Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least five killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of a conflict between the regional foes that showed no sign of slowing.
One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, causing minor damage, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. There were no injuries to American personnel.

Hezbollah has long been considered Iran's first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. But since Israel launched its massive barrage against Iran this week, the Lebanese group has stayed out of the fray.
A network of powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq has also remained mostly quiet — even though Israel used Iraq's airspace, in part, to carry out the attacks.

Israel's defense minister warned Iran on Saturday that "Tehran will burn" if it continues firing missiles.
Speaking after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Iran will pay a heavy price for harming Israeli citizens.

Lebanon reopened its airspace on Saturday morning, hours after closing it due to the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport apologized to passengers whose flights were delayed, saying it had closed the airspace late Friday for the safety of travelers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered an attack plan against Iran in November 2024, shortly after the elimination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah — one of Iran’s strongest proxies. That’s when Israel forecasted Iran would start rapidly advancing its nuclear program.
In a video statement circulated to journalists Friday evening, Netanyahu said the attack was supposed to happen in April but was postponed.

Israeli strikes on Iran on Friday and Tehran's vows of reprisals have brought the two Middle East adversaries closer to an all-out war, which also threatens to draw in the United States, at least to some degree.
So how do the militaries of Iran and Israel stack up against each other?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected "several waves of Iranian attacks" in response to Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic on Friday, saying he had initially planned an attack in April.
"We expect to be exposed to several waves of Iranian attacks," Netanyahu said in a video statement, after Israel struck military and nuclear sites in Iran in the early hours of Friday.

For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a blistering attack on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure distracts attention from Israel’s ongoing and increasingly devastating war in Gaza, which is now over 20 months old.
There is a broad consensus in the Israeli public that Iran is a major threat, and Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, a staunch critic of Netanyahu, offered his “full support” for the mission against Iran. But if Iranian reprisals cause heavy Israeli casualties or major disruptions to daily life, public opinion could shift quickly.

Israeli leaders cast a blistering attack on the heart of Iran’s nuclear and military structure as necessary to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning a strike. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.
"This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to “remove this threat.”

The United States is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East in response to Israel's strikes on Iran and a possible retaliatory attack by Tehran, two U.S. officials said Friday.
The Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward so it can be available if requested by the White House.
