Israel-Iran latest: Huge explosion rocks Haifa after Tehran launches new wave of missile attacks
Israel’s emergency services say at least two people have been wounded in a daytime Iranian ballistic missile attack, including a 16-year-old boy who is in serious condition
Huge explosions appear to have struck the Israeli city of Haifa, injuring at least two people, following warnings of a daytime Iranian missile attack.
Footage online has shown a building in Haifa partially destroyed while additional videos reportedly show a plume of smoke protruding from the cityscape.
Israel’s medical services say two people have been wounded, including a 16-year-old boy, who is in serious condition, and a 54-year-old man with shrapnel wounds.
In a statement on X earlier, the Israeli military said “alerts were activated in several areas” of Israel “following the discovery of missiles launched from Iran”.
It is rare for the military to issue a nationwide alert. Just minutes before the warnings began, Iran’s religious ruler Ali Khamenei warned on social media that Israel was about to get it’s “comeuppance”. “The Zionist enemy is getting his comeuppance; he is getting his comeuppance now,” he wrote on X.
It is now a week into the latest escalation between Israel and Iran. Both sides have fired hundreds of missiles at one another.
At least two dozen Israeli civilians have been killed, according to officials. A Washington-based human rights organisation says 639 Iranians have been killed.
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Rubio says UK agrees Iran 'can't have nuclear weapons'
US secretary of state Marco Rubio met British foreign minister David Lammy yetserday and held separate calls with Australian foreign minister Penny Wong, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The state department said that Mr Rubio and the foreign ministers agreed that "Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon".
Mr Lammy said the same on X while adding that the situation in the Middle East "remained perilous" and a "window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution".
How war reduced bustling Tehran to a desert of empty streets
While Iranian officials continue to issue confident claims that they are “fully prepared”, “responding decisively” and “managing the crisis”, the reality on the ground tells a very different story.
On day six of Israeli strikes, Iranians are facing streets filled with fear, empty shelves at stores, long queues for bread and fuel, and promises of bomb shelters that do not actually exist.
In a country that does not even have functioning air raid sirens, what people are feeling deeply, in every sense, is a slow collapse of both safety and hope.
Even if they survive the missiles, the trauma of these days will linger for years.
Reports from Tehran and other Iranian cities reveal that despite decades of threats against Israel, the Islamic Republic has no real plan in place to protect civilians during wartime.
Now, the same population already battered by the regime’s chronic mismanagement and deepening economic hardship is facing the added burden of war, and all the suffering that comes with it.
More here.
Life inside Iran: How bustling Tehran became a desert of empty streets and shops
Breaking: Fire erupts near Microsoft office in Israel after Iran airstrikes
Several fires were burning in a street in Israel's southern city of Beer Sheba, close to a tech park that houses a Microsoft office, according to reports.
A loud explosion was heard in Beer Sheba in southern Israel after Iran launched a barrage of missiles.
Buildings were damaged in the new Iranian missile attack, but there were no casualties reported, local media said.
Israel says it struck dozens of military targets in Iran
The Israeli military this morning said it carried out strikes on dozens of military targets in Iran overnight.
The military claimed it struck the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which it said is involved in Iran's nuclear weapons development.
More than 60 fighter jets were involved in the strikes, dropping 120 munitions, according to the military.
“Among the targets were military industrial sites producing missile components and facilities for manufacturing raw materials used in casting missile engines," it claimed.
Israel will ‘hit all nuclear facilities' in Iran, says Netanyahu
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Israel is “ahead of schedule” in its military campaign against Iran, exceeding prior expectations.
“We are ahead of the schedule we set, both in terms of timing and results,” he told Kan public broadcaster.
Asked whether Israel can destroy the underground Fordo facility without US assistance, Mr Netanyahu claimed: “We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities. We have the capability to do that."
Israel-Iran air war enters second week
Israel and Iran's air war entered a second week today as European officials sought to draw Tehran back to the negotiating table.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying it aimed to prevent its longtime enemy from developing nuclear weapons. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. It says its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, said the Human Rights Activists News Agency. Those killed include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists. Israel has said at least two dozen Israeli civilians have died in Iranian missile attacks.
Israel this morning said Iran has launched new missile salvo. "Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the Israeli military said.
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