Timeline: The key moments that led to Iran’s missile attacks on Israel

Fears of a major regional war breaking out have heightened as Israel promised to respond to Iran’s barrage of missiles launched on Tuesday night.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that it had “made a big mistake”.

Iran said approximately 180 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel in response to Israeli assassinations of top Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leaders.

The day before, Israel said it had launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon, although Hezbollah denied that Israeli soldiers had crossed the border.

So how did a war that started in Israel and Gaza almost a year ago, when Hamas fighters attacked Israel, and Israel began its devastating military campaign in the besieged enclave, expand to this point?

Here’s a timeline of key moments that have led to this latest escalation in the conflict between Israel and its regional neighbours:

Israel and the Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, began exchanging fire across the Lebanon-Israel border one day after the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, in which 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 taken captive, and Israel launched its retaliation on the besieged Gaza Strip which has continued for nearly a year.

The war on Gaza has so far killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children.

On October 8, Hezbollah said it launched guided rockets and artillery at three military posts in Shebaa Farms, a border region, “in solidarity” with Palestinians.