Deadly strike on central Beirut after Israel, Iran trade threats

Israel carried out a deadly air raid Thursday in central Beirut after eight ground troops were killed near the Lebanese border, as it traded threats with its arch foe Iran over possible future attacks.

The Israeli military kept up its bombardment of the Lebanese capital after Iran launched its largest missile attack yet on Israel, which prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn Tehran would pay for its "big mistake".

As Israel weighs retaliation, President Joe Biden said the U.S. was "fully supportive" of its ally but ruled out supporting a strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

Iran, which backs Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, said it would step up its response if Israel counterattacked, defying calls for de-escalation in a war that has cost more than 1,000 lives in Lebanon.

One of the Israeli strikes hit a Hezbollah rescue facility, killing at least six people, according to a Lebanese health ministry toll.

A total of 17 overnight air raids had hit Beirut by dawn on Thursday, Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Israel, shifting its focus from the Gaza war sparked by Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, says it is trying to secure its border with Lebanon so tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by nearly a year of hostilities with Hezbollah can return home.

Israeli bombing of Lebanon has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

  Israeli soldiers killed 

The military has bombarded Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, having dealt a significant blow to the group last week by killing its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a massive strike.

A day after its military said it was conducting "targeted ground raids" in south Lebanon, Israel reported the first death of a soldier...