Iran said on Wednesday that a missile attack on Israel, its biggest military attack on the Jewish state, was over, ruling out further provocations, while Israel and the United States vowed to hit back at Tehran as fears of a wider war grew.
Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continued on Wednesday.
Israel renewed its bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, with at least a dozen airstrikes on what it said were targets belonging to the group.
Large plumes of smoke could be seen from parts of the suburbs. Israel has issued new evacuation orders for the area, which has largely been emptied after days of heavy attacks.
Hezbollah said it confronted Israeli forces that had infiltrated the Lebanese town of Adaisseh early Wednesday and forced them to withdraw.
Iran described Tuesday’s attack on Israel as defensive and aimed solely at its military facilities. Iran’s state news agency announced that three Israeli military bases had been targeted.
Tehran said its attack was a response to Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon against Hezbollah and Gaza.
– Our action is over unless the Israeli regime decides to call for further retaliation. In that scenario, our response will be stronger and more powerful,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X early Wednesday.
