8 Israeli soldiers die in Lebanon as fears of regional war rise

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: West Asia moved closer to a long-feared

regional war

Wednesday, a day after

Iran

fired over 180 missiles at Israel.
Israel said eight of its soldiers were killed in combat in south

Lebanon

as its forces thrust into its northern neighbour. The losses were the deadliest suffered by Israeli military on the Lebanon front in the past year.

Hezbollah

said it had destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks.
Iran said Wednesday its missile attack, which was solely aimed at Israeli military facilities and hit three of its bases, was over, barring further provocation.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in a condolence video, said: "We are at the height of a difficult war against Iran's Axis of Evil, which wants to destroy us. This will not happen because we will stand together and with God's help, we will win together."

UN Security Council called an emergency meet for Wednesday. G7 leaders expressed "strong concern" over the crisis but said a diplomatic solution was still viable and a region-wide conflict was in no one's interest. US President Joe Biden said "there's going to be some sanctions imposed on Iran". He, however, said he would not back a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.