Fresh missile barrage hits Israeli port city as high-level talks begin in Geneva
HAIFA — Nearly two dozen people were wounded in parts of Israel on Friday after Iran unleashed a fresh barrage of missiles as international efforts intensify to ease the conflict with Israel over Tehran's nuclear program.
Foreign ministers from the UK, France, and Germany have met their Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Friday
The talks come as US President Donald Trump says he will decide within two weeks whether to join Israel's ongoing military campaign against Iran, amid reports that Washington is actively considering intervention.
At least 23 people were injured, Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) said. A 16-year-old boy, and two men aged 54 and 40, were among those seriously injured with shrapnel.
In the northern city of Karmiel, a woman died after she suffered a heart attack inside a shelter, the MDA added.
Paramedics and eyewitnesses described scenes of people bleeding in the streets, after they were dispatched to several neighborhoods in northern Israel.
'We heard a very loud noise and felt a blast wave. When I exited the shelter, I saw that the windows in my house were shattered, and there was a lot of broken glass,' Ahmed Zidan said in an MDA press release.
'I saw heavy smoke and massive destruction in the building near the parking area that was hit by the rocket,' Zidan added.
Iran said the latest attack targeted 'military objectives, defense industries, and command centers' in Israel, a spokesperson for the country's Revolutionary Guard said, according to state media.
Haifa's mayor stressed need for peace after the Iranian missile barrage on Friday.
The 'name of the game is peace,' Yona Yahav, mayor of the northern Israeli city, told CNN. He said the two-week deadline set by President Donald Trump to decide on whether the US will join Israel's military action on Iran is too long.
Speaking to CNN's Nic Robertson from the city in the aftermath of a fresh Iranian missile barrage, Mayor Yona Yahav confirmed that no one had been killed in the attack. According to Israeli emergency services, a total of 21 people were injured in Haifa during the attacks, including three with severe injuries.
Yahav also said 'I don't like wars,' after having personally experienced 10 of them, adding that the 'name of the game is peace.'
He said his culturally mixed city has been a mostly peaceful home to both Jews and Arabs for over 100 years.
When asked about the talks that are being held in Geneva between Iran and European countries, Yahav said he hoped that a peace treaty would be the ultimate end result.
The mayor said that the two-week deadline President Trump had given to decide US actions on Iran was 'too much,' as he said it is difficult for residents to live while wrapped up in war.
'A fixed answer I can't get from Trump, and this bothers me,' he said.
'Because I like stability, and I think that he has to give me this stability.' — CNN
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