The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they unfold.

US says it has bombed over 2,000 targets in Iran, is ‘continuing with 24/7 strikes’

The US military commander in the Middle East says that American forces have struck nearly 2,000 targets so far in Iran as part of the largest firepower buildup in the region in a generation.

“We’ve already struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions. We have severely degraded Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,” Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command says in a video message.

He adds that the US has destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine. “Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman.”

According to Cooper, “the first 24 hours of this operation were nearly double the scale” of the first day of shock-and-awe strikes on Iraq in 2003, “and we continue with 24/7 strikes into Iran.”

Cooper also reveals that Iran has so far launched over 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,000 drones in retaliatory attacks against American targets, Israel and US-allied Arab states in the region.

Rocket sirens activated in several Lebanon border towns

Rocket warning sirens are activated in a few towns near the Lebanon border, with residents told by the military to seek immediate shelter

Jewish New Yorkers hold Purim event outside Iranian consulate

Jewish New Yorkers hold a Purim event outside the Iranian consulate in midtown Manhattan, connecting the holiday to the Iran war.

The Purim story is about Jews in the ancient Persian empire overcoming the villain Haman.

The event is organized by Hineni, a grassroots Jewish group based in the city.

Around 30 participants gather in the cold winter rain, holding Israeli and Iranian flags and signs that say, “Free Iran.”

Shai Davidai, a co-founder of Hineni and a prominent Jewish activist in the city, says the Purim story begins with the character Mordechai not deferring to Haman, which ends up setting an example for other Jews.

“All of a sudden, they see someone who refuses to bow to Haman and that’s the most important thing,” Davidai says, connecting the story to combating antisemitism.

“Even when we are afraid, we refuse to bow down to that fear, and if we are able to do that, we can do a lot of things,” he says.

A rabbi then leads the crowd in a reading of the Megillah, which tells the Purim story.

Ahead of Saturday strike, PM phoned Trump to say Khamenei would convene his top advisers that day — report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned US President Donald Trump last Monday to inform him that Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be gathering in Tehran with his senior advisers on Saturday morning, making it possible to take them all out in one strike, according to Axios, citing sources briefed on the call.

The report, which describes the February 23 conversation as “the call that changed the Middle East,” says that Trump directed the CIA to look into the tip from Israel’s Military Intelligence, which the US spy agency confirmed.

US officials quoted by the news site says that as preparations for the strike moved ahead, Trump made a “deliberate decision” not to focus on Iran too much in his State of the Union speech the day after his call with Netanyahu, concerned Khamenei could go underground.

By Thursday — the same day as Trump’s top envoys met with Iranian negotiators in Geneva — the CIA definitively “confirmed that these people were all going to be together, and we needed to take advantage of it,” a source tells Axios.

Following the Geneva meeting, Trump was reportedly informed by his envoys that the talks were going nowhere: “If you decide you want to do diplomacy, we will push and fight to get a deal. But these guys showed us they weren’t willing to make the deal you will be satisfied with.”

The next day, after deciding that the negotiations were for naught and the intelligence on Khamenei was solid, Trump ultimately gave the order to strike.

The Axios report also cites a US official who says that the US and Israel initially planned to strike sometime in late March or early April so the administration could time to build support for the attack with Americans, but Netanyahu “agitated” to move up the assault, warning that Iranian opposition leaders in hiding risked being killed by the regime.

“We didn’t make the case in advance as well as we could have because the opportunity came on us so fast,” the official says.

Settlers near Hebron filmed opening fire, harassing Palestinians during Purim

A settler was filmed opening fire on Palestinians Tuesday near the village of Sa’ir, north of Hebron in the southern West Bank.

In footage published by Palestinian media, the settler trains his assault rifle on a Palestinian man and woman. Another two Palestinians can be seen fleeing, with one woman screaming, as two shots are heard.

توثيق مشاهد من هجوم مستوطنين مسلحين على مواطنين في أراضيهم بخلة الفرا غرب مسافر يطا وسط فزع الأطفال وخوفهم #فيديو pic.twitter.com/P948iWlB2B — الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 3, 2026

توثيق مشاهد من هجوم مستوطنين مسلحين على مواطنين في أراضيهم بخلة الفرا غرب مسافر يطا وسط فزع الأطفال وخوفهم #فيديو pic.twitter.com/P948iWlB2B

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 3, 2026

The same settler then appears from behind a bush with his rifle at the ready, gestures to Palestinians next to him to go away, and fires another shot.

Separate footage from Sa’ir, published by Palestinian media, shows Palestinian youth running after a departing vehicle, with one hurling a stone at it.

مستوطنون يطلقون الرصاص تجاه الفلسطينيين خلال اقتحام محيط المنازل شرق بلدة سعير جنوب الضفة الغربية#فيديو pic.twitter.com/FQG0qjr7Du — الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 3, 2026

مستوطنون يطلقون الرصاص تجاه الفلسطينيين خلال اقتحام محيط المنازل شرق بلدة سعير جنوب الضفة الغربية#فيديو pic.twitter.com/FQG0qjr7Du

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 3, 2026

Meanwhile, extremist settler activist Elisha Yered publishes footage filmed from inside a vehicle that shows several young Palestinians hurling stones in the vehicle’s direction, apparently with the village of Sa’ir behind them.

גם בפורים האויב לא נח: עשרות פורעים ערבים מכפר המרצחים סעיר יידו אבנים הבוקר לעבר רכב שנסע בכביש הגישה לגבעת מעלה תדהר בגוש עציון. הפורעים התמקמו בשטח בחסות בית ערבי שנבנה לאחרונה בעידוד הרש"פ בסמוך לכביש הגישה לגבעה, וניסו לנפץ את שמשת הרכב. בנס לא היו נפגעים. כוחות צה"ל פתחו… pic.twitter.com/23Uivw79Dn — אלישע ירד (@ElishaYered) March 3, 2026

גם בפורים האויב לא נח: עשרות פורעים ערבים מכפר המרצחים סעיר יידו אבנים הבוקר לעבר רכב שנסע בכביש הגישה לגבעת מעלה תדהר בגוש עציון.

הפורעים התמקמו בשטח בחסות בית ערבי שנבנה לאחרונה בעידוד הרש"פ בסמוך לכביש הגישה לגבעה, וניסו לנפץ את שמשת הרכב. בנס לא היו נפגעים.

כוחות צה"ל פתחו… pic.twitter.com/23Uivw79Dn

— אלישע ירד (@ElishaYered) March 3, 2026

WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, says Palestinians in Sa’ir were fending off attacking settlers.

According to the report, two Palestinians were wounded by settler gunfire during the clashes, and IDF forces on the scene arrested a Palestinian.

Footage from the Sa’ir shows Palestinians carrying an apparently wounded man.

إصابة فلسطيني في هجوم نفذته ميليشيات المستوطنين على بلدة سعير شمال الخليل pic.twitter.com/XQ4mRt41NA — شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) March 3, 2026

إصابة فلسطيني في هجوم نفذته ميليشيات المستوطنين على بلدة سعير شمال الخليل pic.twitter.com/XQ4mRt41NA

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) March 3, 2026

The condition of the wounded is unspecified in the report. The IDF does not respond to a request for comment.

Separately, WAFA says settlers on Tuesday — when most Israelis celebrated Purim — came to the area of Wadi Tiran, south of Hebron, and “walked among the homes, repeating slogans calling for the death and expulsion of Palestinians.”

Left-wing Israeli activists who perform “protective presence” in Palestinian communities in the area post footage of settlers, some of them in Purim costumes, dancing, singing holiday songs and chanting “may your village burn” in and around Wadi Tiran on Tuesday.

Today: settlers invaded the villages of Wadi Tiran and Ghwein to celebrate Purim by abusing Palestinians.In Wadi Tiran, more than ten settlers invaded the village – some dressed in costumes, dancing, assaulting residents, spilling and wasting their water https://t.co/Qr9FeafgBF pic.twitter.com/0JFRGVipMl — מחוץ לעדר/ kivsa shchora (@masafering) March 3, 2026

Today: settlers invaded the villages of Wadi Tiran and Ghwein to celebrate Purim by abusing Palestinians.In Wadi Tiran, more than ten settlers invaded the village – some dressed in costumes, dancing, assaulting residents, spilling and wasting their water https://t.co/Qr9FeafgBF pic.twitter.com/0JFRGVipMl

— מחוץ לעדר/ kivsa shchora (@masafering) March 3, 2026

Footage published by the activists from the night before, when Purim began, showed settlers driving a car through the nearby community of Umm al-Kheir, playing and singing loud Purim music.

This evening in the village of Umm al-Kheir: settlers drove through the village, played Purim holiday songs, and shouted “Death to Arabs.” pic.twitter.com/om8iykR0og — מחוץ לעדר/ kivsa shchora (@masafering) March 2, 2026

This evening in the village of Umm al-Kheir: settlers drove through the village, played Purim holiday songs, and shouted “Death to Arabs.” pic.twitter.com/om8iykR0og

— מחוץ לעדר/ kivsa shchora (@masafering) March 2, 2026

Saudi Arabia vows to take all necessary measures to defend itself after Iranian attack targeting US embassy

Saudi Arabia will take all necessary measures to defend its security and protect its territory, citizens and residents, the state news agency reports, citing a cabinet statement.

An Iranian attack targeted the US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday amid ongoing Iranian missile and drone strikes on Gulf states that host US bases, following US and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday.

Lindsey Graham urges Trump to join Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Hezbollah

WASHINGTON — Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham calls on US President Donald Trump to join Israel in striking Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Fly with Israel and go after Hezbollah, which has American blood on its hands. Not only take the mothership of Iran. Also take the proxy of Hezbollah,” Graham tells reporters on Capitol Hill.

Lindsey Graham: "I'm calling on President Trump today — join Israel to attack Hezbollah … fly with Israel" pic.twitter.com/ymiUtdOGB9 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2026

Lindsey Graham: "I'm calling on President Trump today — join Israel to attack Hezbollah … fly with Israel" pic.twitter.com/ymiUtdOGB9

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2026

Khamenei’s son Mojtaba has emerged as leading candidate for new supreme leader — NYT

The son of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the front-runner to succeed his father as the Islamic Republic’s next head, according to a New York Times report that says the senior clerics tasked with choosing the next supreme leader could announce their choice as early as Wednesday morning.

Quoting Iranian officials familiar with the deliberations, the newspaper says the clerics have some reservations about declaring Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader, fearing it could increase the likelihood he is targeted by the US and Israel.

The report adds that the clerics held two virtual meeting on the matter Tuesday, while noting an Iranian media report saying that a building in Qom was empty when the IDF announced hitting it in an airstrike targeting the Assembly of Experts, as the body tasked with selecting the supreme leader is formally known.

The New York Times report comes after the opposition outlet Iran International claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei was already chosen by the Assembly of Experts as his father’s successor, citing “informed sources.”

Pentagon identifies first American soldiers killed in Iran war as US Army reservists

The Pentagon has released the names of four of the six service members who have been killed in the Iran war, saying they died in a drone strike in Kuwait.

All four Army Reserve soldiers were killed Sunday when a drone hit a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. That was just a day after the US and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, which has launched retaliatory strikes.

All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, lowa.

Killed were Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. First Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. First Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Spc. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa.

Loud explosion reported in Beirut

A loud explosion is heard by an AFP journalist in the Lebanese capital Beirut shortly after midnight on Wednesday, as Israel and Hezbollah trade strikes and rocket fire.

Tehran-backed Hezbollah reprised its rocket and drone attacks on Israel on Monday after a long hiatus in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a wave of joint US-Israeli strikes.

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