The Middle East moved closer to a long-feared regional war the day after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel and Israel said it began limited ground incursions into Lebanon targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

Iran’s generals and clerics have repeatedly shown a reluctance to go to war in recent months, yet the scale of Israel’s damage to the country’s regional prowess left them with little option but to retaliate.

Netanyahu’s ruthless strategy sets off a wave of retribution that could drag the U.S. into a showdown with Iran, and risks a broader war

The British weekly "The Economist" warns that Israel may activate a 20-year-old plan to attack Iran's nuclear installations. As a pretext, it may use the fact that it was fired upon by Iranian missiles.

The low-boil conflict between Israel and Iran has shaped the Middle East for decades. Of the many conflicts that have roiled the region, theirs has long been among the most explosive. The two have attacked each other — mostly quietly and in Iran’s case often by proxy — while avoiding an escalation into direct war.

Iran fired at least 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Oct. 1, 2024, amplifying tensions in the Middle East that are increasingly marked by “escalation after escalation,” as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres put it.

Iran has fired missiles at Israel after weeks of devastating air-strikes crippled Lebanese militant group Hezbollah - with an Israeli air campaign killing leader Hassan Nasrallah last week