Israel hit Lebanon

Israel's military said late Wednesday that its aircraft had struck Lebanon in retaliation for the launch of a surface-to-air missile. "A short time ago, the air defense group intercepted a surface-to-air missile fired from Lebanon," the Israeli military said in a statement. "In response, army jets struck the source of the launch," the statement added.

Since the start of the war with Hamas on October 7, Israel has engaged in regular exchanges with the Islamist militant group Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in southern Lebanon. Its military also struck military targets in Syria early Wednesday in response to shelling of Israel.

World leaders have expressed concern that the exchange could draw Israel into a wider conflict with other countries in the region, escalating its war against Hamas. /BGNES