Mike Baker

Special Forces troops with drones and rocket-propelled grenades.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

Conflict continues in the Middle East after Israel and Iran exchanged direct military strikes over the past 24 hours.

marking the most serious confrontation between the two countries since the ceasefire-ish ceasefire agreement that theoretically ended the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran was put in place earlier this year.

The latest round of fighting began Sunday after Israel launched airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The strikes came as Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire, despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to reduce the violence.

Iran responded hours later, launching ballistic missiles toward Israeli military facilities.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, said the attack targeted two Israeli air bases and was intended as retaliation for Israel's actions against Hezbollah, one of Tehran's most important regional proxies.

Israeli air defenses reportedly intercepted many of the incoming missiles, but Jerusalem quickly answered with strikes of its own.

Israeli aircraft targeted military and missile-related facilities inside Iran, including sites connected to Tehran's ballistic missile program.

Iranian state media reported explosions in Tehran, Isfahan, and other cities as the strikes unfolded.

The exchange represents the first direct military confrontation between Israel and Iran in months, but the bigger story may be what it reveals about the broader regional landscape.

For much of the spring, attention has focused on the uneasy ceasefire between Washington, Jerusalem, and Tehran.

But while direct fighting between those three players largely subsided, the network of Iranian-backed groups spread across the region, the so-called axis of resistance, never fully disappeared.

And now there are signs that the network may be reasserting itself.

Almost immediately after the Israel-Iran exchange began, Yemen's Houthi rebels, remember them, launched a missile toward Israel and renewed threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

During previous rounds of fighting, of course, Houthi attacks disrupted one of the world's most important maritime trade routes, forcing shipping companies to reroute vessels around Africa and driving up transportation costs worldwide.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah remains deeply engaged along Israel's northern border.

Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that continued attacks from Lebanon would trigger strikes deeper inside Lebanese territory, including Beirut.

Sunday's strike suggests those warnings are now being carried out.