War in the Middle East: 400 Iranian ballistic missiles have been fired at Israel since the beginning of the conflict, according to the Israeli army

Published on March 22nd, 2026 at 08:12 and updated on March 23rd, 2026 at 00:59.

“Every day that passes, we weaken the [Iranian] terrorist regime even more,” said Effie Defrin, spokesperson for the Israeli army on Sunday.

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Israël should expect “several more weeks of fighting” against the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran, warned Brigadier General Effie Defrin, army spokesperson, on Sunday, the 23rd day of the Middle East war. “Every day that passes, we weaken the [Iranian] terrorist regime. We will not allow the terrorist regime and its proxies to pose a threat to the citizens of Israel,” he said in a televised address.

• Lebanon’s president fears a “ground invasion.” The Israeli army struck a bridge used by the pro-Iranian movement Hezbollah, which raised concerns of a “ground invasion” for Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. Aoun also “condemned the targeting and destruction by Israel of vital infrastructures and installations.”

• Iran threatens to completely close the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants if the strait did not reopen within forty-eight hours. If these threats are carried out, the strait “will be completely closed and will not reopen until we have rebuilt our destroyed power plants,” said the Iranian central inter-arm command center, Khatam al-Anbiya, in a statement broadcast on state television.

• Benyamin Netanyahu promises that Israel will “personally” target Iranian leaders. “We will target the regime. We will target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, this band of criminals,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, speaking from Arad, in southern Israel, targeted by an Iranian missile strike on Saturday night, like the nearby town of Dimona, which hosts a nuclear research center.

• “Over 400 Iranian ballistic missiles” fired at Israel since the beginning of the conflict. Only a small portion of these missiles have hit their target, according to an Israeli army spokesperson. “We have achieved excellent interception rates, approximately 92% success, for four sites with direct hits,” said Nadav Shoshani, without specifying the number of Iranian drones that have also crashed in Israel.

[Context: The article covers updates on the conflict between Israel and Iran, along with involvement from Lebanon and the United States.]