The Middle East edged closer to a long-feared regional conflict Wednesday, a day after Iran launched a missile assault at Israel and Israel announced limited ground operations into Lebanon aimed at the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged late Tuesday to retaliate against Iran. An Iranian commander promised further infrastructure strikes if Israel retaliated on Iranian territory.
The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the escalating crisis.
Israel announced on Wednesday that eight of its troops were killed in fighting in south Lebanon as its forces launched an operation against the terrorist group Hezbollah.
The casualties were the bloodiest sustained by the Israeli military on the Lebanon front in the previous year of border fighting between Israel and its Iranian-backed Lebanese adversary.
Hezbollah said its fighters were attacking Israeli soldiers inside Lebanon on Wednesday, reporting ground combat for the first time since Israeli forces crossed the border. Hezbollah claimed it destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with missiles near the border village of Maroun El Ras.
In a condolence video, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, "We are at the height of a difficult war against Iran's Axis of Evil, which seeks to destroy us."
“This will not happen because we will stand together and with God’s help, we will win together,” he said.
The Israeli military said that regular infantry and armored forces will join its ground operations in Lebanon, a day after Iran launched more than 180 missiles into Israel, raising fears that the oil-producing Middle East may become embroiled in a larger confrontation.
Iran claimed on Wednesday that its missile salvo, its largest-ever attack on Israel, was over unless additional provocation occurred, but Israel and the US threatened to respond strongly.
Germany is sending another 130 of its people out of Lebanon on a military jet.
According to the foreign and defense ministries, an Airbus A330 from the Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport Unit, an international air transport fleet, was despatched to Beirut on Wednesday to bring back "particularly endangered" Germans.
According to a statement, the jet brought 5 tons of supplies, including medical equipment, to Lebanon's capital.
On Monday, a German military jet carried 111 individuals from Beirut to Berlin, including families of German ambassadors, non-essential personnel, and others.
The ministries stated that more flights will be arranged if needed.
Israel's credit rating has been reduced for the second time in less than a week, highlighting the increased dangers to its economy as the violence worsens in the area.
S&P Global downgraded Israel's long-term sovereign credit rating on Tuesday.
“We now consider that military activity in Gaza and an upsurge in fighting across Israel’s northern border—including a ground incursion into Lebanon—could persist into 2025, with risks of retaliation against Israel,” S&P wrote.
“The latter in particular has been highlighted by [Tuesday’s] missile attack on Israel by Iran.”
The S&P predicts a delayed economic rebound in the following year.
The reduction on Tuesday lowers S&P's credit rating for Israel from "A+" to "A," indicating a more unfavorable outlook for the country's economy but keeping it at investment grade.
On Friday, Moody's cut Israel's credit rating from "A2" to "Baa1," which is still considered investment grade and three notches above "junk" status.
The US has slapped penalties on an Iranian individual and three Chinese enterprises, alleging that they assisted the Houthi terrorist organization in acquiring materials needed to construct and deploy sophisticated missiles and drones against the US and its allies.
Iranian citizen Hasan Ahmad Hasan Muhammad al-Kuhlani is included in the penalties imposed on Wednesday. He has been suspected of assisting weapons smuggling for the Houthis.
Bradley T. Smith, Treasury's Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said the Houthis "continue to leverage their networks of companies and procurement operatives to sustain their reckless attacks on civilian vessels, their unarmed crews, and civilian populations."
