Iran launched missiles at Israel for the first time since an early April ceasefire began, escalating tensions after Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs and as mediators tried to restart U.S.-Iran talks.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Iran launched missiles at Israel in the first such attack since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April, further complicating U.S.-backed efforts to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel said the missile barrage followed days of rising tension over Lebanon, where Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs Sunday despite Washington’s recent request that it stand down, according to a report by the Associated Press. Tehran had warned that another attack on Beirut could restart full-scale war across the Middle East, even as Pakistan worked to revive negotiations between Iran and the United States.
Israel said its Beirut strike was retaliation for fire from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group into northern Israel earlier Sunday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel targeted “command centers.”
“We are striking them very hard, and we know that Hezbollah is on the run,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet.
Israel’s military said “steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians,” including aerial surveillance.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the Israeli strike hit a residential building, killing two people and wounding 20. The attack came just days after the Lebanese and Israeli governments reached a ceasefire agreement during U.S.-hosted talks, though Hezbollah rejected the deal.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for the earlier fire into Israel.
The renewed escalation came after Israel on Monday had announced it would strike Beirut’s southern suburbs following Hezbollah-claimed attacks in northern Israel. Urgent talks through Washington halted those strikes on the condition that Hezbollah stop targeting Israeli border towns. Lebanon and Israel later renewed a ceasefire agreement that Beirut hopes will end the fighting.
The first such agreement took effect April 17, days after a 10-minute Israeli bombardment of Beirut killed more than 300 people. Israel later struck Beirut’s southern suburbs twice after that deal. Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon have continued daily, and Israeli forces have seized about one-fifth of Lebanon during a ground invasion.
Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, has said Israel intends to continue its offensive until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat. Hezbollah has rejected the U.S.-brokered agreement and urged Lebanon to end direct talks with Israel. The group instead supports Iran’s position that a ceasefire in Lebanon must be included in negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Iranian officials had signaled that U.S. and Israeli assets could be targeted after the Beirut strike. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, accused Washington of enabling Israel and pointed to the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports.
“The (U.S.) naval blockade imposed against the Iranian people, together with Washington’s green light today to the Zionist regime, makes U.S. and Israeli bases and assets in the region legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said on X.
There was no immediate White House comment on the Iranian missile attack. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said of the Israeli strike in Beirut, “we were not surprised.” The official would not say whether Washington had received advance notice.
The fighting threatens broader efforts to end the U.S.-Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for oil, gas and related products such as fertilizer. The closure has disrupted the global economy and triggered warnings about hunger in vulnerable regions.
President Donald Trump, in an interview taped Friday and aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said Lebanon did not have to be part of a short-term deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war.
“I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life. I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical,” Trump said.
Trump added that he is “not demanding” Lebanon’s inclusion in the immediate ceasefire arrangement.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel two days after Israel and the United States began attacking Iran. More than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced. The fighting has also killed at least 31 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
Diplomatic efforts continued despite the escalating violence. Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Rodolphe Haikal, traveled to Pakistan on Saturday at the invitation of Pakistan’s army chief, who has been involved in mediation between the United States and Iran. Lebanon’s army did not say whether Haikal’s trip was tied to those talks.
Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, was in Tehran on Sunday in another attempt to restart negotiations between Iran and the United States. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that Naqvi was carrying a message for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei from Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir. The contents of the message were not disclosed.
Khamenei has not appeared publicly since he was named ruler of the Islamic Republic after his father was killed Feb. 28, the first day of the war.
Naqvi met late Saturday with Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and on Sunday with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to official Iranian media.
Pakistani officials have said Islamabad is working with support from regional countries, including Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, to help narrow differences between Washington and Tehran. In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Bader Abdelatty and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed “proposed elements” of a possible U.S.-Iran agreement, Egypt’s foreign ministry said. No details were provided.
The U.S. military also said it shot down two more Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz, saying the drones threatened international maritime traffic.
The heaviest fighting between the United States and Iran eased after a preliminary ceasefire took effect April 8, but the two countries have not agreed on a long-term settlement. Washington has continued its blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz.
The war has driven up energy prices and created political problems for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections. The latest Iranian missile attack on Israel adds another obstacle to negotiations already strained by fighting in Lebanon, the blockade on Iranian ports and the unresolved dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.
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