Jim Donovan, the beloved radio play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Browns and a TV sports fixture for more than four decades, died Saturday. He was 68.

Donovan retired from his broadcast career earlier this year and stepped away from his game-day duties with the team before this season while battling cancer. Donovan announced his retirement from WKYC on May 30 and worked his final broadcast as a sports anchor on June 10. He had called Cleveland’s games since the team’s expansion rebirth in 1999.

“This is an incredibly difficult day for us and the entire Cleveland Browns organization,” Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement. “His impact as the Voice of the Browns for 25 years is immeasurable as he touched the lives of our fans each and every Sunday with his love for the Browns and his brilliance at his craft.

“He will be greatly missed, but he cemented a legacy that will live on forever. The only thing that outweighed his love for this city and this team was the love he had for his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Cheryl, his daughter, Meghan, and everyone who was fortunate enough to call Jimmy family or friend.”

A Boston native known to everyone as “Jimmy,” Donovan endeared himself to Cleveland fans with his passion, sense of humor and professionalism. He was a stickler for detail, spending countless hours preparing for game broadcasts.

Donovan had recently been inducted into the Browns’ Legends Club and the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame. He had been too ill to attend the events.

When he was forced to step down in August, Donovan wrote a letter to Browns fans expressing his gratitude for their support.

“I have called Browns games for 25 years. Not a day has gone by when I haven’t paused and been so proud to be ‘The Voice of the Browns,'” he wrote. “Cheryl, Meghan and I thank you for all the love, support and prayers during my rough patches. It’s like having a huge family around us. And that’s what makes the Cleveland Browns so special. You do.”

Donovan had to step away as sports director at WKYC-TV last fall for several months to undergo treatment for leukemia. He returned to the broadcast booth in time to call the team’s late-season run to the playoffs.

Donovan was first diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a strain of the disease that starts in white blood cells and affects bone marrow, in 2000. He underwent a bone marrow surgery in 2011.

A graduate of Boston University, Donovan got to Cleveland in 1985. Along with doing local reporting of the city’s three professional sports franchises, Donovan also had several national network assignments and was part of NBC’s coverage team at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.

Israel’s pre-dawn airstrikes on military targets in Iran in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic republic fired on Israel earlier this month were met with mixed reactions both at home and abroad.

Explosions were heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though Iran insisted the strikes caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks. Iran’s army said two of its troops were killed in the attack, Iran’s Al-Alam television reported.

The strikes risk pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiraling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel.

The United States, which was given advanced warning of the attacks, urged against further retaliation, while Britain and Germany said Iran should not respond.

“As the Israelis have stated, their response was an exercise in self-defense and specifically avoided populated areas and focused solely on military targets, contrary to Iran’s attack against Israel that targeted Israel’s most populous city,” Sean Savett, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement, adding: “It is our aim to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region. We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation.”

President Biden told reporters on Saturday that Israel gave him a heads-up before the strikes, and said it looked like “they didn’t hit anything but military targets.” Mr. Biden said he had just finished a call with intelligence officials.

“I hope this is the end,” he said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking at the Commonwealth Summit in Samoa, said Iran should not respond to Israeli airstrikes and urged all sides to show restraint.

“This is a live situation, and we are obviously monitoring it closely alongside our partners,” Starmer said. “We need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint. Iran should not respond. We will continue to work with allies to de-escalate the situation across the region.”

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the United Nations secretary-general said: “All acts of escalation are condemnable and must stop.”

At home, Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets,” saying on X that “we could and should have exacted a much heavier price from Iran.”

Saudi Arabia was one of multiple countries in the region condemning the strike, calling it a violation of Iran’s “sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.” Its foreign ministry rejected the escalation in the region.

In a statement on Facebook, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said it “condemns all actions that threaten the security and stability of the region … “

It said a cease-fire deal in Gaza “is the sole means to de-escalate” tensions in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Turkey accused Israel of having “brought our region to the brink of a greater war” following its strikes on Iran.

“Putting an end to the terror created by Israel in the region has become a historic duty in terms of establishing international security and peace,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It called on the international community to take “immediate action to enforce the law and stop the Netanyahu government.”

Following the airstrikes, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had a right to self-defense, and “considers itself entitled and obligated to defend against foreign acts of aggression.”

After the strikes, the streets in Iran’s capital were calm and children went to school and shops opened as usual. The only sign of concern was long lines at the gas stations — a regular occurrence in Tehran when military violence flares as people stock up on fuel.

Israel and Iran have been bitter foes since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel considers Iran its greatest threat, citing its leaders’ calls for Israel’s destruction, their support for anti-Israel militant groups and the country’s nuclear program.

During their yearslong shadow war, a suspected Israeli assassination campaign has killed top Iranian nuclear scientists, and Iranian nuclear installations have been hacked or sabotaged.