Israel intercepts Hezbollah's strike

UK plans to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon

Associated Press Jerusalem: Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel, including a longer-range projectile that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. It was the group's farthest strike yet in nearly a year of exchanges. Israel said it intercepted the projectile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage. Hezbollah said it had fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, which it said was responsible for the targeted killing of its senior leaders.

Israel later said it struck the site the missile was launched from in southern Lebanon. Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict. Hezbollah has launched hundreds of projectiles toward Israel, causing some damage to buildings and homes and lightly injuring several people. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire since the Israel-Hamas war began. Israel's military says it will do whatever is necessary to push Hezbollah away from Lebanon's border with Israel. Meanwhile, 700 British troops were due to arrive on Wednesday to the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus as it prepared for the possible evacuation of its citizens from Lebanon.

Gaza adds 28 people to the war's death toll Cairo: The bodies of 28 people killed in Israeli airstrikes were brought to local hospitals over the past day and another 85 people were wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday. A total of 41,495 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly a year ago, according to the ministry, which says another 96,006 have been wounded. The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count. It says women and children make up slightly more than half of those killed. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war began with Hamas' October 7 attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. Around 100 captives are still being held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead. Pope Francis asks the international community to help stop escalating tensions in Lebanon Pope Francis called for a stop to escalating tensions in Lebanon, calling it unacceptable.

I am saddened by the news coming from Lebanon, where intense bombing in recent days has caused much death and destruction," the pope said on Wednesday during a regular audience at the Vatican. Meanwhile, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq say Israel is pushing the Middle East into an all-out war and are calling on the United Nations Security Council to intervene. In a joint statement on Wednesday, the three countries' foreign ministers affirmed that averting a regional war requires the cessation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza. The ministers also condemned the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, and said that Israel is pushing the region into an all-out war.

Egypt and Jordan were the first two Arab countries to make peace with Israel. But relations have been strained since the war began in Gaza, triggered by Hamas' October 7 attack. Iraq has close ties to Iran, which supports both Hamas and the Lebanese militant group. Hezbollah has traded heavy fire with Israel in recent days.