Watch hacked Iranian state TV call for REVOLUTION after Israeli hospital is blitzed and Trump ‘approves US attack plan'
WATCH the moment Iranian TV urges uprising against its own regime after Israel hacked the state broadcaster.
The hijack comes as President Trump hovers over the decision to join Israel and blast targets in Iran, which he has approved in principle, according to reports.
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Images of women chopping their hair and protesting were briefly beamed to screens by pro-Israeli hackers, who have also knocked out banking services and destroyed Iranian crytpo.
The footage repeats famous rebellion motto: 'Women, life, freedom", that Netanyahu recited as he encouraged civilians to overthrow the creaking government.
The PM said this week: "In the end, [Iranians] have to rise up themselves, but we are creating the conditions."
A major Israeli hospital and an Iranian nuclear reactor were both blitzed during a sixth night of heavy missile exchange.
Soroka Hospital in Beersheba was severely damaged when it was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile, and Israel reported over 100 casualties across the country.
The IDF confirmed it attacked an "inactive" plutonium nuclear reactor in Arak to "prevent it from being restored and used for nuclear weapons".
After days of speculation, Trump has approved plans to attack Iran but is holding off in case Tehran agrees to abandon its nuclear programme, reports the Wall Street Journal.
If given the go-ahead, the plans would see the US join Israel in pounding Iran's nuke sites - which Tehran has warned would spark "all out war".
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The UK is yet to declare whether it would stand with the US if it committed, as Attorney General Lord Hermer questions the legality of Israel's action, according to Sky, and Starmer held a Cobra meeting.
Trump has become much more vocal on the conflict, though still refuses to confirm his plans: "I may do it, I may not do it," he said on Wednesday about striking Iran.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minster, Kazem Gharibabadi, hit back: 'If the US wants to actively intervene in support of Israel, Iran will have no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson and defend itself."
Iran's Fordow nuclear development area is likely to be the prime target of any imminent US airstrikes.
Israel doesn't have the weapons to strike the core of the mountain fortress site, but the US has a fearsome 15-ton mega bomb, known as a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb, which could bust it open.
Trump acknowledged the US is the only nation capable of blitzing the key nuke site, but added: "That doesn't mean I'm going to do it - at all."
He has also been manoeuvring US Air Force assets into battle-ready positions as the military stands ready to enact orders.
Iran's infrastructure has taken a serious pounding, with internet and banking services intermittently knocked out.
In a sign that panic is spreading, the regime has been reaching for ways halt Israel's surgical offensive through international conventions.
Iran today requested an emergency meeting of the UN's Security Council and reported Israel to the nuclear watchdog for supposed violations of international law.
The Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has also arranged to meet with his European counterparts in Geneva tomorrow, according to state media.
And President Trump revealed that Iran has been knocking at the door to rekindle negotiations with the US towards a nuclear deal - an option which he has not yet totally ruled out.
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Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Israel's ambassador to the UK takes aim at Labour's half-hearted backing for her war-torn nation as it takes on Iran
In Israel, where warnings of attacks from enemy nations are rampant, being woken at 6am by a loud air raid alarm is all-too common. But when the same sound pierced the air two hours later, Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's first female ambassador to Britain, realised this warning was more serious than usual. The third time it rang out in central Israel, where she was staying with her in-laws, she turned to her husband as they hurried to the family bomb shelter and said: 'This is war.' Chillingly, she was right. It was the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed through a security fence sealing Israel from Gaza and militants flew in firing guns from paragliders. That day – the worst intelligence failure in the country's history – was marked by carnage and barbarity on an unprecedented scale. In their murderous rampage, Hamas killed 1,189 people and wounded 7,500 - leaving many with life-changing injuries. The terrorists raped and sexually abused hundreds of women and young girls. To this day 53 hostages are still in captivity, and the ambassador fears only 20 may still be alive. Some of Tzipi Hotovely's loved ones were among the victims. 'We lost members of our extended family. We lost friends,' she says of that horrendous day. The war that began that morning is now reaching a new peak with Israel's relentless bombardment of Iran. She says that her parents, who remain in Israel, have been caught in the crossfires of Tehran's retaliatory strikes in the past week. Three or more times every night, they have been moving into the bomb shelter in the basement. Not long before we speak, a ballistic missile landed close to her parents' home. Despite the civilian death toll on both sides, the straight-talking ambassador is in no doubt about the justification of waging war on Iran. At 75 times the size of Israel, Iran has sponsored a proxy network of terror groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen to fuel conflict against the Jewish state. 'We have given Iran 20 years to try to make diplomacy work but they are more interested in blowing up the negotiating table than sitting next to it,' she tells me. 'Iran is 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) from Israel but it has circled us with its proxies. We are vulnerable. We are a small country the same size as Wales. 'Iran was on the threshold of making nuclear weapons and we had to stop it. This is not just our war. Iran is Britain's enemy. It is America's war too.' The ambassador, who has been in Britain since 2020 when Boris Johnson was prime minister, lavishes praise on Britain's intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 for their help: 'They are brilliant.' But, while she liked Johnson as PM, she struggles to conceal her disappointment – even anger – with Sir Keir Starmer and his bumbling Foreign Secretary David Lammy, whose gaffes have tried the patience of even the most loyal Labour MPs. As a diplomat, she chooses her words carefully. 'We have gaps with the British Government,' she tells me. Talk about an under-statement. It is more like yawning chasms in terms of support than gaps. Take the decision of the Starmer Government in September to restrict arms sales to Israel, which is the only democracy in the Middle East. 'It was political. In Jerusalem, people were astonished by the arms embargo. It is just so contradictory. When you are fighting the right war, you expect your allies to support you,' Hotovely tells me. Then there was the unexpected move by the Government last week to impose sanctions on two Israeli government ministers over their hardline stance on the Gaza war. The ambassador says: 'It was a very bad decision, morally wrong. You put sanctions on your enemy not your friend.' To underline this, she points to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who was denounced by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in 2020 for presiding over 'a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it'. She adds: 'Jeremy Corbyn could have been prime minister of Britain. He was anti-Semitic. 'He had supported a terrorist organisation. But we never sanctioned him or the Labour Party. We respect the British people. We can criticise their leaders but we don't sanction them.' As for David Lammy, she is even more circumspect when I ask if she thinks he is remotely up to the job of being Britain's diplomat-in-chief on the world stage. Lammy was widely criticised after saying he accepted the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes. 'It was a miserable decision,' says Hotovely. 'The ICC is a biased political organisation, which is why US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on it. The British Government was used as a political tool by the court.' The ambassador is keenly aware that Labour's support from the Muslim community collapsed at the General Election in July last year. In the 21 seats where more than 30 per cent of the population is Muslim, Labour's share dropped from an average 65 per cent in 2019 to 36 per cent. Four Independent Muslim candidates won in previously safe Labour seats, and the situation in Gaza was a hot election issue. Hotovely, 46, is trenchant in her criticism. 'There is no doubt that the Muslim vote is a crucial part of Labour Party politics in Britain,' she declares. 'No one can deny it. It is clear to me. Many decisions about Israel are made [in Britain] according to domestic politics. It is a fact.' It was when she was just 26 that Hotovely first came to the attention of Netanyahu, who was then leader of the opposition. By this stage, she was a qualified lawyer who had done two years of national service and was working as a political commentator on TV. Netanyahu spotted her and, seeing her talent, made contact. 'I was called into his office. His first statement to me was, 'This is 1938. Iran is the equivalent to Nazi Germany'. That was his dramatic opening. It wasn't 'welcome to my office' or 'nice to see you'. That was 20 years ago. He was right then and he's right now.' Many now consider her to be Netanyahu's protege. Elected as an MP when she was 30, she is a small part of political history. 'Before I was in parliament, all the women MPs had grown-up children,' she says. 'I got married when I was an MP and had babies when I was an MP. I turned my parliamentary office into a nursery. 'I brought a nanny into the office. All my meetings were outside the office. Five times a day I returned to it to breastfeed my baby.' Her three daughters Maayan, 11, Eliraz, nine, and Noa, seven, love her being an ambassador. 'My youngest says, 'When I grow up, Mummy, I want to be the ambassador'. I never got that compliment when I was a politician.' In parliament she held eight ministerial posts – more than any other woman in Israeli politics with the exception of Golda Meir who was Israel's first and only woman prime minister from 1969 to 1974. Was Golda Meir her political hero? 'Absolutely not. It is Margaret Thatcher. She was a remarkable woman, a brave politician. Mrs Thatcher saved the British economy and her free-market thinking inspired Israel. 'In Britain I have seen that Winston Churchill is remembered everywhere. Quite right. But Mrs Thatcher is not – which means you need a place for people to learn about her.' In Israel, Hotovely was often demonised by her opponents for being hard-Right and a religious zealot. She is unmoved by the criticism. 'In politics if, like Mrs Thatcher, you make great changes you will never be loved. I am very opinionated. If you want to be loved, find another profession than politics.' It was Netanyahu who persuaded her to take up the ambassador role. She prepared for it by binge-watching the 1980s political satire Yes Minister, a favourite of Margaret Thatcher. The star of the TV series was the civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by the late Nigel Hawthorne. 'I loved Sir Humphrey and it gave me a great insight into the British civil service,' she says with a loud laugh. 'I have met some really interesting British diplomats.' When she arrived in Britain, she coined a nickname for her husband Or Alon, a lawyer she married in 2013 with a staggering 2,500 guests. 'I'd call him Mr Ambassador. Every time we went to a royal event, or an official reception, people would come up to him and say: 'Mr Ambassador'. They never thought it could be me.' She has met the King and says her proudest moment was presenting her credentials as the new ambassador to the late Queen. 'I am so proud and so happy I talked to her, even though it was on Zoom because of lockdown. She said to me, 'You have too many elections in your country'.' Indeed, when Netanyahu was elected again in October 2022, it was the fifth election in Israel in four years. While Hotovely loves Britain – the Scottish Highlands and Cornwall are her favourite places – she says she will not miss 'all those dark nights in your winter'. But she enjoys the dry British sense of humour and says 'the Jewish school my children go to is wonderful. The discipline. The manners'. Yet to this day she is shocked by the anti-Semitism she has experienced in Britain. She believes it is rampant in many universities. When she addressed the London School of Economics in 2021, she needed an armed escort off the premises. 'I did not think in post-war Europe I would experience these levels of hate. I am very involved with the Jewish community here and they no longer feel safe. They don't think they can wear symbols of their Jewishness on their clothes.' By tradition, many Jewish families place a mezuzah, a small symbol of their Jewish faith, on their front door frame. 'But since October 7 most now have brought those symbols into the house, which is very sad.' Since the war with Gaza, she has become one of the most closely guarded women in Britain. 'I cannot even go to the synagogue because of the security so I pray at home. The security guys are all British. They have been wonderful to me and my family.' Every Saturday there is a huge march, involving thousands of pro-Palestine protesters, into central London. There has been repeated criticism of the police for standing by and ignoring anti-Semitic chants and even banners proclaiming support for Hamas. 'There is something badly wrong if a major part of the Jewish community feels they are excluded by the marches from going into central London. I have good relationships with successive home secretaries who say fighting anti-Semitism is an important part of their work. 'But when those marches, with their anti-Jewish slogans go past Big Ben, they are seen by Jewish people on TV all around the world. It sends out a terrible message.' The ambassador has an interesting suggestion. 'Words matter. I think the phrase anti-Semitism is now anachronistic. It does not come across as what it really is – Jewish hatred or racism against Jews. Perhaps we should change the description to reflect that. Education is a key factor.' In the ambassador's view, this education could start with the BBC, which still refuses to call Hamas a terrorist organisation. The corporation maintains that would mean it was taking a side. 'Hamas is an internationally recognised terrorist organisation,' she counters. 'Look what they did on October 7. Hideous terrorist brutality. I don't understand the BBC's position which I think damages its reputation worldwide. 'Hamas use children as human shields. They looted the food aid that we provided. They don't care about their own people but the BBC will not criticise them.' In the current febrile atmosphere, with President Trump upping the anti-Iran rhetoric, it is significant that Starmer has been more circumspect. Is he unwilling to upset the Muslim community or the vocal anti-Israel lobby in his own party? 'The ambassador returns to diplomatic-speak. 'Britain is an important ally. We have shared valuable intelligence with your MI5 and MI6.' No word, however, on Starmer. Later this year, she will go back to Israel because it is the end of her five-year posting. She is widely expected to return to parliament at the election expected next year. She is a serious contender to replace Netanyahu, 75, who has now served as PM for 17 years. 'I think I am tough but I am very human and I have cried so much since the war started. I cry over the devastating loss of life,' she tells me. 'But I am proud of my country. I will be proud to serve my country in whatever way I can. I have been proud to serve as ambassador to your great country.'
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘I think you and I are at war': the Australians suddenly united in grief over the Israel-Iran conflict
When Israel triggered a war last Friday after it sent a wave of airstrikes into Iran, Saina Salemi and Oscar were at work in Melbourne, sitting at arm's length away from each other at their desks. Salemi saw the news headline first. She turned to Oscar and said: 'I think you and I are at war.' 'I thought she was kidding,' Oscar, who asked for his last name to not be used, recalled. 'I didn't understand. And then we went to the news, and it had all started, and my heart just sunk immediately.' Salemi, who is 26, moved to Australia from Tehran when she was 7, and Oscar, who is 24 and from Israel, says for the past week they've shared in a grief that feels unending – but there has been a release in sharing it together. The pair became friends when they started work the same day as each other 18 months ago. Since last week, finding out what is happening overseas and if it is affecting their families has become a shared obsession. While sitting next to each other at work, they keep track of the rolling live coverage. Salemi also watches Persian news sources while Oscar watches the Hebrew channels. 'We're translating documents for each other. We're tracking where the missiles are being hit and seeing if they're close to our family members,' Oscar tells Guardian Australia, both he and Salemi speaking on the phone together from their office. 'If we find out information we want the other to know, we text each other, no matter what time of night it is,' Salemi says. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Oscar's parents, who were visiting Israel when tensions flared are – for now – stuck there. Salemi's grandparents, aunts, and uncles live in Tehran. Their shared grief has not just been defined by doomscrolling and sharing news about loved ones. Salemi says their focus is on the civilians suffering and the governments 'making the choice' to continue it. 'My people, Palestinians and Israelis are being used as political shields for geopolitical aims,' Salemi says. Oscar says he is also battling a feeling of guilt, despite having no control over what is going on. 'I really care about her family. I feel so guilty, and even though obviously I'm not responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, but nevertheless, it really pains me to just see even more suffering being inflicted.' 'I don't want people to become desensitised to what is happening in the region, and the … scale of pain that is taking place every day. It's getting worse.' By Friday, Israeli strikes on Iran had killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, according to Washington-based group Human Rights Activists. Of those dead, the group identified 263 civilians and 164 security force personnel. Iran has not given regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimised casualties in the past. In its last update, delivered last Monday, it put the death toll at 224 people and 1,277 wounded. Salemi says she has not heard from her family since the Iranian authorities blocked the internet. 'My auntie woke up in the middle of the night thinking that she was having a heart attack because the initial missile was so close to where she lived,' she says. 'I haven't heard from my family members in 36 hours, and there's a great sense of numbness when you worry that maybe that's the last time you've ever heard from your family members,' she says. Oscar says he sometimes has difficulty reaching his parents by phone to check in on how they are. He struggled with the news that a hospital – where his nan had gotten care once after she had a stroke – had been hit by an Iranian rocket. Salemi says while the bombs are falling from Israel, she also blames the Iranian regime – unpopular among many – for failing to protect its people. She points to there being no bomb shelters for people to turn to and disruptions to internet access that could help in planning escape routes with loved ones. Despite the ruling regime being unpopular, Salemi is frustrated by rhetoric from Israel's president, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Israel could support regime change. 'Regime change in Iran will come internally, at the hands of my own people,' she says. Oscar and Salemi say the war has inflamed the grief they were already feeling for the thousands of people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. Oscar said on top of this he is also grieving loved ones that died when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October. Since Israel and Iran began trading strikes, over 100 people in Gaza have been killed while seeking aid. 'The safety of Israel can't come from anything other than peace – lasting, negotiated peace,' Oscar says. 'I want a serious political solution and a lasting peace.' Asked if there is anything they want the Australian government to do, Salemi says it should focus on getting Australian citizens out of each conflict zone. Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong said on Friday there were about 2,000 Australians and their families in Iran and approximately 1,200 in Israel who wanted to evacuate. 'The security situation is obviously very difficult,' Wong said. ' The airspace remains closed.' Oscar says that last Friday, after Israel first struck Iran, he and Salemi sat on the steps outside their work together. They already felt it could be different to the 'tit-for-tat' strikes in past months. 'I remember I turned to her and said, 'when will this end? How much longer does this have to go on?'.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Disney CEO Bob Iger's dramatic move following LA protests that will be sure to infuriate Trump
Disney CEO Bob Iger is fighting Donald Trump through his women's soccer team, who have publicly protested the ICE raids on Los Angeles and the president's response to riots. Iger - along with his wife and dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Willow Bay - is the majority shareholder of Angel City FC, who represent Los Angeles in the National Women's Soccer League. Amid controversy over federal law enforcement's appearances at Dodger Stadium, Angel City have been publicly and vociferously in opposition to the president in moves that Deadline reports Iger backed and was 'thoroughly consulted on.' Ahead of their recent match against North Carolina Courage, the organization offered the first 10,000 fans - Angel City regularly leads NWSL in attendance and averaged 19,000 per match in 2024 - a t-shirt with the words 'Immigrant City FC' on the front and 'Los Angeles is for everyone' in English and Spanish. The team has also sold shirts on their website with proceeds going to Castro Immigration Services, who 'serve the immigrant community by providing quality legal counsel on immigration matters and connecting immigrant families to available resources.' Aside from Iger, the club has several liberal celebrities with minority shares, including Eva Longoria, Jessica Chastain and America Ferrara, putting several famous and powerful people at loggerheads with Trump. Angel City FC - along with MLS side LAFC, with whom they share a stadium - have issued statements of support for immigrants but otherwise the city's sports franchises have refrained from commenting. Iger and Bay have made no public statement on the protests, however it appears he not only signed off on it but was briefed on the move every step of the way. Iger - along with his wife and dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Willow Bay - is the majority shareholder of Angel City FC, who represent Los Angeles in the National Women's Soccer League, who gave out these pro-immigrant t-shirts at a recent match has reached out to the White House for comment. It comes as Iger's day job at Disney has tried to make nice with the second Trump administration on multiple big occasions. Most recently, ABC News has fired star anchor Terry Moran just days after he penned a social media post calling Donald Trump a 'world class hater' and blasting top advisor Stephen Miller as full of 'bile.' A spokesperson for the network confirmed the firing in a statement on Tuesday that specifically cited Moran's post as a 'clear violation' of ABC's policy. 'We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew,' the statement read. 'At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism,' the rep added. Moran, 65, was a senior national correspondent at the network. He previously served as ABC's Chief Foreign Correspondent from 2013 to 2018. In May, it was reported ABC News and its parent company Disney have asked the ladies of The View to dial back their constant complaining about President Donald Trump. Ahead of their recent match against North Carolina Courage, the organization offered the first 10,000 fans - Angel City regularly leads NWSL in attendance and averaged 19,000 per match in 2024 - a t-shirt with the words 'Immigrant City FC' on the front and 'Los Angeles is for everyone' in English and Spanish ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic and Iger made the requests separately, The Daily Beast reported. The daily talk show has been filled with criticisms of the commander-in-chief and his policies, with mostly kind words for Democrats. Iger reportedly expressed his support for the show but made clear it needed to pull back on politics. Prior to that, Moran co-anchored the network's newsmagazine Nightline for eight years. He was ABC News' Chief White Correspondent from 1999 to 2005. Earlier this year, the network paid President Donald Trump a $16 million settlement over his remarks about the president. Stephanopoulos erroneously claimed on-air that the president-elect was found 'liable for rape' - rather than the correct phrasing of sexual abuse - against writer E. Jean Carroll in March. Trump sued Stephanopoulos and the network for defamation soon after the segment aired, accusing the anchor of making the statements with 'malice' and a disregard for the truth. As part of the settlement, Stephanopoulos was forced to issue a public apology. Angel City FC - along with MLS side LAFC, with whom they share a stadium - have issued statements of support for immigrants but otherwise the city's sports franchises have refrained from commenting In 2023, Iger revealed the company will 'quiet the noise' around cultural issues because it has shown to be bad for business. Iger wants to make content that is entertaining, not issue-focused - after The House of Mouse faced backlash over pushing a ' woke agenda'. His comments about focusing on entertainment rather than 'issues' came after a spate of recent box office busts. Among these was the live-action version of The Little Mermaid, Guardians of the Galaxy, Strange World and Lightyear. The Little Mermaid sparked controversy over the casting of Black actress Halle Bailey as the title character, Ariel. Lightyear, released one year ago with a reported budget of $200 million, brought in a modest $226.7 million in worldwide ticket sales. The film could not be shown in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries because of its depiction of a same-sex relationship. Since the company has been faced with loss from the Disney+ streaming business, which is expected to become profitable only next year, they have turned to the parks business to soften the blow.
