Live updates: Iran launches deadly missile attacks on Israel and Gulf states as war rages on with no end in sight

Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday that the country would escalate its war against Iran and its parallel attack on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon, clearly signaling an escalation of the conflict at the heart of the Middle East.

“The intensity of the attacks in Iran is increasing. We are on the verge of achieving a decisive result,” Katz said in his video message, shared on social media.

“Israel’s policy is clear and unequivocal: no one in Iran has immunity, and everyone is targeted. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorized the IDF to neutralize any senior Iranian official for whom an operational and intelligence opportunity arises, without the need for additional approval. We will continue to intercept and pursue them all,” he said.

“Significant surprises are also expected throughout today across the board, which will intensify the war we are waging against Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

The head of the Iranian regime’s powerful judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, said on Wednesday that despite Israel killing a growing number of senior figures in Tehran, there was “no disturbance in the will of the people, the administration of the country or the management of affairs.”

He acknowledged that “several of our people,” including commanders, had been “martyrs,” but stated that even “under these conditions, the country remains stable.”

An official in Iran’s western Lorestan province said Wednesday that seven people were killed and 56 others wounded in US-Israeli attacks on “densely populated residential areas of Dorud County.”

Judicial officials earlier said an attack hit the region, killing and wounding civilians and judicial staff.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib was killed in an overnight attack in Tehran.

Katz warned of more “significant surprises” on Wednesday, in multiple areas, indicating a possible escalation of operations against Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

He said on Tuesday that Israeli officials had authorized commanders to target any senior Iranian figure identified by intelligence without seeking leadership approval.

“The intensity of attacks in Iran is increasing,” Katz said.

Israeli strikes in central Beirut killed at least 12 people on Wednesday morning, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, adding that the attacks hit the neighborhoods of Basta and Zuqaq al-Blat in central Beirut.

An attack also hit an apartment building in Bachoura, central Beirut, completely leveling it at dawn, The News said.

Israeli attacks on central Beirut have become increasingly frequent in recent days, with or without warning. The attacks have occurred far from the city’s southern suburbs, for which the military issued evacuation notices at the start of the war with Hezbollah.

Lebanese officials on Wednesday put the total death toll from Israel’s escalating offensive in the country at more than 900 people, taking into account the latest attacks in Beirut. According to Lebanese officials, more than a million people have been displaced in the country, or about one-sixth of the entire population.

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The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the kingdom would host a consultative meeting on Wednesday of the foreign ministers of several Arab and Islamic countries, “with the aim of achieving greater consultation and coordination on ways to support the security and stability of the region.”

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend the meeting to discuss developments in the region, following Ankara’s announcement that Fidan would embark on a regional trip aimed at ending the Iran war.

Some 90 ships, including oil tankers, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war with Iran. Maritime and trade data platforms report that it is still exporting millions of barrels of oil at a time when it said it closed the key waterway to ships from the United States and its allies.

Analysts say Iranian oil export volumes remain resilient. Many of the ships that have passed through the Strait are so-called “dark” transits that evade Western sanctions and likely have links to Iran.

More recently, ships with ties to India and Pakistan also successfully crossed the strait as the governments intensified negotiations.

Two people were killed near Tel Aviv overnight when debris from an intercepted Iranian missile fell on their homes. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency response agency said police reported several impact sites around the city, and that among the rubble at an apartment building in the Ramat Gan area, there were “two unconscious victims, without a pulse and not breathing, with serious injuries to their bodies.”

News themezone national security correspondent Charlie D’Agata says Iran’s latest retaliatory attacks against Israel have included cluster bombs. Designed to overwhelm Israel’s multiple air defense systems, they release dozens of small bombs into the air, looking like comets as they streaked across Tel Aviv’s night sky before falling indiscriminately on the city.

Defense officials have told News themezone that if it were not for Israel’s early warning and air defense systems, the death toll would likely be much higher.

So far, 14 people have died from Iran’s attacks on Israel, while two others have died from medical circumstances related to the attacks.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said in a social media post that U.S. forces had “successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep-penetrating munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along the coast of Iran near the Strait of Hormuz” on Tuesday.

CENTCOM said Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles at the targeted sites had “posed a risk to international shipping in the strait.”

Iran has all but closed the vital sea route for international oil trafficking since the war began by attacking commercial ships, but those attacks have relied on air and sea drones at least as much as missiles.