An Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon on Tuesday, the IDF confirmed.
Ismail Yusaf Baz, a commander of Hezbollah’s coastal sector, was killed in the area of Ain Ebel in Lebanon. The IDF said Baz served as a senior and veteran official in several positions of Hezbollah’s military wing.
“As part of his position, Ismail was involved in the promotion and planning of rocket and anti-tank missile launches toward Israel from the coastal area of Lebanon. In addition, during the war, he organized and planned a number of terror attacks against Israel,” the army said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it fired explosive-laden drones at northern Israel on Tuesday, setting off rocket sirens.
Read more about how Israel could respond to Iran’s attack here.
Follow the latest updates below
07:05 PM BST
Today’s live coverage has ended
Today’s live coverage has ended. Here is a roundup of the day’s main events:
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An Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.
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The Israeli war cabinet agreed that the response to Iran’s attack should be strategic but painful, a source said.
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The Iranian president told Vladimir Putin that Tehran is not interested in escalating the situation.
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Senior defence figures warned that Britain needs an Iron Dome to boost defences against missile and drone attacks.
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Israel urged further sanctions in a “diplomatic offensive” against Iran.
06:54 PM BST
Netanyahu to blame for Iranian attack on Israel, says Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, has said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is the main person to blame for Iran’s attack on Israel.
The Turkish leader said that Israel’s deadly April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, violated international law and “was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“The main one responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu,” Mr Erdoğan said.
“Those who have been silent for months about Israel’s aggressive attitude immediately condemned the Iranian response,” he added. “But it’s Netanyahu himself who is the first who should be condemned.”
Israel has not confirmed it carried out the attack on the Iranian consulate, but is widely believed to have done so. Thirteen people were killed in the strike, including Mohammad Reza Zahedi — a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.
06:33 PM BST
Iran to return seized Russian sailor, says Russian foreign ministry
Iran has said it will not prevent the return of a Russian national who was on board the MSC Aries when it was seized by Iranian commandos on Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry has said.
“During a telephone call between the two countries’ foreign ministers on April 14, the Iranian side said that it had no claims to the Russian sailor, promising to provide consular access to him shortly, as well as not to prevent his return to his homeland if he wants so,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced.
The Portuguese-flagged commercial ship was seized by Iran shortly before Tehran launched a salvo of drones and missiles at Israel.
Israel accused Tehran of “piracy” for the action, while Iranian state media said the vessel was “affiliated with the Zionist regime in the Persian Gulf”.
06:11 PM BST
US Navy spent $1 billion on munitions to counter attacks on ships in Middle East
The US Navy spent nearly $1 billion on munitions to counter attacks on US military and merchant ships in the Middle East over the past six months, the US Navy secretary said on Tuesday as he urged lawmakers to replenish depleted stocks.
“We currently have approaching $1 billion in munitions that we need to replenish at some point in time,” Carlos Del Toro said.
“Over the course of the last six months …. we have actually countered over 130 direct attacks on US Navy ships and merchant ships,” he added.
The high cost of counter-drone technology has been highlighted by Richard Kemp, who argues that this form of modern warfare is bankrupting Western militaries.
You can read the article in full here.
05:51 PM BST
At least 33,843 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, health ministry says
At least 33,843 Palestinians have been killed and 76,575 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Telegraph cannot independently verify these figures.
05:13 PM BST
Watch: Israeli air force control room responds to Iranian drones and missiles
The Israeli military releases footage from the Israeli Air Force’s control room at the IDF’s underground headquarters, as the first interceptions of the Iranian missiles and drones were carried out early Sunday. pic.twitter.com/bay0HeXRDA
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 16, 2024
05:07 PM BST
Iranian salvo failed to ‘deter’ Israel, defence minister says
The Israeli defence minister has declared that Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel on Saturday “failed”, and that Tehran will not deter Israel from its aims.
“The Iranians will not be able to implement a different equation of deterrence against the State of Israel,” Yoav Gallant told Israeli troops in the north of the country.
“The Air Force planes are operating everywhere, the skies of the Middle East are open, any enemy that will fight against us, we will know how to hit it wherever they are,” he added.
04:45 PM BST
Israeli strike kills senior Hezbollah commander
An Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon on Tuesday, the IDF confirmed.
Ismail Yusaf Baz, a commander of Hezbollah’s coastal sector, was killed in the area of Ain Ebel in Lebanon. The IDF said Baz served as a senior and veteran official in several positions of Hezbollah’s military wing.
“As part of his position, Ismail was involved in the promotion and planning of rocket and anti-tank missile launches toward Israel from the coastal area of Lebanon. In addition, during the war, he organized and planned a number of terror attacks against Israel,” the army said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it fired explosive-laden drones at northern Israel on Tuesday, setting off rocket sirens.
מוקדם יותר היום צה״ל תקף וחיסל באמצעות כלי טיס של חיל האוויר במרחב עין בעאל שבלבנון את המחבל איסמאעיל יוסף באז, מפקד גזרת החוף בארגון הטרור.
איסמאעיל שימש כגורם בכיר וותיק בזרוע הצבאית של חיזבאללה במספר תפקידים. דרגתו הנוכחית מקבילה לדרגת מח”ט >> pic.twitter.com/UzL6qkqGu0
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) April 16, 2024
04:33 PM BST
Israel aims to ‘end exchange of blows’ with Iran
Israel’s retaliation against Iran for Saturday’s unprecedented attack will aim to send a message to Tehran while drawing a line under the current round of hostilities, a senior Israeli lawmaker has said.
Tel Aviv must consider negative responses from its allies, risks to Israeli aircrew and the need to focus on the fighting in Gaza in its response, Yuli Edelstein said.
“We are not interested in a full-scale war. We are not, as I have said, in the business of revenge,” Mr Edelstein, a former Likud party minister whose current role involves reviewing government decisions, added.
It was earlier reported that US intelligence believes an Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran would be “narrow and limited”.
04:04 PM BST
Strategic but painful: Israel prepares to strike Iran
The Israeli war cabinet agrees that the response to Iran’s missile and drone attack should be strategic but painful, a source familiar with the issue told The Telegraph.
The war cabinet is still adamant about retaliating for the 350 missiles and drones fired from Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, but there’s still disagreement over when the attack should take place and in what form.
Although Israel has previously warned that any country launching an attack would face an Israeli attack, the source added that the cabinet is considering striking Iranian targets outside their territory.
Israel isn’t shedding tears over the anxiety in Iran over a looming Israeli attack, as Israel experienced a similar situation for nearly two weeks following the assassination of a top Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in Damascus, according to the source.
By Jotam Confino in Tel Aviv
03:42 PM BST
Pictured: IDF displays reported Iranian ballistic missile wreckage
03:38 PM BST
US expects Israeli retaliation to be ‘narrow and limited’
Washington expects an Israeli response to Saturday’s Iranian missile and drone attack to be limited in scope, a senior US official told CNN.
US intelligence suggests that Israel’s retaliation would be a “narrow and limited strike inside Iran”, as Tel Aviv feels it must respond to Saturday’s assault with some form of kinetic response, the official said.
The official also reported that the US has not received notice about when an attack on Iran could occur, but that they hoped Israel would “give us some warning so that we’re prepared to protect our personnel”.
If Israel chooses not to respond, the US is “confident that there will be de-escalation”, the official added.
03:14 PM BST
Broker launches Red Sea war insurance for cargo ships
Insurance broker Howden has begun offering war risk cargo insurance to cover ships sailing through the Red Sea against drone and missile attacks.
The cost of insuring voyages through the Red Sea has surged since Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen began attacking merchant shipping in November, in what they called a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Howden said the new product was the “first dedicated insurance coverage of its kind to protect cargo vessels within an active conflict zone, which encompasses the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean”.
The insurance has a 12-month term and offers cover of $50 million per vessel, Howden said.
02:51 PM BST
Israeli army says Iran won’t get off ‘scot-free’ after attack
Israel’s army said on Tuesday that Iran will not get off “scot-free” after the Islamic republic launched an unprecedented wave of missiles and drones at Israel last weekend.
“Iran will not get [off] scot-free with this aggression,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a military spokesman, told reporters at Julis military base while displaying the remains of an intercepted missile.
“We will not allow this aggression in the region,” Rear Adm. Hagari said, speaking in English.
He said that, even as the world was talking about the “nuclear threat from Iran”. the Islamic republic was “building a conventional threat, meaning to create a ring of fire across Israel”.
02:31 PM BST
Lebanon’s Hezbollah claims drone attack on Israel
Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed an attack on Israel using two explosive drones on Tuesday, which Israeli local authorities said wounded three people.
The Israeli military said “two armed” drones entered from Lebanon and exploded near a town in northern Israel, Beit Hillel, adding that “the incident is under review”.
Footage circulating on social media shows a drone flying over the Galilee Panhandle, with initial reports saying it exploded in the Beit Hillel area. The IDF has not yet commented on the incident. pic.twitter.com/xeKURvg3vF
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 16, 2024
Hezbollah fighters launched an “air attack with suicide drones in two phases… striking the Iron Dome [air defence system] platforms and their crew,” the group said in a statement.
The Israeli local regional council said three people were wounded in the explosion. No air raid sirens were heard at the time of the incident.
02:06 PM BST
Iran told Putin that Tehran is not interested in escalating
Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, told Vladimir Putin by telephone that Tehran’s strikes on Israel were limited and that the Islamic Republic was not interested in escalating, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Putin expressed hope that all sides would show reasonable restraint and so prevent a fall towards a confrontation that could have “catastrophic consequences for the entire region”, the Kremlin said.
01:36 PM BST
Pictured: Israeli tank rolling across Israel’s Gaza border
01:16 PM BST
UK ‘needs an Iron Dome’ after wake-up call of Iranian attack on Israel
The United Kingdom needs an Iron Dome to boost defences against missile and drone attacks after Iran’s attack on Israel acted as a “wake-up call” to the West, senior defence figures have said.
There is concern that although Britain has a comprehensive air defence strategy, the country lacks land-based systems to defend London or its nuclear power stations.
Tobias Ellwood, a former chairman of the Commons defence committee, said the changing nature of modern warfare, where Britain’s adversaries launch huge barrages aimed at overwhelming air defence systems, meant the country needed a “permanent umbrella of security”.
Read the full piece, by Joe Barnes and James Crisp, here.
01:01 PM BST
Netanyahu tells army recruits Israel fighting Hamas ‘without mercy’
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, told new army recruits on Tuesday that Israel was fighting Hamas “without mercy”, according to a statement from his office.
“You are joining the IDF (army), the splendid combat positions in order to repel a brutal enemy … We are striking them back without mercy and we will defeat them,” he said.
12:46 PM BST
Berlin: EU countries considering new Iran sanctions
Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said she has noticed that a number of players at the European level have said they would take another look at extending an existing EU sanctions regime against Iran that targets drone production.
Ms Baerbock had campaigned with France and other EU partners last autumn to extend the European Union sanctions regime.
“I hope that we can now finally take this step together as the EU,” said Ms Baerbock in Berlin on Tuesday at a news conference with her Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi.
A virtual meeting of EU foreign ministers on the tensions in the Middle East is planned for Tuesday.
12:34 PM BST
Pictured: Mourners in Gaza
12:18 PM BST
Israel’s war cabinet meeting to discuss Iran
Israel’s war cabinet will meet on Tuesday to discuss the response to Iran’s attack over the weekend, an Israeli official said.
No time was set for meeting, the official said.
It will be the third time that the decision-making cabinet convenes since Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel on Saturday night.
12:05 PM BST
EasyJet suspends flights to Israel
EasyJet on Tuesday suspended flights to Israel until October 27 citing the security situation in the Middle East.
“As a result of the continued evolving situation in Israel, easyJet has now taken the decision to suspend its flights to Tel Aviv for the remainder of the summer season,” a spokesperson said in a statement, after the airline on Sunday paused flights to the Israeli city.
“Customers booked to fly on this route up to this date are being offered options including a full refund.”
It comes as British holidaymakers heading to the Middle East and as far away as Australia face travel disruption, after Iran carried out a major drone attack on Israel on April 13, writes Greg Dickinson, Senior Travel Writer.
Read about how the Iran attacks could impact holidays, to the Middle East and beyond, here.
11:49 AM BST
Listen: Could Iran’s strike on Israel lead to full-scale war?
11:39 AM BST
US Treasury preparing fresh sanctions on Iran
The US Treasury is preparing fresh sanctions on Iran in response to Iran’s attack on Israel, Axios reported on Tuesday.
“The Treasury will not hesitate to work with our allies to use our sanctions authority to continue disrupting the Iranian regime’s malign and destabilizing activity,” Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, is prepared to say Tuesday, as per the Axios report.
“The attack by Iran and its proxies underscores the importance of Treasury’s work to use our economic tools to counter Iran’s malign activity.”
Ms Yellen said previously that Iran’s actions threatened stability in the Middle East and could cause economic spillovers, adding that the US would use sanctions and work with allies
11:23 AM BST
UN commission accuses Israel of obstructing Oct 7 probe
A UN-mandated commission of inquiry that probes violations of international human rights law on Tuesday accused Israel of obstructing its efforts to collect evidence from the victims of the attack by Hamas in southern Israel on Oct 7.
“So far as the government of Israel is concerned, we have not only seen a lack of cooperation, but active obstruction of our efforts to receive evidence from Israeli witnesses and victims to the events that occurred in southern Israel,” said Chris Sidoti, one of three members of a commission of inquiry into abuses committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
“We have contact with many, but we would like to have contact with more.”
11:13 AM BST
Iran has chosen self-destruction, and is happy to take the world down with it
The Iranian regime has chosen suicide, writes Sherelle Jacobs.
True, it will take some time for the logical conclusion of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatal and probably irreversible course of action to play out.
Like a pre-AI automaton incapable of adapting to the input of new information, the BBC will continue to blather about Iran’s capacity for “strategic patience” and the risks of Israel “dragging” the US into a regional war.
Read the full piece here.
10:59 AM BST
War in pictures
10:43 AM BST
Not necessary to ban IRGC, says former MI6 chief
John Sawers, the former head of MI6, said:
I don’t think it’s necessary. The counterterrorism legislation was designed to deal with terrorist groups, it’s not designed to deal with states.
Now Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism, there’s no doubt about that, but a state poses a much more substantial threat than a terrorist organisation does.
Parliament passed only last year a new intelligence and security act that gave MI5 the powers it needs to defend this country. If the head of MI5 came out and said I really need a proscription against the revolutionary guards, that would be one thing, but I’m not hearing that… I think it’s more of a rhetorical position of people in various parts of the political spectrum, looking for something to do, without really thinking about the substance of it.
10:17 AM BST
Israeli artist refuses to open Venice show in war protest
The artist chosen to represent Israel at the prestigious Venice Biennale art fair said on Tuesday that she was refusing to open the national pavilion until there was a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
“I feel that the time for art is lost,” Ruth Patir wrote in a statement on Instagram, explaining why she and the exhibits’ two curators had decided to shutter the show.
“And so if I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” she said.
09:47 AM BST
Egypt and Turkey to discuss Middle East tensions
Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister, is expected to discuss developments in the Middle East and the situation in Gaza with his Turkish counterpart during a visit to Turkey at the weekend, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Tuesday.
Mr Shoukry and Hakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, will also evaluate the latest developments in negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, the source said.
09:35 AM BST
Israel urges sanctions in ‘diplomatic offensive’ against Iran
Israel launched a “diplomatic offensive” against Iran on Tuesday, calling on 32 countries to impose sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards and their missile programme.
“Alongside the military response to the firing of the missiles and the UAVs, I am leading a diplomatic offensive against Iran,” Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, said on X.
09:27 AM BST
Watch: Pro-Palestine protests across Golden Gate Bridge
09:17 AM BST
Danger lurks for Israel in its tactical victory against Iran
I hope this does not sound frivolous – goodness knows, the threat to Israeli lives is real enough – but it seems to me that Iran’s weekend attacks contained an element of play-acting, writes Charles Moore.
For its part, Iran wished to assert its right, as it saw it, to retaliate for the Israeli attack on its “consulate” – better described as a hideout of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – in Damascus.
The notion that Iran believes in the sanctity of diplomatic status is richly comical, given that violations of diplomatic immunity have been its stock in trade ever since the 1979 revolution. But let that pass.
Read the full piece here.
09:10 AM BST
South Korea orders preemptive response to Middle East tensions
Yoon Suk Yeol, the South Korean president, said on Tuesday there should be a preemptive response to any risk factors arising from the tensions in the Middle East following Iran’s attack on Israel because of the country’s energy dependence on the region.
Tensions in the Middle East have a direct impact on international oil prices and that, in turn, has a significant impact on South Korea’s economy and supply chain, Mr Yoon said at the start of a cabinet meeting.
“There should be a preemptive response to various risk factors that can arise,” he said, without elaborating.
Mr Yoon said the Strait of Hormuz is the transport corridor for 60 per cent of the oil imported by South Korea. “The large increase in transport costs and oil price increases will directly lead to increases in prices for us,” he said.
09:01 AM BST
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down airport highways and bridges in major US cities
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked roadways in Illinois, California, New York and the Pacific Northwest on Monday, temporarily shutting down travel into some of the nation’s most heavily used airports.
In Chicago, protesters linked arms and blocked lanes of Interstate 190 leading into O’Hare International Airport around 7am in a demonstration that they said was part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine”, according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organisers.
Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area was held up for hours as demonstrators shut down all vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and chained themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with cement across Interstate 880 in Oakland.
08:52 AM BST
Beijing: Iran able to ‘handle situation’ and spare Middle East more tension
China said it believed that Iran could “handle the situation well and spare the region further turmoil” while safeguarding its sovereignty and dignity, referring to an attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria and its retaliatory strike over the weekend.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, told his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, via a phone call on Monday that China appreciated Iran’s emphasis on not targeting regional and neighbouring countries, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
Mr Wang also said he noted that Iran had described its actions as limited and carried out in self-defence. China strongly condemns and resolutely opposes the embassy attack, and calls the incident “unacceptable”, Mr Wang added.
08:42 AM BST
Pictured: US protests over war in Gaza
08:31 AM BST
Exiled Iranian prince Reza Pahlavi calls for toppling of Islamic regime
My compatriots,
The war of Khamenei and his Guards with Israel is not the Iranian nation’s war. But it is you, burdened by economic problems and psychological pressures of a regime that has used Iranians as human shields for the past 45 years, that will bear the cost. I feel… https://t.co/iL1fEyJsCg
— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) April 15, 2024
08:21 AM BST
Israel pushing for more sanctions against Iran
Israel’s foreign minister said on Tuesday he was urging countries to place sanctions on Iran’s missile programme and proscribe its Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation after Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel.
“Alongside the military response to the firing of missiles and drones, I am leading a diplomatic attack against Iran,” Israel Katz said in a social media post.
Mr Katz said he sent letters to 32 countries and spoke with numerous counterparts, calling on them to “place sanctions on Iran’s missile project and declare the Revolutionary Guard a terror organisation, as a way to stop and weaken Iran”.
“We must stop Iran now, before it will be too late.”
08:09 AM BST
Japan calls on Iran to exercise restraint
Japan urged Iran to exercise restraint following its attack against Israel during a telephone call between the two countries’ foreign ministers, the Japanese foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Yoko Kamikawa, Japan’s foreign minister, urged that the safety of navigation be ensured in the region’s waters in the call with her Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Japanese government said.
07:58 AM BST
Iran threatens ‘severe’ response to any action against its interests
Iran has threatened a “severe” and “widespread” response to any action against its interests, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.
“We categorically declare that the smallest action against Iranian interests will certainly be met with a severe, widespread and painful response against any perpetrator,” Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian president, told the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Tuesday.
Source Agencies
