What is happening in Gaza, occupied West Bank, Lebanon

With the missile attack on Israel grabbing the headlines, let’s take a look at what is happening in other areas:

Holy fuuuck. Watching the Pentegon Live now, those images of the Irians missiles are wild.

Iran uses domestically produced hypersonic missile for the first time, local media reports


_{Iran's Fattah hypersonic missile is carried past an Iranian flag during a military parade in the south of Tehran, Iran, on September 21}

Iran used its Fattah 1 hypersonic missile for the first time during its attack on Israel on Tuesday, according to the semi-official Iranian media outlet Mehr News.

The Fattah is considered Iran’s first domestically produced hypersonic missile.

Iran’s military unveiled the weapon last year, saying it can travel up to 15 times the speed of sound and is capable of “targeting missile defense systems.”

Israeli air base hit by Iranian attack, new videos show

Two new videos show a number of Iranian missiles striking Nevatim air base in southern Israel based on geolocation analysis by CNN. Iran previously targeted the same base during a similar April 13 attack.

How CNN geolocation worked: The videos were filmed from Ar’arat an-Naqab, a town just south of the air base, in southern Israel’s remote Negev desert. CNN was able to geolocate the videos by matching the buildings seen in the videos to archival photos of the town and the airbase.

What’s seen in the videos: As the camera pans skyward, dozens of rocket trails can be seen falling toward the base. Sirens are heard wailing in the background.

Then, in both videos, a single interceptor missile can be seen rising from a battery near the base before it travels out of frame.

The control tower at the air base can be seen in one of the videos as the missiles begin to impact and explode. Smoke begins to rise across the area of the base, as the sound of more impacts is heard, and more explosions are seen.

Without daylight, however, it’s unclear what exactly was hit at the base.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the videos, but did not immediately receive a response.

After the April 13 attack, Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesperson, confirmed that some of the hundreds of projectiles fired at Israel did hit the base, causing minor damage to the infrastructure there, including in an area near the runway.

Nevatim remained fully functional then, Hagari said at the time.

Iranian missile appears to hit less than a kilometer from Mossad headquarters in videos verified by CNN

A video has emerged on social media which appears to show an Iranian missile exploding less than a kilometer (or 0.6 miles) northwest of the Mossad headquarters in the fringes of Tel Aviv.

CNN geolocated the video and found it was filmed from a high-rise apartment building in Herzliya, less than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the headquarters of the Israeli intelligence service.

CNN geolocated another video appearing to show the impact of this missile in a nearby parking lot. The video shows a large crater, with dirt from the impact covering nearby vehicles. The crater is just a few hundred meters away from a cinema complex.

CNN cannot independently confirm the intended target of the missile, or that the crater was caused by the impact seen in the video shot from the apartment. However, it is likely that this was the cause, based on the missile’s trajectory.

What we know about the Biden administration's response to Iran's missile attacks

Tuesday’s attack in Israel was a “significant escalation” by Iran with more than 200 ballistic missiles shot toward the country, the White House said Tuesday. US Navy destroyers fired roughly a dozen interceptors against the Iranian missiles

Iran’s attack against Israel today was twice as large as Iran’s attack in April, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

Here’s what we know about the Biden administration’s response to the attacks:

Biden expected to speak to Netanyahu

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna has noted that Biden’s administration has publicly offered unequivocal support to Israel in the aftermath of Iran’s missile attack.

“At this stage though, we do not know what is being said in the communications between US officials and their Israeli officials – whether or not there has been a call for de-escalation,” Hanna reported.

Earlier, Biden told reporters he had yet to speak to Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. “We’ve spoken with all his people and I’ll be talking to him and my message to him will depend on what we finally conclude is needed,” the US president said.

Asked what the consequences for Iran should be, Biden replied: “That remains to be seen.”

‘Iran won’t accept humiliation. It’s time for US to act like a grown-up, restrain Israel’

This situation is very tragic. It’s horrific.

And I’d actually advise those who are celebrating – regardless of where they are celebrating, under debris in the ashes of their homes in Gaza or in the various cities in Iran – to stop.

What is happening today and what will happen in the days to come – a further escalation and probably Israel overreaching again with the help of the United States – is going to bring the region again to the brink.

One way to avoid this is to make sure that whatever happens next does not lead to further escalation because Iran, like Israel, will not accept to be humiliated.

The next response after the next response might actually bring the entire region into a war – and if we enter into a cycle of retaliation and counter-retaliation, that will end up burning the Middle East.

This is not the time to celebrate and to make threats and take the reckless Netanyahu pathway towards a broken-down Middle East.

This is the time for America to act like a grown-up, restrain Israel and propose something sobering and realistic for the Middle East that includes some sort of a ceasefire that will lead to political solutions.

Because the next war is not going to lead to the liberation of Palestine – I can assure you about that – but it’s also not going to lead to a more secure Israel or better interests for the US.

It’s simply going to lead to another tragedy in the Middle East and that’s in nobody’s interest.

‘Israel’s enablers responsible to rein in warmongers’: Iran foreign minister

Abbas Araghchi says Iran’s missile attack was an act of “self-defence” that only targeted military and security sites used for attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.

“We did so after exercising tremendous restraint for almost two months, to give space for a ceasefire in Gaza,” the foreign minister said on X, adding that Iran’s action was “concluded” unless Israel “decides to invite further retaliation”.

“In that scenario, our response will be stronger and more powerful,” he warned. “Israel’s enablers now have a heightened responsibility to rein in the warmongers in Tel Aviv instead of getting involved in their folly,” Araghci said.

Israeli officials have promised to respond to the missile attack, saying Iran will “pay” for it.

US unlikely to stop sending weapons to Israel: Former official

PJ Crowley, a former US assistant secretary of state, says Washington is unlikely to use its leverage over Israel – such as a freeze on weapons transfers to the country – to try to de-escalate regional tensions.

“The American president is not going to do that, and he’s certainly not going to do that weeks from an American election,” Crowley told Al Jazeera. “The reality is that these are calculations that are going to be made in Jerusalem, in Beirut, in Tehran – not in Washington.”

For months, experts have criticised the Biden administration for failing to rein in the Israeli government as it waged war on the Gaza Strip, warning that the region risked being dragged into a wider conflict.

Ex-PM calls for attack on Iran, says Israel has chance to ‘change face of Middle East’

Naftali Bennett has said that after the attack by Iran, “Israel has now its greatest opportunity in 50 years, to change the face of the Middle East”.

“The leadership of Iran, which used to be good at chess, made a terrible mistake this evening. We must act *now* to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime,” the former prime minister said in a social media post.

“There are times when history knocks at our door, and we must open it,” he added.

“This opportunity must not be missed.”

How much more evidence is needed to show Israel is and has been trying to provoke war with Iran with the aim of dragging the US into it. The warmongers are practically celebrating getting attacked.

So far Iran has aimed at military assets (unlike Israel) yet how many more provocations until they start bombing civilian infrastructure as well. Why can't the West see that Netanyahu is leading Israel and the ME on the path of mutual destruction.

Israeli forces raid homes of alleged Jaffa attackers

Just before the Iranian missiles hit Israel, a shooting incident in Jaffa resulted in the killing of at least seven people.

We’re now hearing that Israeli forces stormed Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, and raided homes of the Palestinians they blamed were part of the attack that also injured 15 people.

Israeli forces began searching two houses and interrogated families. They also closed all entrances and exits leading to Hebron and declared it a closed military zone.

Far deadlier than the missile attacks in which so far only 1 Palestinian in the West Bank has died from shrapnel and 2 minor injuries in Israel. (Israel is likely not going to admit to any casualties on the military bases that were hit. Yet videos have shown multiple direct impacts)

Israel’s military says attacking targets in Beirut

The Israeli army’s announcement comes shortly after Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that at least 55 people were killed and 156 others injured in Israeli attacks on the south of the country over the past 24 hours.

Also far more people killed daily than today's missile attack.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon are deadlier than the 2006 war

The Israeli military [has called] on residents of two areas in the southern Beirut suburb to evacuate because their houses, according to the Israelis, are close to Hezbollah centres.

Israel is continuing its attacks in Lebanon, with about 55 people killed in one day. On Monday, it was about 95. The number of people killed in the last 12 months now is inching closer to 2,000, which is far more than in the 2006 war when it was 1,200 in 33 days.

Today, there were attacks in the afternoon on two residential buildings just outside the southern suburb close to the centre of Beirut that killed three people.

Everyone here is now anticipating, especially after the Iranian attack on Israel, how this is going to unfold and whether there’s going to be more escalation over the coming hours and days.

US House Speaker calls for return to ‘maximum pressure’ against Iran

The United States Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has issued a statement calling for the US to send Iran a “strong response”.

“We pray for their safety and urge the Biden-Harris Administration to deliver a strong message to the Iranian regime that this unjustified violence and terror must end. The strategy of appeasement has failed, and a policy of interdiction is not enough,” Johnson said in a statement.

“Our adversaries are carrying out increasingly dangerous attacks because of Biden and Harris’ weak and failed foreign policy. The world needs America to return to a maximum pressure campaign against Iran, and President Biden needs to make clear that there will be decisive economic and potential military ramifications for these actions,” he added.

‘Very dangerous dynamic’: Escalation leads to more escalation

Ryan Costello, a policy director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a US-based group that promotes diplomacy, says the Middle East finds itself at a perilous moment.

“It’s a very dangerous dynamic where each side is trying to set new red lines or escalate past other red lines, and we don’t know, unfortunately, how devastating this could get,” Costello told Al Jazeera.

He dismissed the notion that increased violence would lead to de-escalation or prevent further attacks. Earlier this month, the US news outlet Axios reported that the Biden administration supported Israel’s policy of “de-escalation through escalation” with Hezbollah.

“The saying is: An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind. And I think that’s going to be the case if the parties continue to go down that road of trying to escalate,” Costello said.

He added that Biden’s “blank check” for Netanyahu to continue the war in Gaza and attack Lebanon triggered the Iranian escalation. “What we really need to see here is some US leadership to pull [Netanyahu] back and try to stop this thing from spiralling out of control before it’s too late.”

UK forces ‘played their part’ in defending Israel

The UK defence secretary, John Healey, has confirmed in a post on X that British forces “played their part” in defending Israel during Iran’s retaliatory attack.

I completely condemn Iran’s attack against Israel. pic.twitter.com/V00WYVTWm9

— John Healey (@JohnHealey_MP) October 1, 2024

S&P downgrades Israel’s credit rating amid regional turmoil

The credit agency S&P has downgraded Israel’s long-term rating from “A+” to “A”.

The agency said in a press release that the change reflects “risks to Israel’s growth, public finances, and balance of payments from the intensifying conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including direct security threats in case of retaliatory rocket attacks against Israel”.

Uncle Sam will pay the difference...


‘Israel cannot engage in war against Iran without US support’

Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, says US President Joe Biden’s personal affinity for Israel and his political belief that “you don’t go against Israel” has led to months of unwavering US support for the country.

She said the Biden administration has indicated that it is in discussions with Netanyahu’s government “about the kind of response” Israel will launch to Iran’s attack.

“Israel cannot engage in war against Iran without US support,” she said,” Slim told Al Jazeera, stressing that the next 24 hours will be “critical”.

“There is really this belief in the White House, shared by the president, that we are facing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the Middle East.”

No doubt driven by

AIPAC mobilises against Iran after missile attack

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has sent text messages to supporters calling on them to contact their elected representatives and demand support for Israel against Iran.

“Congress must speak out to unequivocally condemn this attack and reaffirm America’s strong support for our ally,” the pro-Israel lobby group said.

“Urge your elected leaders to (1) reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself, (2) ensure America will continue to stand with Israel, and (3) call for severe consequences for this blatant aggression by Iran.”

And people blame Russia for influencing US politics?

Israeli military bombs school, orphanage in northern Gaza

Israeli fighter jets bombed have bombed the al-Amal Institute for Orphans, which houses displaced people in the west of Gaza City, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli forces have also bombed the Muscat School, which is also being used as a shelter for displaced people in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to Wafa.

Only injuries have been reported in both attacks so far.

At least 5 killed in Israeli attack on Gaza orphanage: Reports

Earlier, we reported that Israeli fighter jets had bombed the al-Amal Institute for Orphans, which houses displaced people in the west of Gaza City.

At least five Palestinians are now confirmed dead in that attack, according to reports from the Shehab news agency and the Palestinian Information Center.

More Israeli attacks across Gaza

We’re getting more reports of Israeli strikes across the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli forces launched an air attack and artillery shelling on a house north of Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

There also have been reports of injuries after Israel shelled a house in Absan, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

US warned of ‘imminent’ attack on Israel hours before Iranian missile barrage

The one common message throughout US government departments has been expressing total support for Israel.

It was also said, both from the Pentagon and the State Department, as well as the White House, that there was constant coordination between the US and Israel prior to and during the Iranian attack.

It was confirmed, too, by President Biden that the US did participate in the defence [of Israel] by firing missile interceptors from US destroyers, which are in the region.

So massive US involvement.

One interesting point is that the US announced that an attack was imminent a few hours before the attack actually began. Now there has been no comment from the US as to how it got that information.

Several US figures have insisted that they did not get prior warning from Iran. This is something that has been claimed by Iranian sources. But both the State Department and National Security Spokesman Jake Sullivan have made very clear that they received no warning – that is according to them.

So the general message across the US is complete support for Israel and very little comment about the consequences of this attack.

What have Israeli leaders said about a potential response to Iran?

Israeli leaders have promised a harsh response to Iran’s missile attack against the country.

Iranian Shahab-3 series missiles likely used in attack on Israel, experts say


_{An Iranian soldier stands next to an Iranian Shahab-3 missile in Tehran, Iran on April 29, 2022}

Variants of the Iranian Shahab-3 series ballistic missiles were used in the latest missile attack on Israel, weapons experts who analyzed verified social media videos from the scene told CNN.

Trevor Ball, a former senior explosive ordnance technician for the US Army, told CNN that fragments consistent with Shahab-3 variants such as Emad or Ghadr, were identifiable from images and videos of the attack. In one video, debris of a booster with visible markings of an Emad missile was visible, according to Ball. Different models such as the Kheibar Shekan or, less likely, a Fattah could also have been used, he added.

The Shahab-3 is the foundation for all Iran’s medium-range ballistic missiles using a liquid-propellant, according to Patrick Senft, a research coordinator at Armament Research Services (ARES). “It is most likely based on a North Korean missile which itself is probably based on the Soviet-designed Scud missiles. The Shahab-3 was the first Iranian ballistic missile that could reach Israel,” he added.

Remnants of an Iranian ballistic missile, including the guidance section and the warhead, were visible in images and videos collected by CNN at the site of a rocket attack at a Shalhavot Chabad School in Gedera, according to both Ball and Senft. It is difficult to identify the exact model due to the lack of reference images, Ball said.

"Overall, such medium-range ballistic missiles don’t leave behind a lot of diagnostic fragments if they function as intended,” Senft also added.

Regarding claims that Iran used its Fattah 1 hypersonic missile for the first time during its attack on Israel, weapons experts expressed skepticism.

“It’s one of their newest ballistic missiles, and they have a lot to lose from using it,” Ball said. “Israel would get an idea of its capabilities just from being used. There’s also the chance it could fail to function, giving Israel an even greater idea of its capabilities. They get free propaganda and risk nothing by saying it was used.”

At least 3 dead following Israeli attack on Gaza school

Earlier, we reported that Israeli fighter jets had bombed the Muscat school, which was being used as a shelter for displaced people in Gaza City. The Wafa news agency is now reporting that at least three people were killed and 17 others injured in that attack.

Israeli military claims bombed Gaza schools used as Hamas centres

The Israeli military has claimed that two schools it bombed in northern Gaza were being used as Hamas “command and control complexes”.

“The command and control complexes were used by Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist operations against [Israeli] forces and the State of Israel,” it said in a statement, without providing evidence to back up its claims.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli fighter jets bombed the al-Amal Institute for Orphans in the west of Gaza City – killing at least five Palestinians – as well as  the Muscat school in the city’s Tuffah neighbourhood, killing at least three people.

Both complexes were being used as shelters for Palestinians displaced in Israel’s continued bombardment of the besieged enclave.

Israel has routinely attacked schools-turned-shelters across Gaza, drawing international condemnation.


_{This file photo shows people and rescuers assessing the damage following an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians near the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza on September 26}