Iran lashes out with missiles as Israel says war still intensifying

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that Iran's Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib was killed successful an overnight onslaught successful Tehran.

Katz warned of much "significant surprises" coming Wednesday, crossed aggregate arenas, signaling a imaginable escalation of operations against some Iran and its proxy radical Hezbollah successful Lebanon.

He said Tuesday that Israeli officials had authorized commanders to people immoderate elder Iranian fig pinpointed by quality without seeking support from leadership.

"The strength of attacks successful Iran is increasing," Katz said. 

Israeli strikes connected cardinal Beirut killed astatine slightest 12 radical connected Wednesday morning, the Lebanese wellness ministry said, adding that the strikes deed the Basta and Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhoods successful cardinal Beirut.

A onslaught besides deed an flat gathering successful Bachoura, cardinal Beirut, wholly flattening it arsenic time broke, The Associated Press said. 

Israeli strikes targeting cardinal Beirut person go progressively predominant successful caller days, with oregon without anterior warning. The attacks person deed acold from the city's confederate suburbs, for which the service issued evacuation notices aboriginal successful the warfare with Hezbollah.

CBS/AP

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the kingdom would big a consultative gathering connected Wednesday of the overseas ministers of a fig of Arab and Islamic countries, "with the purpose of achieving further consultation and coordination connected ways to enactment information and stableness of the region."

Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would be the gathering to sermon developments successful the region, pursuing an announcement by Ankara that Fidan would embark connected a determination travel aimed astatine ending the Iran war.

About 90 ships including lipid tankers person crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the opening of the warfare with Iran. Maritime and commercialized information platforms study it is inactive exporting millions of barrels of lipid astatine a clip erstwhile it said it closed the cardinal waterway for vessels of the U.S. and its allies. 

Analysts accidental Iranian lipid export volumes stay resilient. Many of the vessels that person passed done the Strait are alleged "dark" transits evading Western sanctions that apt person ties with Iran. 

More recently, vessels with ties to India and Pakistan person besides successfully crossed the strait arsenic governments stepped up negotiations.

Two radical were killed adjacent Tel Aviv overnight arsenic debris from the interception of an Iranian rocket fell onto homes. Israel's Magen David Adom exigency effect bureau said constabulary reported respective interaction sites astir the city, and that amid the debris successful an flat gathering successful the Ramat Gan area, determination were "two unconscious casualties, with nary pulse and not breathing, with terrible injuries to their bodies."

CBS News nationalist information analogous Charlie D'Agata says Iran's latest retaliatory attacks connected Israel person included clump bombs. Designed to overwhelm Israel's multi-layered aerial defence systems, they merchandise dozens of tiny bomblets successful the air, which looked similar comets arsenic they streak done Tel Aviv's nighttime entity earlier raining down indiscriminately crossed the city.

An Israeli exigency responder inspects the interaction of an Iranian rocket onslaught astatine an apartment, leaving an aged mates dead, March 18, 2026, successful Ramat Gan, adjacent Tel Aviv, Israel.  Amir Levy/Getty

Defense officials person told CBS News that if it wasn't for Israel's air-defense and aboriginal informing systems, the decease toll would apt beryllium overmuch higher.

So acold 14 radical person been killed by Iran's attacks successful Israel, portion 2 others person died of aesculapian circumstances related to the strikes.

The U.S. military's Central Command said successful a societal media station that American forces had "successfully employed aggregate 5,000-pound heavy penetrator munitions connected hardened Iranian rocket sites on Iran's coastline adjacent the Strait of Hormuz" connected Tuesday. 

CENTCOM said the Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles astatine the targeted sites had "posed a hazard to planetary shipping successful the strait."

Iran has virtually unopen the captious shipping lane down to planetary lipid postulation since the warfare began by targeting commercialized vessels, but those attacks person relied connected aerial and oversea drones astatine slightest arsenic overmuch arsenic they person connected missiles.