US-Israel Iran War Live Updates

A high-ranking Hezbollah official, Haj Youssef Ismail Hashem, met a tragic end on Wednesday in a targeted attack that shook the city of Beirut. According to the Israeli military, Hashem was the mastermind behind Hezbollah’s southern front operations.
The strike that claimed Hashem’s life was a significant intelligence failure for Hezbollah, highlighting a glaring vulnerability in their security apparatus.
Meanwhile, the situation in the southern region remains precarious. Despite the setback, Hezbollah has continued to unleash a barrage of rockets into northern Israel, with at least 70 projectiles launched since midnight, as reported by Israel’s Army Radio. While many of these rockets were intercepted and caused minimal damage, they have still managed to disrupt daily life, forcing residents to seek shelter or flee the area.
As Israel presses on with its ground invasion, Hezbollah is putting up a fierce resistance in the south, employing tactics such as ambushes and anti-tank fire to slow down the Israeli advance. Over the past 24 hours, the invasion has been hindered, with Hezbollah’s counterattacks gaining momentum.

According to Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies and fellow at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King’s College, US President Donald Trump’s recent speech was indicative of a desperate attempt to salvage the situation with Iran. Krieg stated that Trump’s options are severely limited, with negotiations being his only viable course of action.

The analyst pointed out that Trump’s dual message, which included threats against civilian targets and a hint at a potential exit strategy, demonstrated a lack of consideration for the far-reaching economic consequences of such actions. Krieg characterized the US administration’s approach as haphazard and lacking a coherent strategy, particularly in light of the prolonged conflict.

In a dramatic turn of events, Israel has come under a fresh barrage of Iranian missiles following a provocative statement from US President Donald Trump, who claimed that Washington had effectively dismantled the Iranian military and was on the cusp of achieving its military objectives. Trump’s assertion came just hours after he alleged that Tehran had requested a ceasefire, a claim vehemently disputed by the Iranian government. In a surprising move, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian emphasized that his country harbours no animosity towards the people of the United States, Europe, or its regional neighbours. For a comprehensive overview of the current situation on the 34th day of the conflict, please refer to our in-depth analysis.

Iran’s top military officer has instructed operational commanders to meticulously track the movements of the US and Israel, with the aim of thwarting any potential ground assault.
During a high-level meeting with senior army officials, as captured in a video released by Iran’s government news agency IRNA, Armed Forces chief Amir Hatami emphasized the importance of real-time intelligence gathering.
According to IRNA’s summary of Hatami’s remarks, the military chief made it clear that any enemy attempting a ground invasion should be met with zero tolerance, with no survivors allowed.
Hatami’s directive calls for the relentless monitoring of enemy movements and actions, with a focus on staying one step ahead of the enemy’s tactics and strategies.

Iraq, a country with a complex mix of Iran-aligned groups and US military presence, has become a focal point in the escalating conflict in Iran, with attacks emanating from all directions.

The US military has faced allegations of launching multiple strikes against positions held by Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, which includes some brigades with ties to Iran. Conversely, US facilities in Iraq have been targeted, with a recent incident involving a drone attack on a helipad within the US Embassy in Baghdad, according to security sources.

Furthermore, Kurdish forces in northern Iraq have come under fire from groups backed by Tehran, with one drone attack specifically targeting the residence of Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdish region.

“Iraq’s precarious situation arises from the fragmentation of its state and its foreign policy,” Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow and director of the Iraq Initiative at the UK-based think tank Chatham House, explained to Al Jazeera. “Iraq’s diverse political and security landscape is comprised of various factions with allegiances to competing external powers: Some maintain close relationships with Iran, while others are more closely tied to the US.”

Read more on the conflict’s expansion into Iraq here.

Spanning an impressive 1,800km (1,120 miles), Iran’s southern shoreline unfolds as a significant maritime thoroughfare, stretching from the Iraqi delta’s wetlands in the west to the rugged Pakistani terrain in the east.
At its core lies the Strait of Hormuz, a critical bottleneck through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas is transported.
Dispersed along this coastline are several islands that serve as military strongholds, energy centers, and key power brokers within Iran’s carefully crafted “strategic architecture” of influence.
In this immersive experience, Al Jazeera embarks on a tour of 10 pivotal islands, ports, and energy infrastructure that define the balance of power and commerce in the Gulf region.
Explore the tour here.

Hossein Kermanpour, Iran’s Health Ministry spokesperson, has disclosed that a high-impact incident has severely compromised the structural integrity of the Pasteur Institute of Iran, a pioneering medical research institution established in 1920.

The escalating US-Israeli conflict with Iran is casting a long shadow over the lives of South Asian farmers, whose livelihoods are intricately linked to global events thousands of kilometres away.
At the heart of the crisis lies the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route through which a substantial portion of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas is transported, ultimately influencing the availability of nitrogen-based fertilisers that are crucial for crop production.
Disruptions to fertiliser supplies can have a domino effect, leading to reduced crop yields, higher production costs, and ultimately, increased food prices.
Pakistani wheat farmer Muneer Ahmad underscored the potential impact, warning that expensive fertiliser would have far-reaching consequences for his community.

Iranian state media carried a statement from a public relations official for the IRGC in Fars province, asserting that the force’s air defences had successfully intercepted and downed an Israeli Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while it was flying over the city of Shiraz.

The recent US embassy warning about potential attacks in Baghdad remains shrouded in uncertainty, despite ongoing US military operations targeting positions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq for several weeks. However, a dramatic turn of events has unfolded in the past 48 hours, with the abduction of American journalist Shelly Kittleson, 49, in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday evening. Since her disappearance, there has been no official word on her whereabouts.

Intelligence suggests that the militant group Kataib Hezbollah may be responsible for her kidnapping. At this juncture, it remains unclear whether the group is seeking a ransom or negotiating for concessions. Iraqi security forces have apprehended one of the individuals involved in her abduction, but their investigation appears to be at a standstill. The authorities have shifted their focus to the southern region of Baghdad, where they are conducting a thorough search.

While the US government has maintained a low profile on the matter, sources indicate that backchannel negotiations with the Iraqi government have issued a stern warning: a robust response will be forthcoming if Shelly Kittleson is not released within the next 48 hours, as of Wednesday.