Page 44 - Latest Updates on Iran-Israel conflict: What to expect next

Moody's downgrades Israel again as economic costs of full-fledged war mount

This month, the Israeli finance ministry cut its 2024 economic growth projection to 1.1 per cent from 1.9 per cent, estimate for next year was lowered to 4.4 per cent from 4.6 per cent

Israel's Lebanon move frustrates US; Netanyahu to address UN today: Updates

Israeli PM rejects US-backed ceasefire with Hezbollah, raising fears of wider conflict in West Asia amid Gaza war. Netanyahu to address the UN General Assembly in New York today

All-out war still possible as Israel, Hezbollah fight escalates: Joe Biden

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that all-out war is still possible as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, but he's hopeful an off-ramp can be found to prevent further bloodshed. Biden spoke during an interview on ABC's "The View." His comments come after days of back and forth between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon that have killed hundreds and rekindled fears of a broader war in the Middle East.

Hezbollah fires missile at Tel Aviv; Israel activates reserve troops

Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel early Wednesday, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group's deepest strike yet, and the Israeli military said it would activate reserve troops in response to the rising tensions. The Israeli military said it intercepted the surface-to-surface missile, which marked a further escalation after Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed hundreds of people. The missile set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the site in southern Lebanon where the missile was launched. The launch ratcheted up hostilities as the region appeared to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip. A wave of Israeli strikes on Monday and Tuesday killed at least 560 people in Lebanon and forced thousands to seek refuge. Fleeing families have flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleepi

Netanyahu to address UN as Israel, after one war, barrels toward another

From the dais of the UN General Assembly just a year ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu triumphantly hailed a new peace he said would sweep through the Middle East. A year later, as he travels back to that same world stage, that vision is in tatters. The devastating war in Gaza is about to hit the one-year mark. Israel is on the cusp of a wider regional war with the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. And the country finds itself increasingly isolated internationally and led by a polarising leader whose handling of the conflict has sparked protests both in global capitals and on the streets of his own country. And it's not just the mushrooming regional conflicts weighing Israel down. Netanyahu will head to New York burdened also by what could be an imminent warrant for his arrest by the International Criminal Court, what would put him in a fellowship of sorts with Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir. He arrives almost at a point o

Israeli airstrike on Beirut kills Hezbollah commander, war fears rise

Israel is shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran

500 dead in Lebanon attack: UN warns of 'next Gaza'; What is Israel's plan?

Iran has accused Israel of escalating the West Asian war after Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed 492 people on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted 'complicated' days ahead

Iran's president accuses Israel of seeking wider Mideast war, laying traps

Iran's new president accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying traps to lead his country into a broader conflict. Masoud Pezeshkian told about two dozen media representatives that Iran doesn't want to see the current war in Gaza and airstrikes across the Israeli-Lebanon border expanded. We don't want to fight, he said. It's Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go. Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and reformer, defeated a hardliner in Iran's July presidential runoff, after the death of the former president in a helicopter crash. He is making his debut on the international stage at this week's annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, just as Israel steps up attacks on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The Iranian leader, who will turn 70 on Sunday, said that while Israel insists it doesn't want a wider war, i ts actions show ...

Israeli airstrikes kill over 270 people, claim Lebanese officials

Lebanon's Health Ministry says a wave of Israeli airstrikes across the country on Monday have killed 50 people and wounded more than 300. The ministry said that the preliminary toll included women and children. The airstrikes hit wide areas in southern and northeastern Lebanon. The Israeli military said it struck 300 targets in Lebanon as it steps up pressure against the Hezbollah militant group. The army announced the strikes on the social media platform X, posting a photo of what is said was the military chief, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, approving additional attacks from military headquarters in Tel Aviv. It is one of the most intense barrages of airstrikes in nearly one year of fighting against Hezbollah. Halevi and other Israeli leaders have promised tougher action against Hezbollah in the coming days. As Israel was carrying out the attacks, Israeli authorities reported a series of air-raid sirens in northern Israel warning of incoming rocket fire from Lebanon. Israel earlier Mond

Lethal explosion of pagers, walkie-talkies deliver supply chain warning

Much of the world is dependent on factories in China for critical items like face masks, ingredients for critical medicines and parts for ventilators and other medical devices

Israel raids, shuts down Al Jazeera's bureau in West Bank's Ramallah

Israeli troops raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Sunday, ordering the bureau to shut down amid a widening campaign by Israel targeting the Qatar-funded broadcaster as it covers the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera's broadcast position in East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites. The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, territories that the Palestinians hope to have for their future state. The Israeli military didn't respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Al Jazeera denounced the

22 people killed in Israeli strike on school, says Gaza health ministry

Israeli fire killed 22 people in a strike on a school in the north of the enclave, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday. The strike on the school in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City injured another 30, the statement said. Earlier Saturday, the Israeli army said it struck a Hamas command and control centre, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as a school.

Death toll from recent Israeli airstrike on Beirut suburb rises to 31

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb has risen to 31, including seven women and three children, Lebanon's health minister said on Saturday. Firass Abiad told reporters 68 people were also wounded of whom 15 remain in hospital, adding that search and rescue operations were still ongoing, with the number of casualties likely to rise. The rare strike the deadliest targeting the Lebanese capital since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war hit a densely populated southern neighbourhood on Friday afternoon during rush hour as people returned home. Israel said it killed 11 Hezbollah operatives, including Ibrahim Akil who was in charge of the group's elite Radwan Force. The militant group members were in a meeting in the basement of the building that was destroyed. Hezbollah announced overnight Friday that 15 of its operatives were killed by Israeli forces, but did not elaborate on the location of these deaths. Lebanese troops cordoned off the area preventing people from .

Strike on Beirut killed senior Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Akil: Israel army

The Israeli military announced that its airstrike on Friday on a neighbourhood of Beirut killed Ibrahim Akil, a senior Hezbollah military official. There was no immediate confirmation of his death from Hezbollah. The Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital killed at least nine people and wounded nearly 60 others, according to Lebanese health officials, and flattened two apartment buildings. The Israeli military also claimed that its strike killed other top operatives of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, without elaborating. A Hezbollah official has confirmed that Akil was supposed to be in the building in the Dahiya district that was hit. Akil has served on Hezbollah's highest military body, the Jihad Council, and has been sanctioned by the United States for being involved in two terrorist attacks in 1983 that killed more than 300 people at the US Embassy in Beirut and the US Marine Corps barracks. It came shortly after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140

Hezbollah pounds northern Israel with 140 rockets after retaliation vows

Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets Friday, a day after the militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said. Israel's military said the rockets came in three waves Friday afternoon targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon. Hezbollah said it had targeted several sites along the border with Katyusha rockets, including multiple air defense bases as well as the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade they said they'd struck for the first time. Hezbollah said the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli strikes on villages and homes in southern Lebanon.

Before pager blasts, Israel told US about 'Lebanon operation': Top updates

Amid the tensions over pager explosions in Lebanon on Tuesday, US officials said that they were warned by Israel of a military operation in the region but not given any specifics

How Israel built modern-day trojan horse equipped for exploding pagers

In Lebanon, as Israel picked off senior Hezbollah commandos with targeted assassinations, their leader came to a conclusion: If Israel was going high-tech, Hezbollah would go low

Hezbollah leader says device attack crossed 'red line,' fears of war mount

The leader of Hezbollah on Thursday said this week's deadly attack on the Lebanon-based militant group's communications devices was a severe blow that crossed a red line. Hassan Nasrallah said the group is investigating how the two-day attack, which killed more than 30, wounded thousands and was widely believed to be carried out by Israel. Yes, we were subjected to a huge and severe blow, Nasrallah said. The enemy crossed all boundaries and red lines," he added. As usual, Nasrallah spoke by video from an undisclosed location. Hezbollah typically convenes a rally for supporters to watch his speeches on a big screen, but this time they did not.

Israel, Hezbollah exchange strikes as Nasrallah vows payback post attack

Israel and Hezbollah exchanged strikes along the border on Thursday as the militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed retaliation for attacks on the group's devices. He said Israel targeted thousands of pagers and detonated them at the same time crossing a red line". In his speech, the Hezbollah leader vowed retaliation against Israel over this week's explosions in Lebanon saying the enemy will face a severe and fair punishment from where they expect and don't expect. While its leader Nasrallah was speaking, Hezbollah announced four strikes on northern Israel. The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group defied Israel's leaders on Thursday that they will not be able to return tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes to northern Israel as long as the war in Gaza continues.

Israel declares new phase of war, turns focus toward Lebanon, Hezbollah

Israel's defence minister has declared the start of a new phase of the war as Israel turns its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Two waves of explosive attacks hit Syria and Lebanon: an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah that killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000 on Tuesday, and exploding walkie-talkies and other electronics Wednesday across Lebanon that killed at least 20 people and injured 450 others. We are at the start of a new phase in the war - it requires courage, determination and perseverance, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Wednesday. The head of Hezbollah's Executive Council promised the group would respond to Tuesday's pager explosion attack with special punishment. Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas' October 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several