on the east Mediterranean island nation where Britain has two military bases.

Healey’s visit came just hours after Iran launched a missile barrage against Israel. Healey posted on X that British forces “played a part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East” but didn’t elaborate.

In a statement, the Cypriot Defense Ministry said both officials underscored the need for peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean and expressed both countries’ readiness to help evacuate civilians from Lebanon.

Palmas told Healey that Cyprus’ plan to assist in the repatriation of third-country nationals evacuated from Lebanon is ready to be set in motion.

Oil prices rise as world awaits Israel's response to Iranian missiles

NEW YORK — Oil prices are rising again as the world waits to see how Israel will respond to Tuesday’s missile attack from Iran.

After briefly topping $76 earlier Wednesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude was sitting at $74.04, up 0.7% from the day before.

While Israel is not a major producer of oil, Iran is, and a worry is that a broadening war could affect neighboring countries that are integral to the flow of crude.

U.S. benchmark crude, which has largely been in decline since the spring, is up nearly 3% this week.

Hezbollah says it fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli helicopter

BEIRUT — Hezbollah says it fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli military helicopter flying over Beit Hillel in northern Israel, forcing it to retreat.

The Lebanese militant group didn’t say if the helicopter was hit in the attack Wednesday, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. It is the first time the group has said it fired a missile at a helicopter since hostilities between the two sides escalated two weeks ago.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have clashed in southern Lebanese border towns since Israel launched its ground operation against Hezbollah.

Hezbollah earlier said it destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks heading towards Maroun al-Ras, and detonated an explosive device hidden in an abandoned building on the outskirts of Kfar Kila after Israeli soldiers entered.

US ambassador to the UN blames Iran in escalating Middle East violence

UNITED NATIONS – The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is blaming Iran’s support of its proxies in the Middle East for contributing to the crises in Gaza and Lebanon, and is urging the U.N. Security Council to condemn its “unprovoked” missile attack on Israel.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield reiterated U.S. support for its close ally Israel at an emergency council meeting Wednesday saying: “Let me be clear: the Iranian regime will be held responsible for its actions.”

“And we strongly warn against Iran, or its proxies, taking actions against the United States, or further actions against Israel,” she said.

Thomas-Greenfield accused Iran of complicity in Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel that sparked the nearly yearlong war, by funding and training its military wing.

She singled out Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps for “encouraging and enabling” Yemen’s Houthi rebels to disrupt global shipping; supporting militant groups in Syria and Iraq that attack American forces; and arming and encouraging Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

The Security Council is divided on the escalating violence in the Middle East. Many members sharply criticize Israel for killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza and widespread destruction in the territory, as well as civilian casualties in Lebanon. It is unlikely that the 15 council members would condemn Iran without also condemning Israeli actions.

Germany evacuates 130 more German nationals out of Lebanon

BERLIN — Germany is flying another 130 of its citizens out of Lebanon on a military plane.

The foreign and defense ministries said the Airbus A330 belonging to the Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport Unit – an international air transport fleet – was sent to Beirut Wednesday to bring back “particularly endangered” Germans.

They said in a statement that the plane delivered 5 tons of aid including medical equipment to the Lebanese capital.

On Monday, a German military plane flew 111 people from Beirut to Berlin, including families of German diplomats, nonessential staff and others.

The ministries said further flights would be prepared as needed.

S&P downgrades Israel's credit rating due to escalating regional violence

NEW YORK — Israel’s credit rating has been downgraded for the second time in less than a week, underscoring the heightened risks for its economy as conflict escalates in the region.

S&P Global lowered Israel’s long-term sovereign credit rating on Tuesday.

“We now consider that military activity in Gaza and an upsurge in fighting across Israel’s northern border — including a ground incursion into Lebanon — could persist into 2025, with risks of retaliation against Israel,” S&P wrote.

“The latter in particular has been highlighted by (Tuesday’s) missile attack on Israel by Iran.”

The S&P says it expects delayed economic recovery into the coming year.

Tuesday’s downgrade moves S&P’s credit rating for Israel from “A+” to “A,” signaling a more negative outlook for Israel’s economy but still an investment grade.

On Friday, Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating from “A2” to “Baa1.” That is also still considered investment grade, three notches above “junk” status.

Israel says 7 more soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says seven soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon.

The deaths were announced Wednesday, a day after Israel said it had launched a ground incursion across its northern border and on the eve of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

Fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants is ongoing in southern Lebanon, both sides said in separate statements. Israel has sent more troops and artillery to the border area in recent weeks.

The seven soldiers were killed in two separate incidents, the military said, without elaborating. Seven other troops were injured, including a combat medic, it said.

The death of another Israeli soldier was announced earlier Wednesday. The military said Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, a 22-year-old in a commando brigade, was killed in combat in Lebanon.

US sanctions Iranian man and Chinese firms accused of helping Houthis

WASHINGTON — The U.S. has imposed sanctions on an Iranian man and three Chinese firms that Washington believes helped the Houthi militant group acquire materials needed to manufacture and deploy advanced missiles and drones against the U.S. and its allies.

Iranian citizen Hasan Ahmad Hasan Muhammad al-Kuhlani is named in the sanctions announced Wednesday. He is accused of facilitating weapons smuggling for the Houthis.

Treasury’s Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith says the Houthis “continue to leverage their networks of companies and procurement operatives to sustain their reckless attacks on civilian vessels, their unarmed crews, and civilian populations.”

UN chief demands an end to the escalating violence in the Middle East

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief is demanding a halt to the escalation of “tit-for-tat violence” that he warned is leading people in the Middle East “straight over the cliff.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Wednesday that in just a week the alarming situation in Lebanon has gone from bad “to much, much worse.”

“It is absolutely essential to avoid an all-out war in Lebanon, which would have profound and devastating consequences,” he said.

Guterres strongly condemned Tuesday’s Iranian missile attack against Israel. He also criticized attacks against Israel by Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah from Lebanon, and he lambasted Israel for the “most deadly and destructive military campaign in my years as secretary-general” — referring to the conflict in Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.

“It is high time for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza,” he said. “It is high time for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. … It is high time to stop the sickening cycle of escalation after escalation that is leading the people of the Middle East straight over the cliff.”

Israel eases restrictions on public gatherings near the Lebanese border

JERUSALEM — Israel has eased restrictions on gatherings for its residents living in the country's north near the Lebanese border.

The Home Front Command said up to 50 residents can gather in outside spaces in northern Galilee and the Israeli-held Golan Heights. Gatherings of up to 250 people are allowed in closed spaces.

In the coastal Haifa area, outside gatherings of up to 60 people are allowed, it said Wednesday.

Limits on gatherings were imposed because of near-daily fire by Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group into northern Israel, where evacuation orders for Lebanese living closest to the border remain in place.

Russia and China urge restraint in the Middle East

MOSCOW — The Kremlin says the situation in the Middle East is developing into the “most alarming scenario" and has called for restraint.

“We urge all sides to show restraint against the backdrop of the ongoing events, and of course, we condemn any actions that lead to the deaths of civilians,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also urged both sides to exercise restraint.

“All parties involved should abandon provocative actions and show restraint and a responsible approach in line with the well-known decisions of the United Nations and its Security Council,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a news conference.

In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry said it “opposes the violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and oppose moves that fuel antagonism and escalate tensions.”

“China calls on the international community, especially major countries with influence, to play a constructive role and avoid further turmoil,” the statement said. "China believes that the protracted fighting in Gaza is the root cause of this round of turmoil in the Middle East, and all parties need to work urgently for a comprehensive and lasting cease-fire.”

Hezbollah says it killed and wounded Israeli soldiers in Lebanon clashes

BEIRUT — The Lebanese militant Hezbollah group says its fighters killed and wounded an unspecified number of Israeli soldiers in clashes in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said they detonated an explosive device as Israeli troops tried to cross deeper into Lebanon toward the southern village of Yaroun on Wednesday.

Hezbollah did not provide a breakdown of the alleged Israeli casualties and there was no immediate reaction from the Israeli military, which earlier announced the death of a soldier — the first to be killed in the ground incursion.

Germany criticizes Israel for barring UN chief from entering the country

BERLIN — Germany says Israel’s decision to bar U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country is unhelpful.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, said he was declaring Guterres “persona non grata,” deepening an already wide rift with the United Nations.

German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer acknowledged those tensions and said “this step isn’t particularly helpful, because in the end more talks are needed and not fewer talks.” Germany is a staunch ally of Israel.

He said “we shouldn’t deprive ourselves of channels of dialogue that could possibly contribute to bringing about a solution.”

Also Wednesday, Iran’s charge d’affaires in Berlin was summoned to the German Foreign Ministry, where German officials condemned Iran’s missile barrage against Israel on Tuesday and demanded that Tehran and its allies refrain from further attacks.

Neighboring Austria also summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Vienna to its Foreign Ministry.

Lebanese army says Israeli troops carried out a brief incursion into Lebanon

BEIRUT — The Lebanese army says Israeli forces breached approximately 400 meters (yards) into Lebanese territory on Wednesday and then withdrew “after a short period.” The statement was the first official acknowledgement from Beirut that Israeli forces are carrying out a ground incursion into Lebanon.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that ground forces backed by air power killed militants in “close-range engagements,” without saying where.

Earlier Wednesday, Hezbollah’s chief spokesman, Mohammed Afif, told reporters touring sites of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs that Hezbollah “fought a heroic battle this morning” in the southern villages of Odaisseh and Maroun al-Ras against Israeli soldiers who launched a ground incursion into Lebanon.

Afif promised the destroyed areas would be rebuild “better and more beautiful than they were before” — echoing what former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last week, said in 2006, when the militant group fought a monthlong war with Israel.

Israel's foreign minister bars the UN chief from entering Israel

JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister says he is barring the United Nations secretary-general from entering Israel, accusing him of being biased against the country.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that he was declaring Antonio Guterres “persona non grata” and that he would be prevented from entering Israel.

The move deepens an already wide rift between Israel and the United Nations.

A Greek man was among 7 people killed in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s foreign ministry says a Greek national was among the people killed in a mass shooting in Tel Aviv.

The ministry said in statement Wednesday that the man, whom it did not name, was a resident of Jerusalem.

The ministry condemned the shooting Tuesday, which it called a “terrorist” attack, and expressed the “deepest sorrow” at the death of a Greek national.

Israeli police said Wednesday that seven people were killed in the shooting in the Jaffa neighborhood, including a woman in her 30s carrying her 9-month-old in a baby sling as they walked their dog.

Police say they have arrested people in the West Bank who assisted with the procurement and transfer of weapons.

Death toll climbs to 51 in an Israeli military operation in southern Gaza, health officials say

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Health Ministry has raised the death toll to 51, with at least 82 people wounded, in a large Israeli air and ground operation in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Israel’s military has yet to comment on the operation, which began early Wednesday. Palestinian residents say ground forces pushed into three neighborhoods. Records at the European Hospital in Khan Younis show seven women and 12 children, as young as 22 months old, were among those killed.

Another 23 people, including two children, were killed in separate strikes across Gaza, according to local hospitals.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Residents say Israel carried out heavy airstrikes as its ground forces staged an incursion into three neighborhoods in Khan Younis.

Mahmoud al-Razd, a resident who says four of his relatives were killed in the raids, described heavy destruction and says first responders struggled to reach destroyed homes.

Iran’s supreme leader slams US and European presence in the Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slammed the presence of American and European troops in the Middle East in his first remarks since Tehran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel.

Khamenei said Wednesday that their presence is a source of “conflicts, wars, concerns and enmities,” but made no mention of the missile attack the night before.

“Regional nations can manage themselves and ... they will live together in peace,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran has long seen the U.S. troop presence on its doorstep as a threat and demands their evacuation from Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

The Israeli military warns Lebanese to evacuate 24 villages in the south

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has warned people to evacuate another 24 villages in southern Lebanon.

The warning on Wednesday came days after the military launched what it said were limited ground operations near the border to combat the Hezbollah militant group.

The villages are in a U.N.-declared buffer zone established after Israel and Hezbollah fought their last war in 2006.

Spain sends 2 military planes to evacuate 350 citizens from Lebanon

MADRID — Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles says her government will send two military planes to evacuate 350 Spanish citizens from Lebanon.

Robles said the planes will depart Spain on Thursday “if conditions in the airspace allow it.”

The announcement came a day after Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares urged Spaniards to leave Lebanon and for Israel to stop its assault in the country's south.

Spain has 676 soldiers deployed in Lebanon as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Macron says France is committed to Israel's protection

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated France’s commitment to Israel’s protection, saying Paris has “mobilized its military resources in the Middle East to counter the Iranian threat.”

French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet declined to comment on military resources deployed after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel on Tuesday. In April, France said its forces in the Middle East intercepted Iranian missiles and drones targeting Israel.

On Wednesday, Macron condemned the Iranian attack “in the strongest terms” and called for restraint from all countries involved in “the dangerous escalation of tensions” in the Middle East. He reiterated France’s demand that “Hezbollah cease its terrorist actions against Israel and its population,” according to a statement from the president's office.

He also called on Israel to quickly end its military operations in Lebanon because “too many civilians have already become victims.”

He said he hopes Lebanon’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” will be restored, “in strict compliance” with the United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Iran's foreign minister says it attacked Israel in self-defense

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s foreign minister has described the nation’s ballistic missile attack on Israel as self-defense.

Abbas Araghchi made the comments in a television interview on Wednesday in Tehran.

“We sent a message to the American side through the Swiss Embassy suggesting them not to get involved in the story,” Araghchi said. “We will confront and answer any third party that enters any operation against us in support of the Zionist regime and we will have a crushing response.”

He also reiterated that Iran’s response to Israel will be “harsher” if Israel attacks Iran in response.