LIVE: Israel-Iran attacks continue; Trump demands unconditional surrender
Explosions rock Tel Aviv and Tehran as the conflict between Israel and Iran rages on for a sixth straight day.US President Donald Trump demands Iran's 'unconditional surrender', saying, 'We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.' The US also deploys more fighter jets to the Middle East, reports say.The death toll from Israel's attacks on Iran has risen to more than 240, including 70 women and children. More than 24 people have been killed in Iranian attacks on Israel.In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed at least 89 Palestinians, including 70 people seeking food aid in the city of Khan Younis.Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 55,432 people and wounded 128,923, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.
Update:
Date: 3m ago (00:10 GMT)
Title: Iranians extremely distraught as more explosions are reported in Tehran
Content: We've heard of two major explosions in Tehran over the past hour and another one in the suburb of Karaj, west of the capital.
Air defences have been activated there due to the latest strikes, as well as in the city of Tabriz, northwest of the country, as well as in Bushehr in the south.
What we are also hearing from the Israeli military is that they are issuing again another forced evacuation threat. This time, in the District 18 of Tehran that is known as the Shadegh area. It is a densely-populated area that is home to about 400,000 people, and is located south of the Mehrabad Airport, the domestic airport, which has not been operation since Friday.
This is the second time that Israel issued an evacuation threat highlighting a specific neighbourhood, and it is coming in the middle of the night.
Internet is also down in the country due to a cyber-attack, so it is not clear if most people would get the information that they are supposed to evacuate.
People are extremely distraught and worried. Those who have fled the capital are also facing issues of food supply in the areas where they have fled to. There's lots of concerns and nowhere to go, and they are not able to access information easily.
Update:
Date: 8m ago (00:05 GMT)
Title: WATCH: What could the war between Israel and Iran mean for the global economy?
Content: As attacks escalate between Iran and Israel, fears are growing over the global economic fallout.
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Update:
Date: 11m ago (00:02 GMT)
Title: A recap of recent developments
Content:
Update:
Date: 13m ago (00:00 GMT)
Title: Welcome to our live coverage
Content: Hello and welcome to our coverage of the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Stay with us for up-to-the-minute coverage of Israel's attacks on Iran and Iran's retaliatory barrages of missiles.
You can find all our updates from Tuesday, June 17, here.
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Al Jazeera
29 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
Tehran is in shock – and we have fled with heavy hearts
Gilan, Iran – The prospect of war seemed to creep nearer to reality with each passing day, but perhaps few of the millions who have been forced to abandon their homes across Iran in the past week – including myself – could have known this new reality would impose itself so harshly or abruptly. The first explosions jolted people awake in Tehran shortly after 3am on June 13, when a large number of Israeli fighter jets and drones attacked dozens of areas across the country, and explosives-laden quadcopters and anti-fortification Spike guided missiles were launched by Israeli agents from inside Iran. Entire residential buildings were levelled in the capital, military sites and air defence batteries were targeted, and above-ground facilities supporting nuclear enrichment halls buried deep inside mountains in Isfahan province's Natanz were bombed. Dozens of civilians were killed, as were a large number of top military commanders and nuclear scientists. Tehran was in shock the first morning after the attacks, as people struggled to process the terrifying news and evaluate their options while the authorities scrambled to mount a concerted response to the surprise hits. As the attacks came on a Friday morning – the last day of the weekend in Iran – most city streets were eerily quiet in the immediate aftermath, except for those where Israeli bombs had made an impact. Soon, however, hours-long queues had formed at almost every single fuel station across the sprawling capital, which has a population of nearly 10 million people and holds more than 15 million during busy workdays, as millions also commute from neighbouring cities like Karaj. I went out to visit a few of the targeted sites in western Tehran: Multiple homes had been destroyed in the Patrice Lumumba neighbourhood, several floors of a 15-storey building providing accommodation for university professors had caved in at Saadat Abad and adjacent buildings were damaged, while the top two floors of another residential building had been completely wiped out in Marzdaran. All were successful targeted assassinations – including of several top nuclear scientists – and many civilians were also killed. Later that night, Iran's armed forces began launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation. Nearly one week on, at least 16 rounds of Iranian strikes have been launched, with no immediate end in sight as Tehran says it will continue to hit back so long as Israel is attacking. Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump teases triggering an all-out regional war by directly entering the war alongside Israel, which he and Washington's Western allies already support with cutting-edge munitions, a massive fleet of refuelling planes and intelligence efforts. For the next few days, the Israeli attacks were ringing out across Tehran and the country during the daytime, terrorising civilians who saw the smoke and heard the explosions get closer to their homes or places of work. Both at home and at Al Jazeera's Tehran bureau, I heard many explosive impacts, with some of the closer ones only about 2km (1.2 miles) away. Most of Tehran was shut down after the Israeli attacks ramped up, and the streets and petrol stations were more crowded than ever after Israel and Trump told people to evacuate immediately. The government said metro stations and mosques were opened as 24-hour shelters since it has built no dedicated shelters or come up with any clear security protocols, despite the ever-present threat of war. On Monday, after three days of evaluating the situation, my family and I decided to join the countless others who had already fled Tehran. After hurriedly packing some clothes and a few belongings in a suitcase, I drove from my own place to my girlfriend's house to pick her up at about 4pm. Her parents, who work in healthcare, needed to stay in Tehran that day but they have since left as well, after Israeli air strikes intensified in their neighbourhood. We then picked up my mother – along with our four cats who have been staying with her – from her home in western Tehran, close to a major road which exits the capital. Israeli bombs were falling on multiple areas across western Tehran as we scurried to grab the cats and put them in their boxes. The unmistakable sounds of the explosions, which leave a sickening, sinking sensation in your stomach no matter how many times you hear them, only added to the urgency – especially since the Israeli military had issued a new evacuation threat at about the same time and then bombed the state television headquarters. Fleeing north We left Tehran with heavy hearts, not knowing when we might return. The buildings were already mostly empty of residents. The feeling that we may not return to the same intact neighbourhoods was unavoidable, as was the terror we feel for those who wanted to leave but could not, whether because they are nursing a sick family member or because they simply lacked the means to do so. Iran's ailing economy has been dragged under the weight of years of local mismanagement and US sanctions. The journey north, which usually takes about four hours, took close to 12. The highways were a sea of vehicles filled with families, pets and belongings. Roadside diners and service areas brimmed with people who had no idea when or how they might return. Many worriedly followed news of the latest air strikes. Close to our destination in the north of Iran, checkpoints set up by armed and masked security forces made the traffic even worse. They were stopping some vehicles, mostly pick-up trucks, since those are what have been used by Israeli agents to smuggle explosive quadcopters and other weapons inside Iran. I am writing this from a small but vibrant city in the province of Gilan in northern Iran. The northern provinces, also including Mazandaran and Golestan, are where most Iranians have opted to go. They are relatively close to Tehran, have far fewer places that could be potential targets for the Israeli army, and were already popular travel destinations with a large number of hotels that many have visited before. Many here have opened their homes to people displaced from other provinces, too. Six million people have entered Mazandaran alone since last week, according to Iran's deputy police chief, Qasem Rezaei. The authorities are trying to reassure the population, especially Iranians who have fled to the northern provinces, that the government faces no problems in providing for their basic needs, especially food and fuel. But in the meantime, 90 million Iranians have been thrown into a state of uncertainty, frustration and anger while trying to maintain hope for a semblance of normal life when the country is not constantly under threat of military action or isolated from the international community. For ordinary civilians, the situation is seriously compounded by the fact that they have been completely cut off from the internet for days, with internet observatory NetBlocks confirming on Friday that 97 percent of the country's connectivity was down. Barring a handful of small daily updates gleaned from state media or local sources, Iranians have little idea about the extent of the Israeli military strikes across the country. The Iranian authorities began imposing internet restrictions from the first day of the Israeli strikes, but increased them as Israel expanded its offensive and a pro-Israeli hacking group also launched cyberattacks. Several of the country's top banks have been taken offline as a result of the cyberattacks, as well as Iran's top cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, which said its 'hot wallet' had been compromised but promised it would return any lost money. Iranian officials, who also took the country offline during the deadly nationwide protests in November 2019, claimed disconnecting the internet was necessary to fend off Israeli quadcopters and other projectiles, but gave no timeline as to when they would restore full connectivity. Iran already has one of the most closed-off and slowed-down internet connections in the world, as almost all major global messaging apps and other services, along with tens of thousands of websites, are blocked and only accessible through workarounds such as virtual private networks (VPNs). If you are reading this now, it means I managed to find a barely functioning connection to send this out.
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Since its founding in 1948, Israel's prime ministers have sought to leave legacies that would outlast them — some through war, others through diplomacy, and a few through historic blunders. David Ben-Gurion secured the state's independence and built its foundational institutions. Golda Meir presided over a war that cost her office. Menachem Begin signed peace with Egypt while expanding illegal settlements. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated for trying to make peace with the Palestinians. Each leader, in some way, left their mark. But none has ruled as long – or as divisively – as Benjamin Netanyahu. And now, more than ever, the question is not just what kind of legacy he wants to leave, but what legacy he is actually creating. In 2016, I argued that the Arab world had effectively crowned Netanyahu 'King of the Middle East' — a title that reflected his success in positioning Israel as a regional power without making any concessions to the Palestinians. Today, I believe he sees an opportunity not only to consolidate that title, but to reshape Israel's regional position permanently — through force, impunity, and a strategy rooted in securitised dominance. Since his first term, Netanyahu has insisted that Israel's security must override all other considerations. In his worldview, a Palestinian state is not merely incompatible with Israel's security; it is an existential threat. Even were such a state to be created, Netanyahu has made clear that Israel must retain what he calls 'security sovereignty' over all of historic Palestine. This has never been mere rhetoric. It has shaped his every major decision, none more so than the current war on Gaza. The assault has levelled entire neighbourhoods, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced most of its two million people, and created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Israel stands accused by human rights groups and United Nations agencies of committing war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. It is facing genocide charges, supported by multiple countries, at the International Court of Justice. The International Criminal Court has also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a weapon of war. Yet Netanyahu presses on, arguing that Gaza must never again pose a threat to Israel, and that the destruction is necessary to secure the country's future. This logic does not stop at Gaza. He has used similar arguments to justify Israel's attacks on Lebanon, including targeted strikes on Hezbollah figures and the attempted assassination of the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Using the same rationale, Israel has also launched strikes in Yemen and made clear that it will act in Iraq whenever and wherever it deems necessary. The security argument has likewise been used to justify the continued occupation of Syrian territory and is currently invoked to legitimise ongoing attacks on Iran, ostensibly to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and to degrade its missile and drone capabilities. In every case, the same narrative is repeated: Israel cannot be safe unless its enemies are broken, its deterrence unchallenged, and its dominance undisputed. All dissent, disagreement, or resistance — whether military, political, or even symbolic — is cast as a threat to be eliminated. Even Netanyahu's diplomatic efforts follow this logic. The Abraham Accords, signed with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco during his premiership, were hailed as peace deals but functioned primarily as instruments of regional alignment that marginalised the Palestinians. For Netanyahu, normalisation is not a path to peace — it is a way to cement Israel's position while avoiding a just resolution to the occupation. What, then, is the legacy Netanyahu seeks? He wants to be remembered as the prime minister who crushed all resistance to occupation, permanently ended the idea of a Palestinian state, and enshrined Israel's dominance in the Middle East through sheer force. In his vision, Israel controls the land, dictates the rules, and answers to no one. But history may remember him differently. What Netanyahu calls security, much of the world increasingly sees as systemic violence. The global response to the war on Gaza — millions marching in protest, international legal action, growing boycotts, and diplomatic downgrades — suggests that under his leadership, Israel is not gaining legitimacy but losing it. Even among its allies, Israel faces growing isolation. While the United States continues to provide diplomatic cover, terms like 'apartheid', 'ethnic cleansing', and 'settler colonialism' are no longer confined to fringe activism. They are entering mainstream political discourse and shaping public consciousness, particularly among younger generations. Many commentators argue that Netanyahu is clinging to power merely to avoid prosecution for corruption or accountability for the failures of the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. But I believe this analysis misses a deeper truth: that he sees this moment — this war, this absence of accountability — as a historic window of opportunity. In his mind, this is legacy work. The tragedy is that in pursuing this legacy, he may achieve the opposite of what he intends. Not a stronger Israel, but a more isolated one. Not a secure homeland, but a state increasingly seen as a violator of international norms. Not a legacy of strength, but one of moral and political collapse. Netanyahu will be remembered. Today, as Gaza burns and Iran faces strike after strike, there is no longer any doubt about that. The only question is whether his legacy will be one of national security, or one that leaves Israel more alone, more condemned, and more precarious than ever before. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
