Live: Israel says it will control bridges and area south of Lebanon’s Litani River

An intense wave of missile activity was reported across Israel overnight from Thursday into Friday, with explosions heard near Jerusalem and sirens sounding across central areas, the Jordan Valley and the occupied West Bank.

Al Jazeera reported that Jerusalem was targeted by four waves of incoming projectiles within about an hour, an unusually heavy barrage, with no immediate reports of casualties.

Witness accounts and social media footage suggested interceptions over the northern city of Haifa, with debris seen falling to the ground, while a missile or fragment was also reported in a village in northern Israel.

Air strikes hit Tehran again late Thursday, with multiple explosions reported across the city, including in the east and central areas, Al Jazeera reported.

Several blasts were heard within minutes, with smoke seen rising from at least one site.

The strikes followed a day in which Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched two waves of ballistic missiles at Israel. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that Israel and the United States are “protecting the entire world” through their military campaign against Iran, claiming Israeli strikes have significantly degraded Tehran’s military capabilities.

He said Iran can no longer enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles, but did not provide evidence to substantiate the claims.

“We are winning and Iran is being decimated,” Netanyahu said, adding that the campaign aims to eliminate Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile threats “before they are buried deep underground and become immune from aerial attack,” and to “create the conditions for the Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands.”

He said the claims that Israel had drawn the United States into the conflict as “fake news,” adding, “Does anyone really think someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on.”

Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The United Kingdom has sent a small group of military planners to work with the United States on a “viable collective plan” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reported, quoting a British defence official.

The planners will join British personnel already working with US Central Command as Washington and its allies respond to Iran’s effective closure of the key waterway following US and Israeli military operations.

The move comes as partners weigh their level of involvement, with some reluctant to deploy military assets into the strait amid active hostilities.

In a joint statement, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan said, “We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the United States and Israel to end the war in Iran, warning that the conflict risks spiralling out of control and causing severe suffering for civilians.

In a letter, Guterres warned that the war could escalate further with devastating humanitarian consequences, stressing the urgent need to halt the fighting and pursue negotiations.

He cautioned that continued military action could trigger broader instability across the region and beyond.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US warplanes and attack helicopters have begun an intensified military campaign to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route disrupted by Iran. 

"The effort has taken on new urgency nearly three weeks into the war with Iran, as oil prices soar above $100 a barrel," the report said. 

The campaign marks a significant escalation in operations aimed at targeting Iranian naval assets, drones and missile systems to control passage through the waterway. 

The IRGC said “an F-35 strategic fighter jet of the hostile US army was hit in the central sky of Iran,” IRNA reported, a claim that could not be independently verified.

If confirmed, the incident would mark the first time a US F-35 has been hit and the first known instance of Iran striking a US aircraft since the war began.

The European Council warned that developments in Iran and the wider region threaten regional and international security, calling for de-escalation and support for diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and reach a lasting solution to the conflict.

In a statement, the European Council said that they are "concerned about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and their significant impact on civilians."

"We condemn Hezbollah's attacks on Israel and call on them to stop immediately", calling for a thorough investigation into the targeting of peacekeepers and an immediate end to these attacks.

The European Council said it is "ready to support diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and reach a lasting solution to the conflict."

A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said that Israel is planning a “false flag” operation targeting Saudi Aramco facilities in an effort to blame Tehran, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported. 

The spokesperson said the “Israeli terrorist regime plans to attack Armco in a false flag operation to blame Iran,” according to IRNA. 

Israeli aircraft carried out an airstrike on the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Israeli warplanes also launched another airstrike on the outskirts of the town of Srifa in southern Lebanon, the report said. 

Missile activity intensified overnight from Thursday into Friday, with reports of two ground explosions in the Jerusalem area, likely caused by impacting missiles or falling debris, Al Jazeera reported.

The report said that Jerusalem was targeted by four waves of incoming weapons, with four separate air raid warnings sounding within an hour.

Sirens were reported across a wide area of central Israel, including the Jordan Valley and the occupied West Bank.

Social media videos appeared to show falling missiles or debris from intercepted projectiles in Haifa, where interceptions were reported, as well as in a village in northern Israel.

Hezbollah said it fired missiles at Israeli soldiers and vehicles in southern Lebanon, targeting a group in al-Aadaissah and launching another attack in the border town of Mays al-Jabal, according to separate statements on its Telegram channel.

The Israeli army has expanded its ground troop presence in southern Lebanon since it escalated attacks on the country on 2 March, amid rising cross-border hostilities.

The Trump administration has approved about $7 billion in weapons for the United Arab Emirates that the State Department is not required to announce to the public under rules governing US arms exports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

That is in addition to arms sales to the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan worth more than $16.5bn announced earlier on Thursday, the Journal said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said its latest wave of attacks targeted central and southern Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as US bases across the region, according to the IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency.

Leaders from the European Union's 27 countries called for de-escalation in Iran and the wider region on Thursday, as well as a moratorium on striking critical infrastructure amid growing concerns about the impact of the Iran war on the global economy.

"The European Council calls for de-escalation and maximum restraint, the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and full respect of international law by all parties," the leaders said in written conclusions, following their talks during a regular summit in Brussels.

"In this regard, it calls for a moratorium on strikes against energy and water facilities," they said.