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As Israel plots to strike Iran, its choices range from symbolic to severe

Israel has promised to retaliate for Iran's massive missile attack last week. How it does so involves great risk, and could have major repercussions for the archenemies, the Middle East and the world.

Israel's options range from symbolic strikes on military targets to crippling attacks on Iran's vital oil industry or its secretive and heavily fortified nuclear program.

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At least 6 wounded in stabbing attack in northern Israel

At least six people were stabbed and wounded in northern Israel in what police say was a militant attack.

Police said the assailant stabbed people in multiple locations in the northern city of Hadera on Wednesday before fleeing on a motorbike. Police said they later shot and “neutralized” him, indicating he was killed. They did not provide the name or nationality of the assailant.

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Israeli strike kills policeman in Syria's Quneitra

Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed a policeman in the south of Syria near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, state media said, the day after a deadly air strike on the capital.

Israel has repeatedly struck Syria throughout the civil war that started in 2011, but it has ramped these up in recent weeks as it also pounds Lebanon.

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Israeli offensive in northern Gaza kills and wounds dozens and threatens hospitals

A large-scale Israeli operation in northern Gaza has killed and wounded dozens of people and threatens to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said Wednesday.

Heavy fighting is underway in Jabaliya, where Israeli forces carried out several major operations over the course of the war and then returned as militants regroup. The entire north, including Gaza City, has suffered heavy destruction and has been largely isolated by Israeli forces since late last year.

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Iran FM to Saudi for talks on Gaza and Lebanon

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks that were expected to cover efforts to end fighting between the Israeli military and Iran-backed groups in Gaza and Lebanon.

"I hope that these consultations can lead to better conditions for Palestine and Lebanon and establish peace in the region," Araghchi told Iranian state television upon his arrival in Riyadh.

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Biden and Netanyahu set to discuss Israel's attack on Iran

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to hold a crucial phone call on Wednesday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel's plans to strike Iran, three U.S. officials told U.S. news portal Axios.

The call would be the first between Biden and Netanyahu in two tense months, and comes as Israel considers major attacks that could significantly escalate its regional war.

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UK's Lammy to press for ceasefires in Mideast visit

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned on Wednesday that countries "must not waver" as they work towards ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, as he visited two regional allies.

Lammy, who will hold talks with leaders in Bahrain and Jordan and meet UK armed forces personnel currently stationed in the Middle East, called the situation there "incredibly dangerous."

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18 dead after Israeli strikes in Gaza

Palestinian officials say Israeli strikes in central and northern Gaza killed at least 18 people, including five children and two women.

Two strikes hit tents for displaced people in the urban Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza early Wednesday. The bodies of nine people, including three children, were brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah. An Associated Press journalist saw the bodies at the morgue.

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Gallant postpones trip to Washington at Netanyahu's request

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has postponed a trip to the United States scheduled for this week, delaying a planned meeting with his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin, the Pentagon said.

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Syria says children among 7 civilians killed in Israel Damascus strike

A war monitor said four people, including two non-Syrians, were killed in an Israeli air strike Tuesday targeting a building in the Syrian capital used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards for meetings with Hezbollah.

"Israel targeted a building frequented by senior Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah operatives, as well as a car parked in front of the building... killing four people," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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