Israel targets Iran's military capabilities
Israel's massive strikes on Iran, which it calls an existential threat, have hit nuclear and military facilities, killed top commanders and dozens of civilians, and sought to destroy the country's defence capabilities.
Iran has hit back with volleys of missiles that lit up the night sky over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, killing three people and wounding dozens.
Following decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time that Israel and Iran have traded fire with such intensity, with fears of a prolonged conflict engulfing the region.
Israel began striking Iran early Friday in an operation it has dubbed "Rising Lion", and has since killed several top Iranian generals including senior leaders of the Revolutionary Guards' air arm.
On Saturday, Israel's military said it was striking dozens of missile launchers in Iran after announcing it had targeted air defences with a wave of strikes in the Tehran area.
Two senior Iranian generals have been killed in Israeli strikes, Iranian state television reported Saturday, as Israel kept up its assault.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said Friday that 78 people had been killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of strikes by Israel.
Iran called on its citizens to unite in defence of the country as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged them to rise up against their government.
Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel through the night, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters until home defence commanders stood down alerts.
'Smoke, dust'
Israel said dozens of missiles -- some intercepted -- had been fired in the latest salvos from Iran, with AFP images of the city of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv showing blown-out buildings, destroyed vehicles and streets strewn with debris.
Israeli rescuers said two people were killed and 19 wounded on Saturday by rocket fire on a residential area in the coastal plain.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked dozens of targets in Israel.
Israeli firefighters had worked for hours to free people trapped in a high-rise building in Tel Aviv on Friday.
Resident Chen Gabizon told AFP he ran to an underground shelter after receiving an alert.
"After a few minutes, we just heard a very big explosion, everything was shaking, smoke, dust, everything was all over the place," he said.
Rescuers said 34 people were wounded in the Gush Dan area, including a woman who later died of her injuries, according to Israeli media reports.
Speaking to CNN, Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Iran had fired three salvos of ballistic missiles on Friday, some 150 in total.
"We expect that the Iranians, who have a considerable volume of ballistic missiles, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2,000, will continue to fire them," Leiter said.
In Tehran, fire and heavy smoke billowed over Mehrabad airport early Saturday, an AFP journalist said, as Iranian media reported an explosion.
Blasts were heard across the capital as Iran activated its air defences against the incoming fire.
Dozens of Iranians took to the streets to cheer their country's military response, with some waving national flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans.
'Time to stop'
The attacks prompted several countries in the region to temporarily ground air traffic, though on Saturday morning, Jordan reopened its airspace.
Iran's airspace was closed until further notice, state media reported.
As fears mounted of wider conflict, UN chief Antonio Guterres called on both sides to cease fire.
"Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail," he said on X late Friday.
US officials said they were helping Israel defend against the missile attacks, even as Washington insisted it had nothing to do with Israel's strikes on Iran.
US President Donald Trump agreed in a call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that "dialogue and diplomacy" were needed to calm the crisis, Starmer's office said.
Trump also spoke with the Israeli prime minister, US officials said without elaborating.
In a televised address, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to bring Israel "to ruin".
The conflict has thrown into doubt plans for a fresh round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran in Oman on Sunday.
After the first wave of strikes on Friday, Trump urged Iran to "make a deal", adding that Washington was "hoping to get back to the negotiating table".
The United States and other Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, an ambition it has consistently denied.
Iran said on Saturday its participation in the Oman talks remained "unclear".
"It is still unclear what decision we will make for Sunday," the official IRNA news agency reported, citing foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.
Baqaei had called the talks "meaningless" in view of the Israeli strikes, which he alleged were carried out with "US permission".
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Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Netanyahu vows to escalate strikes, fighter jets taken off for Tehran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israeli air forces had dealt "serious damage" to Iranian nuclear facilities and claimed that Iranian leaders are 'packing their bags' in the face of the ongoing military campaign. In a televised address, Netanyahu threatened to escalate the attacks further, delivering a direct warning to Tehran. "In the very near future you will see Israeli Air Force jets over the skies of Tehran, we will strike every site and every target of the Ayatollah's regime, and what they have felt until now is nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days," he stated. "I talk to (world) leaders every day. And they express, I would say, tremendous admiration for both the resolve and determination of the state of Israel and the great achievements of our fighters, and there is reason to be truly proud of them and you should be proud of yourselves as well. We are in a fateful battle for our existence. We will fight until we achieve victory," Netanyahu concluded. Right after this speech, Israeli media reported that squadrons of Israeli fighter jets had taken off from their bases en route to Iran. The defiant speech comes amid conflicting reports about the extent of the damage. Israeli military officials said that strikes on nuclear sites in Natanz and Isfahan were able to damage them 'significantly.' However, Iran stated that the impact is limited, while still acknowledging the deaths of nine experts in the attacks. Netanyahu justified the operation by claiming that if Israel hadn't acted, Tehran was planning to give nuclear weapons to its "terrorist proxies." Adding that the operation has 'clear support' from US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu pledged to continue the attacks. The escalating conflict has directly derailed planned nuclear talks between the United States and Iran. The crucial negotiations, which were set to begin in Oman on Sunday, have been cancelled, with Iranian officials calling the dialogue "meaningless" in light of the Israeli strikes. Iranians have been left reeling after deadly Israeli attacks on their country's top military officials and nuclear scientists. Israel's 'Operation Rising Lion' is far more extensive than previous operations, including last year's missile and drone exchanges between the two countries. The strikes killed ranking member of Iran's military and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, something unseen since Iran's war with Iraq in the 1990s. Dozens were killed and hundreds more injured. Israel says the attacks will continue, raising the risk of further escalation and a broader conflict across the Middle East. Residents in Tehran rushed to stores to stock up on supplies as the situation escalates. Iranian state television repeatedly aired footage of missile strikes on Tel Aviv throughout Saturday morning. The broadcaster also showed people cheering in front of a screen set up in Tehran to follow the strikes as if they were watching a football match. 'Israel killed our commanders and what do they expect in return? A kiss?' said Mahmoud Dorri, a 29-year-old taxi driver. 'We will go after them to punish them: an eye for an eye.' In downtown Tehran, 31-year-old teacher and mother of two Pari Pourghazi expressed her joy over Iran's attack, linking it to Israel's devastating war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 'Someone should stop the Israelis. They think they can do anything they want at any time,' she said. "Iran showed the Israelis are wrong, though they could suppress people in Gaza or Lebanon by heavy bombing.' Auto mechanic Houshang Ebadi, 61, also backed the Iranian strike but said he opposed a full-fledged war between Iran and Israel. 'I support my country. The Israelis made a mistake in launching attacks on Iran but I hope this comes to an end," Ebadi said. "War will not bear fruit for any side.' Following the strikes, several governments issued red travel warnings for their citizens in Iran and across the region. Flights were diverted or cancelled as airlines face airspace closures. Some foreigners travelled to Iran's border with Azerbaijan to flee the escalating conflict, including a Russian symphonic orchestra. The Archbishop of Tehran issued an appeal for peace and dialogue and cautioned against the use of pre-emptive military action.
France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
'We are strong': Israelis defiant despite deadly Iran strikes
The shell of a residential building stood at the scene of the hit in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, with much of the block reduced to concrete rubble and mangled metal. The debris-strewn street was lined with the wreckage of several destroyed cars, an AFP journalist reported, a rare sight in Israel where advanced air defences usually intercept incoming attacks. Iran hit Israel with waves of drone and missile strikes overnight, with a barrage lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, killing three people and wounding dozens. The attack came in retaliation to Israel's massive strikes on the Islamic republic which hit nuclear and military facilities, killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and dozens of civilians, and sought to destroy the country's defence capabilities. Friedlander said he saw interceptions in the sky before the sirens blared out. "We quickly went into the shelter, and after a few minutes we heard a huge boom -- we knew it was something severe," he told AFP. "There was smoke inside the shelter, and the shelter started to break apart a bit. We were afraid to go out," he added. After 10 minutes in the shelter, Friedlander said he left to find his entire apartment completely destroyed. "It's only damage to property," he said. "I have to thank God that we are alive." 'We are not nervous' Air raid sirens and explosions rang out across Israel through the night, with many residents holed up in bomb shelters until home defence commanders stood down alerts. AFPTV footage from central Tel Aviv showed fire and smoke rising from a condo tower, a large hole ripped open by an explosion at its base. "They (Iran) want to destroy us," Friedlander said. "But we are strong... "That's the way it is, we have to keep going, defeat them, until the victory." In a residential area of Rishon LeZion, also near Tel Aviv, first responders stood atop the rubble of collapsed buildings, inspecting the damage. Kobi Cohen said the door of his shelter was blown away by the impact of an explosion which hit nearby. "All the windows, all the doors, all the glass of the windows burst but we survived thank God. That's the most important thing," he said. Cohen said someone was killed following an explosion in a nearby street, but "most people here have experienced wars in their life, so we are not nervous". 'Trust in God' On the beachfront in Tel Aviv on Saturday, the usually packed bars and restaurants were closed but a few dozen people swam, sunbathed, took selfies and walked dogs, seemingly unfazed by the overnight volley. "We got up, got out of the bomb shelter and went to the beach, had breakfast," said Tal, a resident of neighbouring Jaffa who declined to give his last name. He said previous attacks, including a missile barrage from Iran in April 2024, meant Israelis had become largely used to such events. "I think we've pretty much destroyed their plans of retaliation," he added, referring to Israel's unprecedented attack on Iran which has hit more than 200 military and nuclear sites according to the Israeli army. Dalia Neeman, 77, an artist who lives in Tel Aviv also said she believed Israel's campaign in Iran would "be for the better, for all the world". "Something's supposed to change," she told AFP. Neeman said she felt safe in Tel Aviv despite Iran's deadly retaliation.
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
Israel thwarts Iranian retaliation and continues military offensive
It was one of the most difficult nights Israel had experienced since the war began with Hamas's attack on October 7. During the night of Friday, June 13, Iran launched 150 ballistic missiles, targeting "dozens of targets," "bases and military infrastructure," according to Tehran. The air defense sirens sounded throughout Israel, especially during the first part of the night, as fighter jets and the layered defense system were heavily engaged against the Iranian strikes. The Home Front Command repeatedly instructed the population to remain in shelters. At least three people were killed and 70 wounded in this initial massive retaliation, according to the Israeli press. Central Israel suffered the most. A skyscraper was hit in Tel Aviv. An apartment block was destroyed in the nearby city of Ramat Gan. In the affluent city of Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, a missile exploded near a residential area, causing extensive damage. The toll from the night could have been even greater. Following the lightning attack they launched in Iran early Friday morning, Israel had expected a massive response. But Iranian capabilities had been so undermined that the salvos of ballistic missiles launched at Israel were less significant than anticipated. According to the New York Times, the initial plan was to launch 1,000 of these projectiles, but the Israeli army managed to thwart these plans thanks to a perfectly executed first phase.
