Israel's defense minister said Wednesday that the military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. Khatib's killing follows Israel killing top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force.
Also on Wednesday, Iran launched strikes toward Israel and neighboring Gulf countries, with explosions heard in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar and interceptions reported in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks came hours after Iranian state media confirmed Israel's military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike, as well as Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij force, known for its role in suppressing protests.
An Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in Bachoura, central Beirut, completely flattening it as day broke. Two earlier strikes on residential apartments in other central Beirut neighborhoods early Wednesday killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Israeli strikes targeting central Beirut have become increasingly frequent in recent days, with or without prior warning. The attacks have hit far from the city's southern suburbs, for which the army issued evacuation notices early in the war with Hezbollah.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, more than 900 in Lebanon and 14 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The U.S. military says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.
Here is the latest:
UAE says 13 missiles and 27 drones fired on the country
The United Arab Emirates has tallied 13 ballistic missiles and 27 drones fired Wednesday on the oil-rich nation.
Iranian state media says natural gas facilities attacked
Facilities associated with Iran's massive offshore South Pars natural gas field came under attack Wednesday, state media reported.
Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency reported on the attack targeting facilities at Asaluyeh in Iran's southern Bushehr province.
They did not immediately elaborate.
Iran shares the offshore field in the Persian Gulf with Qatar, which it has repeatedly attacked during the war along with other Gulf Arab nations.
It wasn't clear if Israel or the United States had carried out the attack, however the U.S. has been operating primarily in southern Iran.
The U.S. previously attacked Iran's Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, its main oil terminal.
At least 8 killed in Iran courthouse airstrike
At least eight people were killed in an airstrike on a courthouse complex in Iran's Larestan County on Wednesday, according to Iran's official judiciary news agency Mizan.
The head of the Fars province judiciary told Mizan that one lawyer, six clients and a member of the judicial staff were killed, but the agency reports the exact number of those killed and wounded is not yet known.
Israel says strikes targeted Hezbollah-linked financial institution
The Israeli military said it hit branches of al-Qard al-Hasan, a Hezbollah-linked microfinance institution that Israel says is being used to fund the group's military wing.
A wave of Israeli strikes overnight hit several neighborhoods in central Beirut and killed 10 people, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
Israel also said its navy targeted Hezbollah militants in Beirut.
French envoy bashes Hezbollah and Israel
France's special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking to the France Info radio station Wednesday, said the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah "bears full responsibility for the resumption of fighting in Lebanon" but "Israel's response has been disproportionate and counterproductive, as it unites various actors against Israel."
He criticized Israel for mass evacuation orders that have driven the displacement of more 1 million people in Lebanon and for spurning offers by the Lebanese government to enter into negotiations.
Israel and the U.S. have criticized the Lebanese state for failing to disarm Hezbollah after the last Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a ceasefire in November 2024. Le Drian said the state had taken steps toward disarmament.
"Israel occupied Lebanon for many years and did not succeed in eliminating Hezbollah's military capabilities," Le Drian said. "It cannot now demand that the Lebanese government achieve this in three days under bombardment."
Israel says Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib killed
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the Israeli military killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.
Khatib's killing follows Israel killing top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force.
Katz said "significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts," without elaborating, in announcing Khatib's killing.
The U.S. Treasury, which sanctioned Khatib in 2022 over the Intelligence Ministry "engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies" put his year of birth as either 1960 or 1961. It said Khatib had been born in Ghayenat in Iran's South Khorasan Province.
Khatib "directs several networks of cyber threat actors involved in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran's political goals," the Treasury said at the time. "In addition to conducting malicious cyber activity that affected Albanian government websites, (Intelligence Ministry) cyber actors were also responsible for the leaking of documents purported to be from the Albanian government and personal information associated with Albanian residents."
The Treasury also called Iran's Intelligence Ministry in another round of sanctions "one of the Iranian government's main security services which is responsible for serious human rights abuses."
"Under his leadership, the (Intelligence Ministry) has cracked down on a large number of human rights defenders, women-rights activists, journalists, filmmakers, and members of religious minority groups," it said.
The Intelligence Ministry "has also aggressively persecuted individuals reporting on human rights abuses and violations in Iran, as well as their families, and subjected detainees to torture in secret detention centers during his tenure."
In June 2025, Khatib claimed Iran seized documents from Israel's nuclear program. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency later said that the information Iran claimed it seized regarding Israel's nuclear program "seems to refer" to the country's Soreq Nuclear Research Center. Soreq, located 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Tel Aviv, is a national laboratory for nuclear science established in Israel in 1958, engaged in nuclear science, radiation safety and applied physics.
Israel says Basij chief was killed while hiding in a tent
A senior Israeli military intelligence official says Israel killed the head of Iran's Basij force while he was hiding in a tent hidden in a wooded area under some trees.
The official says Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani was killed with his top staff in the strike.
The official says such strikes, which have killed many members of Iran's leadership, are meant to send a message that "they have no safe place." The account could not be independently verified.
The official declined to say how Israel located top Iranian official Ari Larijani, who was killed in a separate strike this week. But he says, "every time they decide to appear publicly, it's a big advantage for us."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a classified intelligence assessment.
Saudi forces destroy drone nearing diplomatic quarter
Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry says its forces shot down a drone Wedneday morning as it approached the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh, which houses the U.S. embassy and other foreign missions.
Latest reports of live fire
Missile alerts sounded in Dubai again Wednesday morning as the noise of interceptors exploding overhead boomed across the city-state.
Israel said it detected a new missile launch from Iran targeting it Wednesday morning.
Iran executes man it accused of spying for Mossad
Iran's judiciary said Wednesday it executed a man it accused of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.
The judiciary's Mizan news agency identified the man as Kourosh Keyvani.
It alleged he "provided images and information on sensitive locations" to the Mossad. Keyvani was the first publicly announced execution for spying during the current war.
Iran, one of the world's top executioners, long has killed people convicted of spying charges in closed-door hearings where they can't fully contest the cases against them.
Activists and rights groups have warned since Iran's nationwide protests in January that the Islamic Republic could begin conducting mass executions. Iran violently suppressed the protests through violence that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained.
In the aftermath of Iran's eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s, international rights groups estimate as many as 5,000 people were executed.
No request from US to help keep Strait of Hormuz open, Australian minister says
A senior Australian government minister said he isn't aware of any formal U.S. request for military support to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was responding Wednesday to U.S. President Donald Trump's complaint that Australia, Japan, South Korea and NATO had rejected his calls to help secure the strait from Iranian attack.
Asked if Australia had received any formal U.S. request for extra military support to keep the strait open, Chalmers told Australian Broadcasting Corp: "Not that I'm aware of."
"It's not something that we've been considering, in terms of sending battleships to the Strait of Hormuz," Chalmers told Sky News television in another interview.