UN chief says 'tit-for-tat Mideast violence' must stop

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel, telling the Security Council the "deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence must stop."

"Time is running out," he told the council.

The 15-member council met after Israel killed the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah and began a ground assault against the Iran-backed militant group and Iran attacked Israel in a strike that raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

Earlier in the day, Israel's foreign minister said that he was barring Guterres from entering the country because he had not "unequivocally" condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel.