The long standing war between Israel and Palestine now has involved pro-Palestinian different countries like Iran, Lebanon and Yemen and also different Islamist armed groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthi, raising concern across a vast area in the Middle East.
In the latest development, Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Yemen-based Houthi groups on Wednesday launched attacks with cruise missiles on Israel day after Iran threw around 200 missile attacks on Israel on Tuesday.
The Iranian missile attacks killed at least four Israeli soldiers and injured 18 others.
Iran launched the missile attacks on Iran after several Hezbollah commanders were killed in air strikes carried out by Israel in last few days.
Meanwhile, Israel and United States of America on Wednesday warned Iran of retaliating as saying that ‘Iran must have to face consequences’.
In the circumstance, world leaders expressed their concern and urged to restraining from such fighting.
Attacks on Israel by Hezbollah and Houthi
This time Israel was attacked by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and the Yemeni rebel group Houthi. The groups made such the claim on Wednesday. This news was reported by BBC and Reuters in separate reports.
The BBC reported that Hezbollah launched a series of attacks on Israel on Wednesday morning. They claimed a rocket attack was also made on an Israeli military barracks.
In the statement, Hezbollah also said they also fired missiles targeting the Israeli army troops gathered in the settlements of Shatula and Maskaf Amr and the "gathering of Israeli enemy forces in the Shomera barracks".
The group claimed to be able to launch 'direct' and 'accurate' attacks on several targets in the last few minutes.
Hezbollah claimed to have driven out Israeli forces in the Lebanese town of Adaiseh. Shortly after this, the incident of the attack came under control.
Israel has yet to comment on Hezbollah's claims.
On the same day, Yemen's Houthis also claimed that they carried out attacks targetting Israeli military post.
Yahya Sari, the group's military spokesman, said on Wednesday that the Houthis had fired three cruise "Quds 5" rockets at military posts deep inside Israel.
However, there was no announcement from the Israeli army about the launch of rockets from Yemen.
Israel vows to make Iran pay for missile attack
AFP from Jerusalem reports;Israel vowed to make Iran "pay" for firing a barrage of missiles at its territory, with Tehran warning on Wednesday it would launch an even bigger attack if it is targeted.
Iran launched its second direct attack on Israel in history on Tuesday, firing what it said were 200 missiles including hypersonic weapons, sending Israeli civilians into shelters.
Israel, which put the number of missiles fired at its territory at 180, bombarded Lebanese strongholds of Iran ally Hezbollah, with heavy strikes early Wednesday on south Beirut.
Israel shifted its focus last month from the war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks, to securing its northern border with Lebanon, where it is fighting Hezbollah. After issuing numerous threats against Israel, Iran launched its second attack since April, sparking panic in Israel and around the region.
Israel intercepted most of Iran's missiles, while Israeli medics reported two people injured by shrapnel.
In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was killed in the city of Jericho "when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him", the city's governor Hussein Hamayel told AFP.
"Iran made a big mistake tonight and will pay for it," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"Whoever attacks us, we attack them."
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who was at the command and control centre monitoring the interception of Iranian missiles, also vowed vengeance.
"Iran has not learned a simple lesson -- those who attack the state of Israel, pay a heavy price," he said in a statement.
'Severe consequences'
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in response to Israel's killing last week of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing in July widely blamed on Israel.
The attack also sought to avenge Israel's killing with Nasrallah of leading Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan of the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm.
Israel said this week it began ground operations in Lebanon, while Hezbollah on Wednesday said it clashed with Israeli troops who tried to infiltrate into Lebanon.
The spike in violence in Lebanon since mid-September has killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes.
President Joe Biden said the United States was "fully supportive" of Israel after the missile attack.
Asked by reporters what the response towards Iran would be, Biden replied: "That's in active discussion right now."
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin slammed an "outrageous act of aggression" by Iran, while Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters there would be "severe consequences".
Iranian state media reported 200 missiles had been fired at Israel including hypersonic weapons for the first time, which the Revolutionary Guards said had targeted "three military bases" around Tel Aviv and others elsewhere.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on social media platform X that Tehran's "action is concluded unless the Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation".
Revolutionary Guards commander Major General Mohammad Bagheri also threatened to fire "with bigger intensity" if Israel makes good on its pledge to retaliate.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had exercised its "legitimate rights" and dealt "a decisive response... to the Zionist regime's aggression".
Following months of warnings of more regional violence, experts now project that the conflict can only escalate.
"This will not end well," said political analyst Jordan Barkin.
"Netanyahu has a long history of fighting back strongly and quickly when provoked. Restraint is not Mr. Netanyahu's strong suit."
James Demmin-De Lise, an author and analyst who writes a blog for The Times of Israel, agreed.
"I think we'll see Israel launch decisive attacks against Iran. Likely with the hope of toppling the Islamic regime," he said.
Both Israel and Iran issued threats of retaliation
Israel and Iran have issued threats of retaliation against one another, pushing longstanding concerns over escalation towards a regional war to new heights.
Israel, with backing from its United States ally, has promised to respond to the huge missile attack that Iran launched late on Tuesday. Iran has said any such retaliation will be met with an even “tougher” backlash.
Meanwhile, Israel on Wednesday resumed its attacks on Lebanon and announced it is sending additional troops to carry out the ground offensive that it launched on Tuesday.
Iran said the close to 200 missiles it fired at Israel were a response to the recent killings of Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran late on Tuesday that it had “made a big mistake”.
Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said the Israeli military and political echelon have insisted that the attack “simply will not go unanswered”.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has warned Iran of “serious consequences”.
US Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said “the world needs America to return to a maximum pressure campaign against Iran”.
The threats were met with defiance.
Iran’s armed forces joint chief of staff General Mohammad Bagheri threatened to repeat its missile attack with “multiplied intensity” if Israel retaliates against Iran’s territory.
Tehran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called European counterparts overnight, telling them that if Israel “takes retaliatory action, our response will be even tougher”.
On Wednesday, he said Tehran has warned the US against any intervention.
The rising tension only raises longstanding fears that Israel’s war on Gaza will eventually lead to an all-out war across the region.
Amid global calls for restraint and a step back from escalation, the United Nations Security Council has called an emergency meeting for Wednesday to address the spiralling conflict.
However, the violence shows no sign of abating.
In Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group said on Wednesday that its fighters have directly clashed with Israeli forces for the first time since 2006.
Reporting that Israeli soldiers had tried to infiltrate the country near the village of Odaisseh, Hezbollah claimed to have “inflicted losses on them and forced them to retreat”.
Reporting from Hasbaiyyah in Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said this was the first report of face-to-face fighting since Israel announced its ongoing air campaign against Hezbollah would now be accompanied by ground operations.
“When this ground invasion was announced by Israel, there was a long and intense artillery shelling concentrated on three areas – Odaisseh was one of them. It is one of the chokepoints where Israeli soldiers are going to try to come into,” Khan said.
Air raids persist
Israeli air raids, which have been battering southern Lebanon and Beirut, continued to pummel the capital on Wednesday.
Beirut’s southern suburbs were hit, with the Israeli military saying they had targeted Hezbollah.
Large plumes of smoke were seen rising. Israel issued new evacuation orders for the area, which has largely emptied after days of heavy attacks.
Lebanon’s Disaster Risk Management Unit on Tuesday announced that 1,873 people have been killed and 9,134 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks in the country since October 8 last year, when Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel due to its war in Gaza.
“The number of displaced persons from areas exposed to Israeli aggression has exceeded one million, including 155,600 registered in shelters,” the report said.
