Iran-Israel war: latest developments
Here are the latest developments:
Hospital strike
A hospital in southern Israel was hit as Iran fired a barrage of "dozens" of missiles, officials said, while another impact was reported by emergency services in the Tel Aviv area.
"A direct hit has been reported at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel," the Israeli foreign ministry posted on X.
A spokesperson for the hospital reported "damage to the hospital and extensive damage in various areas. We are currently assessing the damage, including injuries. We ask the public not to come to the hospital at this time."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran would pay a "heavy price" for the attack, while defence minister Israel Katz vowed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be "held accountable".
Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said Thursday that at least 47 people were injured following Iran's latest strikes, with another 18 injured while rushing to shelters.
Israel says struck nuclear sites
The Israeli army said it had struck an "inactive nuclear reactor" in Arak in Iran during overnight raids that also saw the Islamic republic's Natanz nuclear site targeted again.
A statement said "the nuclear reactor in the area of Arak in Iran was targeted, including the structure of the reactor's core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production".
Near-total internet blackout
An update from internet watchdog Netblocks on Thursday showed Iran had been "offline for 12 hours".
Iran announced last week that it was placing temporary restrictions on the internet, with the communication ministry saying Wednesday that heavier limits were being imposed due to Israel's "abuse of the country's communication network for military purposes".
Iranian media later reported that Israel briefly hacked the state television broadcast, airing footage of women's protests and urging people to take to the streets.
Numerous sites and apps have remained at least partially inaccessible in Iran.
Trump on strikes, talks
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel's strikes, and that Iran had reached out seeking negotiations on ending the conflict.
"I may do it, I may not do it," Trump told reporters. "I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate."
Trump said Tehran had even suggested sending officials to the White House for talks, an assertion Iranian officials denied.
Asked if it was too late for negotiations, Trump said: "Nothing is too late."
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump has told aides he has approved attack plans but is holding off to see if Iran will give up its nuclear programme.
He is due to receive an intelligence briefing on Thursday, a US holiday, the White House said, while top US diplomat Marco Rubio will meet his UK counterpart for talks expected to focus on the conflict.
Khamenei warns US
Iran's supreme leader Khamenei said in a speech on state television: "This nation will never surrender."
"America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage," he said.
Trump had said on Tuesday that the United States knows where Khamenei is located but will not kill him "for now".
'Painful losses'
Foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from both countries, with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announcing plans on Wednesday to get Americans out by air and sea.
Israel's attacks have hit nuclear and military facilities around Iran, as well as residential areas.
Residential areas in Israel have also been hit.
Netanyahu acknowledged "painful losses", but added: "The home front is solid, the people are strong."
The prime minister's office said Monday that at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded since Iran's retaliatory strikes began Friday.
Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Both countries have not updated their official tolls since.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
26 minutes ago
- Euronews
'There is no red line that they have not crossed'
The US attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran "were carried out in coordination with the IDF." according to Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin on Sunday. "These actions mark a crucial step in stopping the Iranian regime's aggression and its ability to pose a threat to the region and the world. The regime's ability to threaten Israel is being dismantled piece by piece," said Defrin. The US military targeted the Iranian sites of Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz early on Sunday. In a televised address from the White House, US President Donald Trump said the sites had been "completely and fully obliterated". Trump also launched dozens of missiles from submarines without congressional approval. Neither Iran nor the UN nuclear watchdog have reported immediate signs of radioactive contamination near to the targeted facilities. It was a risky move meant to weaken a longtime enemy, even as Tehran has warned of revenge attacks that could lead to a wider conflict in the region. Iranian FM says "There is no red line that they have not crossed." Hours after the attacks, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Turkey: 'The warmongering, a lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression.' He added: "They crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities". Araghchi condemned the attacks, saying that the time for diplomacy had passed and called on the UN Security Council for an emergency session. He also stated that under the principles of the UN Charter, Iran has the right to self-defence. Iran is a close ally to Russia The Iranian foreign minister plans to travel to Moscow on Monday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin 'We enjoy a strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions'. Iran and Russia are close allies, and Tehran has kept it no secret that it has been helping Russia in its war on Ukraine, notably supplying it with attack drones. Meanwhile, Israel released footage claiming their attacks struck Iranian soldiers and missile launchers. The IDF said in a statement that 'missile launchers were struck in Isfahan, Bushehr and Ahvaz". It further explained that 'Strikes were also conducted on military sites involved in the production of aerial defence batteries, the 'Third Brigade' UAV command centre, and a UAV storage facility near the command centre,'. The US' decision to join the conflict follows more than a week of Israeli strikes on Iran. Israel says its goal is to destroy the country's air defences and missile systems, while also damaging its nuclear facilities.
France 24
32 minutes ago
- France 24
US says strikes 'devastated' Iran's nuclear program
The surprise strikes threaten to deepen conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, with Tehran vowing to retaliate against US involvement. But the United States said President Donald Trump wanted peace and urged Iran to end the conflict after strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz. "We devastated the Iranian nuclear program," Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing, adding that the operation "did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people." Trump "seeks peace, and Iran should take that path", Hegseth said. "This mission was not, and has not been, about regime change." Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that "it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there." "Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction," he told reporters. Protests in Tehran People gathered in the center of Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans, state TV showed. Trump claimed total success for the operation in an address to the nation hours after the attack, and Vice President JD Vance followed up on Sunday morning. "We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night, whether it's years or beyond," he told ABC. "We're not at war with Iran -- we're at war with Iran's nuclear program," he added. "The president took decisive action to destroy that program last night." In Tehran, AFP journalists said the roar of aircraft flying over the city was heard repeatedly for the first time since Israel's initial attacks. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at the nuclear sites and Tehran said Sunday there were no signs of contamination. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul the United States and Israel had "crossed a very big red line," asserting Iran would continue to defend itself "by all means necessary." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US strikes, saying Trump's decision to "target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history." The Israeli military was also checking the results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was "too soon" to know if Iran had removed enriched uranium from the site. The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings, Caine said. Global concern In response to the US attack, Iran's armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, the country's main international gateway near Tel Aviv. Israeli rescuers said at least 23 people were wounded. In Jerusalem, Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, said he hoped the US intervention would hasten an end to the Iran-Israel war. "Israel by itself would not stop... and it would take longer," he said. Israel said it had launched fresh strikes on western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran. Iran's official IRNA news agency reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the city's north. The Israeli military said it had "struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralized the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory." Iran's Shargh newspaper reported that a "massive explosion was heard" Sunday in Bushehr province, home to Iran's only nuclear power plant. Iranian news agencies also reported strikes in Yazd province. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US move and urged de-escalation. The European Union called on all sides "to step back," while stressing Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. The Iranian foreign minister said he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. Following his address, Trump warned Iran against retaliation. Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region. Iran's Huthi allies in Yemen on Sunday repeated their threat to resume attacks in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, saying they were ready to target US ships and warships. The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck the country on June 13, repeating his insistence it could never have nuclear weapons. Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb. On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran's right to pursue a civilian nuclear program "cannot be taken away... by threats or war."
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
Israeli military says bodies of three hostages recovered in Gaza
The Israeli military said Sunday, June 22, that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages in Gaza more than 20 months after they were abducted by Hamas militants. "In a special operation (...) the bodies of the hostages Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano and Staff Sergeant Shay Levinson were recovered from the Gaza Strip yesterday," the military said in a statement. Samerano's father had announced earlier Sunday that his son's body, which was taken into Gaza after he was killed in a kibbutz by the territory on October 7, 2023, had been recovered by the Israeli army. He paid tribute to "the brave soldiers of the [Israeli military] and the Shin Bet" security service in a message posted on Instagram. The Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum described Samerano as "a talented DJ who just wanted to make music, have fun, and travel." Keidar, a 71-year-old mother of three, was a resident of a resident of Kibbutz Be'eri – where over a 100 people were killed. Levinson, a 19-year-old tank commander, "engaged and fought terrorists on the morning of October 7 and fell in combat," a statement from the military said. Following the news, the forum repeated their frequent calls for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, writing on social media: "The hostages have no time. We must bring them ALL home, Now!" The attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people. Of the 251 hostages seized during the assault, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israel's retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has killed at least 55,908 people, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Released hostages have reported that they were beaten and tortured by Hamas militants, while held in isolation in tunnels snaking underneath Gaza. On Sunday, Israel's President Isaac Herzog called for the "urgent release" of the remaining hostages after the United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. "This brave step serves the security and safety of the entire free world. I hope it will lead to a better future for the Middle East - and help advance the urgent release of our hostages held in captivity in Gaza," Herzog wrote on X.
