Live Updates: Iran grounds all fights amid expected Israeli retaliation to missile attack

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization announced that flights from all airports in the country have been canceled from 9 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday local time. 

Authorities attributed the cancellations to “operational restrictions,” state media reported, and come amid an expected Israeli retaliation to last week’s missile attack by Iran.

After Tehran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond. Israel is weighing possible responses to the attack, including attacking Iran’s oil facilities. On Friday, President Joe Biden said Israel had not yet decided on a response, but told reporters "If I were in those shoes, I'd be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields."

Meanwhile Israeli airstrikes intensified in Beirut’s southern suburbs Saturday night and early Sunday, in the biggest attack on the Lebanese capital since the escalation last month, according to witnesses. 

The death toll in Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023 has surpassed 2,000 people, with more than 1,000 of those killed since late September.