Israel bombs Iran after Trump pleads: 'Don't strike'

JERUSALEM – Israel launched a military strike against Iran on Monday, hours after US President Donald Trump personally asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond to an earlier Iranian attack. Trump told the news outlet Axios on Sunday that he planned to call Netanyahu—whom he referred to by his nickname "Bibi"—and urge restraint. "I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate," Trump said. The Iranian missile barrage that prompted Trump's plea was itself a response to an earlier Israeli bombing of Beirut. The cycle of retaliation began with that Israeli strike in Lebanon. Despite Trump's direct intervention, Israeli forces carried out the bombing of Iran as scheduled. The White House has not yet issued an official statement on Israel's decision to proceed. The attack marks a significant escalation in a rapidly intensifying conflict between the two nations.