War in the Middle East: latest developments

PARIS, France — Here are the latest developments Wednesday in the Middle East war:

Four killed in West Bank by missile debris

Four Palestinian women were killed in the occupied West Bank by falling shrapnel, emergency responders said, shortly after Israel’s military reported another Iranian missile barrage.

Air raid sirens also went off from northern to southern Israel after at least one missile launch was detected from Lebanon.

READ: Middle East war: global economic fallout

Kuwait arrests alleged Hezbollah members

Kuwait arrested 10 militants affiliated with the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group on Wednesday, who were accused of plotting “terrorist” actions against vital infrastructure, the interior ministry said.

Iran threatens massive Gulf energy retaliation

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned neighbouring Gulf nations that their oil and gas industries would be “completely destroyed” if Israel or the United States conduct any further attack against Iranian energy infrastructure.

“Our response will be much more severe than tonight’s attacks,” the Guards said in a statement, after striking the world’s largest gas hub, Ras Laffan in Qatar.

Earlier, Iran blamed Israel and the United States for strikes on its giant South Pars gas facility, with President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of “uncontrollable consequences” of energy infrastructure attacks.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar had separately condemned the strikes on Iran’s gas plant.

Qatar expels some Iranian diplomats

Qatar’s foreign ministry ordered Iran’s military and security attaches along with their staff to leave the country within 24 hours, following the attack on the Ras Laffan facility.

US central bank raises inflation outlook

The US Federal Reserve raised its outlook for inflation as it held interest rates steady, citing an “uncertain” economic outlook due to the war.

Israel vows to keep up strikes

The Israeli military vowed to continue targeting senior Iranian officials, after announcing it had killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

“We will continue to hunt down all of the regime’s senior officials. The series of eliminations will not stop,” a military spokesman said in a televised briefing.

Saudi capital hit again

More loud explosions rang out over Riyadh late Wednesday, AFP journalists reported, after authorities previously said they intercepted four ballistic missiles headed for the Saudi capital.

The defence ministry also said it destroyed a drone headed towards a gas plant.

Khamenei vows revenge

Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a written message that the killers of security chief Ali Larijani, who died in an Israeli strike, “will have to pay for it”.

“Every drop of spilled blood comes at a price, and the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay it,” added Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since taking office.

‘Debris’ hits Israel airport

The Israeli military told AFP that “debris” had hit Ben Gurion international airport following Iranian missile fire, without specifying when the incident occurred.

Earlier, medics said missiles from Iran killed two people near Tel Aviv, bringing the death toll from missiles fired on the country to 14.

NATO discusses Hormuz

NATO chief Mark Rutte said allies were discussing the “best way” to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil corridor where Iran has choked off much of the world’s oil supply. /das