Israel begins large-scale strikes in Beirut after Hezbollah rocket attack

The Israeli military said it began a new "wide-scale wave of strikes" on Iran early on Thursday, minutes after alarms were activated across Israel warning of missile attacks from Iran, reported Xinhua.

Residents in Tel Aviv reported loud blasts as Israel's state-owned Kan TV news said debris hit several locations in the area. The country's rescue service, Magen David Adom, said its teams were on their way to search for possible injuries at sites where missile hits or fragments had been reported.

The attacks followed large-scale Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday night, while Hezbollah targeted northern Israel for hours with rocket barrages.

Interception efforts of the rocket barrages from Lebanon are still ongoing, the military said in a statement. The fire comes after the Israeli air force attacked the crowded suburb of Beirut with heavy strikes.

The rare barrages, which, according to Israel's state-owned Kan TV news, included about 100 rockets, hit several locations in the north. At least two people, a woman and a man, were lightly injured, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.

"Home Front Command search and rescue forces, together with emergency teams, are currently operating at the impact sites in northern Israel," the military said, adding that the circumstances of the impacts are under review.

Drones from Lebanon and missile attacks from Iran were also reported, which targeted northern Israel as well as the central and southern areas.

Citing an Israeli security official, Kan TV reported that the military estimates Iran and Hezbollah coordinated the recent launches in an attempt to bypass Israel's air defense systems.

Meanwhile, alarms were activated across Israel on Wednesday night as air defenses detected missiles and rockets launched from Iran and Lebanon.

There were media reports of a rocket or debris hitting a building in the north, and the country's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement that its teams were on their way to the scene to check for injuries.

A rocket barrage from Lebanon was intercepted, according to the military, but shortly later, more alarms were sounded in northern Israel, including in the coastal city of Haifa, sending millions of residents back to the shelters.

Simultaneously, a missile from Iran triggered alarms in central and southern Israel as well as in the Jerusalem area and the occupied West Bank. The attacks came as the deadly regional conflict stretched into its 12th day.

Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday it will continue striking Israeli and U.S. bases across the Middle East until it perceives the threat of war against Iran has ended.

"We only think of the enemy's complete surrender," the IRGC said in a statement on its official outlet, Sepah News.

The IRGC claimed that its 38th wave of attacks late Tuesday hit the U.S. Al-Udairi base in Kuwait, sending more than 100 troops to nearby hospitals.

The group also claimed missile and drone strikes on U.S. naval infrastructure at Mina Salman port in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, as well as attacks on Kuwait's Ali Al-Salem Air Base and Mohammed Al-Ahmad Naval Base.

Earlier Tuesday, the IRGC said it targeted a satellite communications center south of Tel Aviv and military sites in Beer Yaakov, West Jerusalem, and Haifa with Khorramshahr missiles. It also claimed attacks on several U.S. positions in Erbil, Iraq.

Separately, Iran's army reported early Wednesday drone strikes on Israeli Military Intelligence, the Unit 8200 cyber division, a Green Pine radar installation, and a submarine command center at Haifa's naval base.

The flare-up follows joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities on Feb. 28, which killed former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders. In response, Iran has carried out repeated missile and drone attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets in the region.

In the latest strike on Iranian soil, Bank Sepah, a major bank in Iran, said a U.S.-Israeli missile hit one of its Tehran buildings around 1 a.m. local time Wednesday (2130 GMT Tuesday), injuring and killing employees on the overnight shift. State broadcaster IRIB confirmed the attack but did not provide casualty figures.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters -- Iran's primary military command -- warned the strike would prompt retaliation, saying the attack on a bank "freed" Iran to target U.S. and Israeli financial institutions across the region. The Military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari urged civilians to stay at least one kilometer away from such facilities.

Trump sends mixed messages on when strikes on Iran will end

U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. military operation in Iran is both a war and a short-term "excursion," sending mixed messages on when the strikes will end.

"You just said it is a little excursion and you said it is a war. So, which one is it?" Trump was asked by one of the reporters traveling with him in the U.S. state of Ohio.

"Well, it's both," Trump answered. "It's an excursion that will keep us out of a war, and the war is going to be, I mean for them it's a war."

Addressing House Republicans on Monday, Trump described the military operation against Iran as a "short-term excursion" while later vowing to "go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory." He has also demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender."

Though Trump said earlier on Wednesday that the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran will end "soon" because there is "practically nothing left to target," Axios reported.

U.S. and Israeli officials said that they are preparing for at least two more weeks of strikes in Iran, and that there has been no internal directive on when such strikes might stop, according to the report.

More than 1,300 civilians have been killed and 9,669 civilian sites destroyed in Iran in U.S.-Israeli strikes since Feb. 28, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, said Tuesday.

Iran to hit US Israeli economic targets in region: military

Iran's military said on Wednesday to launch strikes against U.S. and Israeli economic targets in the region, after overnight attacks reportedly hit an Iranian bank.

A joint U.S.-Israeli strike hit a bank in the Iranian capital city of Tehran overnight, leaving one person killed, according to Iranian media.

Iranian president lists preconditions for ending war

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that "the only way" to end its war with the United States and Israel "is recognizing Iran's legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm international guarantees against future aggression."

In a post on social media platform X, Pezeshkian voiced "Iran's commitment to peace in the region."

Earlier in the day, Iranian armed forces warned that they would launch massive retaliation if the United States were to strike Iran's ports.

Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, made the remarks in an interview with state-run IRIB TV after the U.S. Central Command published a post on its Persian page on X, calling on civilians in Iran to immediately stay away from the port facilities in which Iranian naval forces are carrying out operations.

"If the United States carries out its threat against Iran's ports, no port, economic center, or point in the Persian Gulf will be out of our reach," Shekarchi said.

Thai cargo ship attacked in Strait of Hormuz

A Thai cargo ship came under attack on Wednesday while sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, said the Royal Thai Navy. So far, 20 crew members have been rescued and taken to Oman for settlement.

The vessel involved is the Mayuree Naree, owned by Precious Shipping PCL, which departed from a port in Khalifa, the United Arab Emirates, in the early hours of Wednesday and was attacked around 11 a.m. local time in the Strait of Hormuz.

Following the incident, the Royal Thai Navy immediately coordinated rescue efforts. The Royal Navy of Oman has rescued 20 Thai crew members and transported them to Khasab, Oman. Authorities are continuing to search for the remaining three crew members. The Thai Navy added that the exact cause of the attack is under investigation

Drones intercepted, fuel tanks hit at Oman's Salalah Port

Multiple unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted and brought down in Oman, while several drones struck fuel storage tanks at the Port of Salalah, a security source told Oman News Agency on Wednesday.

No casualties were reported following the incident.

Authorities are deploying all available resources to monitor and counter the attacks, the source said, adding that measures are being taken to safeguard the country's security as well as the safety of citizens and residents.

The attack comes amid escalating tensions across the Middle East following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Tehran targeting military bases, energy infrastructure and maritime assets in several Gulf states.

UAE air defenses respond to missile, drone threats

Residents in Dubai received emergency alerts on their mobile phones on Wednesday, urging them to seek shelter in the nearest secure building and stay away from windows, doors, and open areas as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) responded to incoming threats.

According to the alert, people were advised to remain in safe locations while defensive operations were underway.

The UAE Ministry of Defense said on social media platform X that the country's air defense systems were responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.

"The sounds heard are the result of the Air Defense Systems intercepting missiles and drones," the ministry said.