Live updates: Israel fights Hezbollah and swaps threats with Iran

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

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz had earlier on Wednesday declared Antonio Guterres “persona non grata,” deepening an already wide rift between Israel and the United Nations.

In Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer acknowledged those tensions but said that Israel’s move “isn’t particularly helpful, because in the end more talks are needed and not fewer talks.”

Germany also summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Berlin to the Foreign Ministry to protest Iran’s missile barrage on Israel and demand that Tehran and its allies refrain from further attacks. Neighboring Austria similarly summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Vienna.

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

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

Hezbollah did not provide a breakdown of the alleged Israeli casualties in its claim, and there was no immediate reaction from the Israeli military.

Earlier in the day, Israel had announced the death of its first soldier in the ground incursion.

The Israeli military has announced its first combat death since launching ground operations in Lebanon this week.

The military said on Wednesday that Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, a 22-year-old in a commando brigade, was killed in combat in Lebanon.

The military didn’t immediately provide other details.

Danish police say three men have been arrested in connection with the explosions overnight near the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen.

Two men were detained on a train at Copenhagen’s central station while a third man was arrested ”elsewhere” in the Danish capital, police said Wednesday. They didn’t identify the men.

The Ekstra Bladet newspaper ran photos of a man in a white hazmat suit being taken away by police on a train platform at the central station.

Extra security was planned around the main synagogue in downtown Copenhagen, the Jewish community said and urged people “to be aware when moving in public spaces.”

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 have carried out a ground incursion into Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah’s chief spokesman, Mohammed Afif, told reporters touring sites of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs that Hezbollah had “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.

Israeli police said on Wednesday that a total of seven people were killed in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv the previous evening, minutes before the Iranian missile barrage.

One of the people killed was a Greek national, authorities in Athens said. He was a resident of Jerusalem.

Two Palestinian men from the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Hebron opened fire in the Jaffa neighborhood on Tuesday night, including shooting directly into a light rail carriage crowded with passengers that was stopped at a station.

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

Maya Brandwine, a 33-year-old resident of the neighborhood, said she was at a local coffee shop on the street when the shooting broke out. During the subsequent Iranian missile attack she ended up sheltering in a bomb shelter with police carrying out sweeps for additional suspects.

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

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on 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.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has slammed the presence of American and European nations in the Middle East.

The remarks by Khamenei on Wednesday were his first since Tehran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel the previous night. He made no mention of that attack.

He said Western presence is a source of “conflicts, wars, concerns and enmities” and added that “regional nations can manage themselves and … live together in peace.”

Iran has long seen the presence of U.S. troops in the Middle East as a threat.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says the death toll has climbed 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 on Wednesday. Palestinian residents say ground forces pushed into three neighborhoods.

India says it’s deeply concerned at the escalation in the Middle East and warned its citizens not to travel to Iran.

“It is important that the conflict doesn’t take a wider regional dimension, and we urge that all issues be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

It advised Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to Iran. “Those currently residing in Iran are requested to remain vigilant and stay in contact with the Indian Embassy in Tehran.”

President Emmanuel Macron says France is committed to Israel’s protection and has “mobilized its military resources in the Middle East to counter the Iranian threat.”

That’s according to a statement from the French presidency on Wednesday.

French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet would not comment on military resources deployed after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel on Tuesday.

Macron also condemned Iran’s attack on Israel “in the strongest terms” and called on all countries involved in “the dangerous escalation of tensions” in the Middle East “to show the greatest restraint.”

Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles says that 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 in Lebanon to leave the country and for Israel to stop its assault across the border.

Spain also has 676 soldiers in Lebanon deployed under a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

The Israeli military has warned people to evacuate another 24 villages across 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.

Iran’s foreign minister has described his 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.

South Korea plans to send military aircraft to evacuate its citizens from conflict areas in the Middle East, President Yoon Suk Yeol says.

He also called a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the impact of intensified fighting in the region.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the evacuation plan would be carried out, or the number of Koreans who could be flown home.

There are reportedly about 480 South Korean nationals living in Israel, 130 in Lebanon and 110 in Iran.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling on Iran and Hezbollah to stop their attacks on Israel and says Tehran is risking a wider regional conflagration.

Scholz strongly condemned Iran’s missile barrage against Israel the previous evening.

He said that “with this, Iran is risking setting the whole region on fire – that must be prevented under all circumstances. Hezbollah and Iran must cease their attacks on Israel immediately.”

Police in Denmark said two explosions took place overnight in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen. In a post on X, the police said no one had been injured and an investigation was underway.

Police had cordoned off the area while police with search dogs and forensic teams were inspecting the area.

Police refused to give details about the intensity of the blasts or the damage they may have caused, and said it was too early to say if the explosion was aimed at the embassy.

On Tuesday night, the area around the Israel embassy in Stockholm was also closed off after a loud bang was reported. Police later announced that findings from the scene indicated that the embassy was hit by bullets, according to the TT news agency.

At least 32 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday, Palestinian medical officials said.

The European Hospital in the hard-hit city of Khan Younis said it received the bodies after heavy Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in the city. It said the dead include several women and children, and that dozens of people were wounded.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has continued to strike what it says are militant targets across Gaza nearly a year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war there, even as attention has shifted to Lebanon, where Israel is battling Hezbollah, and to Iran, which launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel late Tuesday.

Palestinian medical officials said Wednesday that at least 32 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in southern Gaza.

Read more on the strikes here.

The U.K. defense chief says Britain’s military helped Israel repel a missile attack from Iran.

Writing on X, Defense Secretary John Healey said British forces “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East.”

He did not give details of U.K. involvement.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. supports Israel’s right to self defense, stating that “Iran has menaced the Middle East for far too long.”

In a televised statement after the missile attack on Tuesday night, Starmer said Iran’s missile attack had left the region “on the brink” and he was “deeply concerned about the risk of miscalculation.”

Starmer said he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday as part of efforts to prevent a wider conflict. Starmer’s office said he was on the phone with Netanyahu when the Iranian attack began.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said 146 Chinese nationals and five members of their families arrived in Beijing on Wednesday after being evacuated from Lebanon on a charter flight.

The report said that all Chinese citizens who wanted to evacuate have left the country, while the Chinese Embassy in Lebanon will continue its duties.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel and called for de-esclation.

“We’re very concerned about Iran’s actions, which is why we condemn them,” Albanese told reporters in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday.

“It is a good thing that it would appear that the defense of Israel, supported by the United States, has ensured that there is no loss of civilian life, it would appear, at this stage. There’s been too much loss of life in that region,” Albanese added.
Albanese said Israel had a right to defend itself.

“What we have called for consistently is for a de-escalation in the region, along with our friends in the United States and others,” Albanese said.

Yemen’s two main ports remain operational following Israeli airstrikes, but the strikes damaged power stations, the United Nations says.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen went to assess the situation at Yemen’s main port of Hodeida and nearby port of Ras Isa following Sunday’s Israeli strikes targeting sites used by Houthi rebels in the ports in western Yemen.

Israel said it was retaliating for a Houthi missile fired at central Israel on Saturday which was shot down. The Houthis said it was aimed at Ben Gurion Airport, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane had just arrived from New York where he addressed the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations.

Dujarric said the U.N.’s humanitarian partners reported Tuesday that “after conducting an initial assessment, both ports remain operational and able to receive commercial and humanitarian supplies.”

“Power stations throughout Hodeida city are, however, running at a very limited capacity,” the U.N. spokesman said.

A top Iranian military commander has warned that his country will hit Israel’s entire infrastructure if it takes any action against its territory.

Iran’s armed forces joint chief of staff Gen. Mohammad Bagheri said Wednesday that the Revolutionary Guard was prepared both defensively and offensively to repeat its missile attack with “multiplied intensity.”

“If the Zionist regime, that has gone insane, is not contained by America and Europe and intends to continue such crimes, or do anything against our sovereignty or territorial integrity, tonight’s operation will be repeated with much higher magnitude and we will hit all their infrastructure,” he said.

Bagheri said Iran avoided targeting Israeli civilians although it was “completely feasible.”

Israel’s U.N. ambassador says his government will decide when and how to respond to Iran’s barrage of close to 200 ballistic missiles that forced Israel’s 10 million population into bomb shelters. “But I can tell you one thing, it will be noticed,” he said. “It will be painful.”

Danny Danon reacted to a statement from Iran’s U.N. Mission that any new Israeli action would be met with a “crushing response,” saying: “I would not advise Iran to challenge our determination, our capabilities. In the past, we have proved it. We will prove it again.”

“We have no desire for war or escalation, but we cannot sit idly by when our civilians are being attacked in such manner,” the Israeli ambassador said. “Iran used to send boxes but now, when they send almost 200 ballistic missiles, that’s something that I don’t think any other nation in the world will ignore.”

Iran’s U.N. ambassador is warning Israel that its response to any acts of aggression against Tehran “will be swift, decisive and stronger than before.”

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said in letters to the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres late Tuesday that its missile strikes against military and security targets in Israel were carried out in self-defense, under the U.N. Charter and in response to Israel’s “aggressive actions.”

He pointed to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, the detonation of pagers in Lebanon in September that killed at least 12 people and injured 2,800 others including Iran’s ambassador to the country, and the Sept. 27 assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian General Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut.

Iravani said the Security Council’s inaction “has allowed Israel to flagrantly breach all red lines and violate the core principles of international law.”

He reiterated Iran’s calls for the council “to urgently and decisively intervene to halt Israel’s continued aggression and war crimes against Lebanon, Gaza and Syria and to prevent the situation from escalating into a full-scale regional war.”

Israel has reopened its airspace after the Iranian missile attack.

The country’s airport authority briefly closed Israel’s airspace to incoming flights during Tuesday’s attack and diverted them to other airports outside the country.

But after the army said the threat had passed, the authority said flights were operating as normal again.

Flights to Israel have repeatedly been disrupted by the yearlong war, with many major carriers suspending service because of the ongoing fighting.

The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on the escalating situation in the Middle East for Wednesday at 10 a.m., at the request of France and Israel.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a letter to the council late Tuesday that the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel “demonstrates that the charm offensive conducted by Iran and its new president is a mirage and the decision-making in Iran lies with the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards.”

He accused Iran of trying to destroy Israel “with a ring of fire from seven fronts” and urged the Security Council to condemn the country and designate its Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

Several international airlines requested permission to make emergency landings in Azerbaijan following the closure of Iranian air space.

Iran, which launched a massive barrage of missiles on Israel on Tuesday, closed its airspace in case Israel retaliated, Iranian news agencies reported.

Iran is south of Azerbaijan and the two countries share a border.

A LOT Polish airlines flight from Warsaw to Mumbai and a Qatar Airways flight from Moscow to Doha both landed at the Heydar Aliyev airport in Baku, the airport’s press service said.

Both flights were Boeing 787s and landed within minutes of each other just before 10 p.m. local time, the airport said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in discussions with his counterpart in Israel after Iran fired a barrage of almost 200 missiles at the nation.

Austin received a short update from Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and “is consulting closely with them on next steps,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday.

Iran launched about twice as many ballistic missiles Tuesday as it did during an attack against Israel earlier this year, but it did not appear to launch drones, Ryder said.

A full assessment of Tuesday’s attack is underway, he said. The Israeli military said Iran fired 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles in the April attack.

Ryder said two U.S. Navy destroyers — the USS Cole and the USS Bulkeley — fired about a dozen interceptors to defend Israel in the latest attack.

He decried reports indicating Iran wants to de-escalate tensions in the region.

“You don’t launch that many missiles at a target without the intent on hitting something,” Ryder said.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has condemned the missile attack on Israel by Iran, calling Tehran “a destabilizing, dangerous force in the Middle East.”

The vice president said Tuesday that she supports President Joe Biden’s decision to shoot down the missiles targeting Israel.

“We are still assessing the impact but initial indications are that Israel, with our assistance, was able to defeat this attack,” she says.

She says her commitment to Israel is “unwavering,” and warns that Iran is more than a threat to Israel.

“Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran-based and -backed terrorist proxies,” she says.

President Joe Biden says his administration is “fully supportive” of Israel after it thwarted an Iranian missile attack and that he’s in “active discussion” with aides about an appropriate response.

Biden also praised the U.S. and Israel militaries for defeating the Iranian missile barrage.

“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully supportive of Israel,” Biden said Tuesday at the start of a meeting with White House officials focused on the administration’s response to Hurricane Helene.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said soon after the attack that it amounted to a “significant escalation by Iran.”

Biden said it remains to be seen what consequences Iran will face.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said as he gathered his Security Cabinet for a meeting late Tuesday.

Netanyahu said the missile attack was a failure and that Iran would soon learn a painful lesson just as enemies in Gaza, Lebanon and other places have learned.

“Whoever attacks us, we attack them,” he said.

Police have cordoned off areas around the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm after reports of a shooting.

Local newspaper Expressen said Tuesday that a weapon and at least one empty bullet casing were found near the embassy and that police are looking for a suspect who fled the scene.

Stockholm police told the Swedish news agency TT that police were investigating reports of a loud bang but wouldn’t confirm that a shooting took place.

Security around the embassy has been stepped up this year following threats and incidents, including reports of a “dangerous object” found in the vicinity of the embassy that Swedish media described as a hand grenade.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said 90% of missiles it launched against Israel hit their targets successfully.

The statement broadcast on state TV late Tuesday said the attack targeted air and radar bases as well as security apparatus that planned the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures.

It said Iran has a right to defend itself under international regulations.

The TV station showed footage of missiles being launched in the darkness from unidentified locations in Iran.

Iranian state television, long controlled by hard-liners, has aired images of people in Arak, Qom and Tehran celebrating Iran’s missile attack in Israel.

Some shouted, “God is great!” “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

However, Iran’s support of regional militias abroad has been a point of anger during protests as the country suffers under international sanctions.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned Iran’s attack on Israel during a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Starmer was on the phone with Netanyahu when the barrage of missiles began Tuesday, further escalating the situation in the Middle East.

He reiterated the U.K.’s commitment to Israel’s security and the protection of civilians, but emphasized the importance of seeking cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza, the prime minister’s office said in a readout of the call.

Starmer also spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and they both called for de-escalation of fighting in the region.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Iran fired around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.

“This is totally unacceptable, and the entire world should condemn it,” he said during a meeting Tuesday with the Indian foreign minister at the State Department.

Blinken says initial reports suggest Israel, along with allies including the U.S., “effectively defeated this attack,” underscoring Washington’s “commitment to Israel’s defense.”

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that U.S. destroyers fired missile interceptors at some of the inbound missiles.

Sullivan called the attack “a significant escalation by Iran,” and reiterated there would be “severe consequences” on Iran for the attack.

Palestinian medical officials say Israeli forces have killed at least three people trying to return to their homes in the northern half of Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces stationed at the east-west Netzarim route that divides the Palestinian enclave opened fire on the men Tuesday, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central town of Deir al-Bahah.

An Associated Press journalist saw ambulances taking people to the hospital, and counted the bodies.

The officials said the men were among a group of people trying to return to their homes.

The Israeli military has sealed off northern Gaza and is preventing displaced people from returning to their homes there.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias say if the U.S. takes part in “any hostile action” against Iran then American interests in the region will be under threat.

The statement Tuesday from the group calling itself the Coordination Committee for the Iraqi Resistance also warned Israel against using Iraqi airspace to retaliate against Iran for a missile barrage fired at Israel, saying “all American bases and interests in Iraq and the region will be our target.”

Iran-backed militias in Iraq regularly target bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria with drones, saying they are retaliating for Washington’s support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel police say six people have been killed in a shooting in Tel Aviv.

Police say two suspects opened fire Tuesday evening on a boulevard in Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv. The two suspects were killed.

The attack came moments before a massive barrage of rockets from Iran sent people into bomb shelters across Israel, including in Tel Aviv.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned “the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation.”

Guterres’ comments Tuesday came shortly after Iran said it fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel. The Israeli military said its army has crossed the border into Lebanon and is conducting “localized ground raids” on Hezbollah positions.

“This must stop,” the U.N. chief said in a statement Tuesday. “We absolutely need a cease-fire.”

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Hezbollah militant group says media published by the Israeli military showing its cross-border forays into Lebanon have nothing to do with the ongoing conflict.

The Israeli military says its army has been carrying out secretive ground operations to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanese villages close to the border for the past year and has released footage of what it said was Israeli soldiers uncovering tunnels and weapons in Lebanese villages.

Hezbollah said in a statement Tuesday that picture and videos that the Israeli military says show tunnels and houses entered by Israeli soldiers are “very old and have no relationship to any current military action on the Lebanese border.”

It says the images are part of a “psychological and propaganda war.”

The Israeli military has said its forces entered Lebanon overnight to begin a “limited” ground incursion. Hezbollah denies that any Israeli troops have crossed the border.