Iran Ends Strikes on Israel After Missile Exchange

Iran declared an end to its military operations against Israel on Monday after an exchange of attacks that risked escalating the Middle East conflict. The flare-up began on Sunday when Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli targets in retaliation for continued Israeli strikes on southern Lebanese villages.

Israel responded by targeting terrorist infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs, hitting two apartment buildings, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The attack killed two people and wounded at least 20 others, including women and children. Iran then launched 11 ballistic missiles at Israel, targeting two military bases.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed an attack on Israel and warned that all Israel-linked vessels in the Red Sea would once again become targets. Israel launched two waves of strikes on central and western Iran that injured at least 15 people and damaged the country’s largest petrochemical complex.

An Israeli official told NBC News, “You can’t normalize 11 ballistic missiles shooting at Israel.” Monday’s attacks marked the most serious threat to the Iran war’s cease-fire since Washington and Tehran agreed to it in April. Last Monday, officials pushed Israel to halt its operations near Lebanon’s capital to prevent Iran from suspending talks.

Jinping arrived in Pyongyang on Monday for his first trip to North Korea in seven years. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted him with a military honor guard and a large public gathering in the capital’s main plaza. Xi and Kim reiterated their commitment to bolstering bilateral ties across trade, technology, and agriculture during their two-day summit.

An 8 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 200 others. The quake triggered a landslide in the municipality of Glan that killed at least 13 villagers and sent a roughly 3-foot tsunami into nearby coasts, damaging several low-rise buildings.

Smaller waves were recorded in Indonesia, Palau, and southern Japan. Tsunami warnings have since been lifted. Monday’s tremor was the Philippines’ largest this year, according to Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

France, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States offered to support Manila’s response efforts. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said, “The national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind,” after ordering the cancellation of all classes on the southern island.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared victory on Monday in the country’s parliamentary elections. 8 percent of the vote. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti called for other parties to join his Vetevendosje group to create a governing coalition after failing to secure an absolute majority.

5 percent of the vote in Peru’s presidential election runoff.