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Tuesday

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Monday

Israeli soldiers are deployed in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Sunday.

Israeli soldiers are deployed in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Sunday. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Israel launches a 'limited' ground offensive in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military has launched what it called a "limited, localized" ground offensive in southern Lebanon against the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Friday

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu hold signs as he addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu hold signs as he addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. Pamela Smith/AP hide caption

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Pamela Smith/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Netanyahu defies calls for a cease-fire at the U.N., as Israel strikes Lebanon

In a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli prime minister said his country would is "winning" and would attack Iran and its proxies anywhere in the Middle East.

Tuesday

A masked demonstrator waves a flag of Hezbollah during a demonstration supporting the Palestinians in Beirut on Oct. 20, 2023.

A masked demonstrator waves a flag of Hezbollah during a demonstration supporting the Palestinians in Beirut on Oct. 20, 2023. Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

What is Hezbollah, the militia fighting Israel in Lebanon?

After trading fire across the Israel-Lebanon border for almost a year, this week Israel and Hezbollah have intensified the fighting. Here’s a look at Hezbollah, its origins, goals and leadership.

Monday

Members of the Lebanese army and the Italian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force inspect a house destroyed by an Israeli attack during a patrol in Yarine on June 10.

Members of the Lebanese army and the Italian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force inspect a house destroyed by an Israeli attack during a patrol in Yarine on June 10, 2024. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR hide caption

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Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR

Middle East crisis — explained

U.N. peacekeepers take cover as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel trade attacks

“The situation is really quite volatile,” Capt. Alessandro Crepy, with the Italian contingent of the peacekeeping group UNIFIL, says of the fighting between forces in Israel and Lebanon.

Rocket exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah hit new highs in the past week

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Friday

China is mostly quiet on Houthi attacks in the Red Sea

Houthi fighters march during a rally of support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and against the U.S. strikes on Yemen, outside Sanaa, on Jan. 22. AP hide caption

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AP

Middle East crisis — explained

China is mostly quiet on Houthi attacks in the Red Sea

China's charting its own course, distancing itself from the U.S. in the Middle East, refusing to condemn the Houthis and looking to capitalize on ties with regional players to help solve the crisis.

China is mostly quiet on Houthi attacks in the Red Sea

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Sunday

The U.S. military says it struck a Houthi underwater vessel in the Red Sea

The U.S.S. Gravely destroyer is seen in the south Red Sea on Tuesday, Feb. 13. CENTCOM said U.S. forces repelled five Houthi attacks on Saturday. Bernat Armangue/AP hide caption

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Bernat Armangue/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

The U.S. military says it struck a Houthi underwater vessel in the Red Sea

U.S. Central Command said it was the first time the Iranian-backed rebel group had been observed using an uncrewed underwater vessel since starting a series of attacks in the region in October.

Thursday

Strikes along Israel's border with Lebanon are again fueling fears of a widening war

An Israeli army soldier sits by a machine gun deployed on a tripod at a position in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on October 28, 2023 amid increasing cross-border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel as fighting continues in the south with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Strikes along Israel's border with Lebanon are again fueling fears of a widening war

A series of deadly strikes on Wednesday and Thursday underscored the risk that daily cross-border skirmishes could quickly escalate and turn the war in Gaza into a broader regional conflict.

Wednesday

U.S. drone strike kills a leader of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq

People, rescuers and security forces gather around a vehicle hit by a drone strike, reportedly killing three people, including two leaders of a pro-Iran group, in Baghdad on Wednesday. Murtaja Lateef/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Murtaja Lateef/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

U.S. drone strike kills a leader of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq

A U.S. drone strike in the Iraqi capital has killed at least one leader of an Iran-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah.

U.S. drone strike kills a leader of an Iran-backed militia in Iraq

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Saturday

The U.S. targets Iranian proxies for a second day in a row

U.S. Central Command released this undated photo as part of its announcement of renewed airstrikes against Houthi targets on Saturday. U.S. Central Command hide caption

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U.S. Central Command

Middle East crisis — explained

The U.S. targets Iranian proxies for a second day in a row

The new round of U.S. strikes is far more extensive and deadly than those that have been launched since October, when the Israel-Hamas war began and pro-Iranian groups began their attacks.

Monday

The killing of U.S. troops in Jordan raises specter of a wider war in the Middle East

A satellite view of the U.S. military outpost known as Tower 22, in Rukban, Rwaished District, Jordan, in October last year. Planet Labs via Reuters hide caption

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Planet Labs via Reuters

Middle East crisis — explained

The killing of U.S. troops in Jordan raises specter of a wider war in the Middle East

An escalation of violence in the Middle East over the last 24 hours, including a drone attack that killed three U.S. service members, has raised concerns about the possibility of a regional war.

Saturday

U.S. personnel are injured after Iranian-backed militants attacked an Iraq air base

This Dec. 29, 2019, aerial file photo taken from a helicopter shows Ain al-Asad air base in the western Anbar desert, Iraq. Nasser Nasser/AP hide caption

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Nasser Nasser/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

U.S. personnel are injured after Iranian-backed militants attacked an Iraq air base

A "number" of U.S. personnel are being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries, the U.S. military said, after barrage of missiles and rockets targeted the Ain al-Asad base on Saturday evening.

Friday

Iran's regional flashpoints are increasing. Here's what to know

A civil defense team carries out search-and-rescue operations in a damaged building following a missile strike launched by Iran on Irbil, the capital of northern Iraq's Kurdish region, on Tuesday. Safin Hamid/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Safin Hamid/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Iran's regional flashpoints are increasing. Here's what to know

Pakistan and Iran have traded cross-border rocket attacks, stoking fears of widening conflict even farther.

Thursday

What is the 'axis of resistance' of Iran-backed groups in the Middle East?

People carry Palestinian flags, Iranian flags and Hezbollah flags at Tehran's Revolution Square during an anti-Israel rally on Oct. 18. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption

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Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

What is the 'axis of resistance' of Iran-backed groups in the Middle East?

There have been questions about how Iranian-backed forces in the "axis of resistance" may influence the Israel-Hamas war. The network of forces is "a kind of NATO for militant groups," an expert says.