At least 20 reported dead in Israeli airstrike on Gaza school housing displaced people
At least 20 people have been killed and dozens more injured after an Israeli airstrike targeting a school in Gaza, health authorities have said.
Reuters news agency reported the number of dead, citing medics, with the school in the Daraj neighbourhood having been used to shelter displaced people who had fled previous bombardments.
Medical and civil defence sources on the ground confirmed women and children were among the casualties, with several charred bodies arriving at al Shifa and al Ahli hospitals.
The scene inside the school has been described as horrific, with more victims feared trapped under the rubble.
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Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Israeli ‘decapitation strikes' wipe out top military command
Israel has launched a series of stunning strikes against Iran, aiming to cripple Tehran's nuclear programme and its military leadership. The IDF said about 200 jets were involved in striking around 100 targets on Friday morning, which appeared to include senior members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and top nuclear scientists. Those killed included Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the powerful IRGC, and Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, according to reports. The attacks are reminiscent of Israeli strikes on Lebanon last year, which decapitated the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group. Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah, was among those assassinated by Israeli bombs in a precision strike on the group's Beirut headquarters last September. Israel appears to be using similar tactics in an attempt to wipe out Iran's senior military leadership. Here is what we know about who the IDF killed overnight. Mohammad Bagheri – chief of staff of Iran's armed forces General Mohammad Bagheri served as the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, the highest-ranking officer in the country's military, since 2016 until his death on Friday. He was responsible for the coordination and supervision of Iran's regular army and the IRGC, which answers only to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and supports Iranian militant groups, and his death is likely to throw the leadership of the IRGC into disarray. Bagheri was also a member of the IRGC Command Network, which according to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) 'dominates the upper echelons of Iran's military and controls planning, operations, intelligence, covert and irregular warfare operations, and internal security'. Born in 1960 in Tehran, he studied engineering and earned a doctoral degree in political geography. He was involved in attacks during the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979, when 52 Americans were taken hostage. He joined the IRGC in 1980 as an intelligence official and claimed to play a major role in all operations of the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988. In February 2022, he announced that Iran was advancing its ballistic missile programme, and in October that year, the White House reported that he was overseeing Iranian army branches supplying Russia with Iranian-made drones. This prompted the UK to sanction Bagheri that same year. The US followed suit, sanctioning him over the brutal suppression of protests that broke out in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini. Hossein Salami – commander-in-chief of IRGC General Hossein Salami joined the IRGC at its inception in 1979 and rose up through the ranks, serving as commander of the guard's Air Force and its deputy commander-in-chief before his promotion to the top position in 2019. 'Without a doubt, Major General Salami was one of the most distinguished commanders of the Islamic Revolution — present on all fronts of scientific, cultural, security, and military jihad,' the IRGC said in a statement, highlighting the significance of his death in Israeli strikes on Friday. He was born in 1960 in Isfahan province, one of the targets of Israel's latest raids. He served in various positions during the Iraq-Iran war, including ground force operations and intelligence gathering. While serving as the deputy chief, General Salami became known for his rhetorical warfare against the US, and his promotion to commander-in-chief came only weeks after the US designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. The appointment also followed US president Donald Trump's decision during his first term to withdraw the US from the international nuclear deal with Iran and restore crippling sanctions. As leader of the IRGC, he increased his threats against the US, vowing to 'take harsh revenge' against the country after the Trump-ordered assassination of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Five days later, Iran launched ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq housing American troops, causing injuries but no fatalities among soldiers there. After Soleimani was killed, Salami said that the US and Israel should know that 'if they threaten our commanders, none of their commanders will find a safe place ' to live. In a 2016 speech, he said there was 'fertile ground' for the 'annihilation, the wiping out, and the collapse of the Zionist regime'. When an Israeli strike in April 2024 killed seven guard members, including two Iranian generals at an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria, Salami vowed to retaliate. Weeks later, Salami ordered an operation that launched more than 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles against Israel in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a region-wide war. Ali Shamkhani – top adviser to Khomeini Known as one of Iran's leading strategists, Shamkhani served as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and a key adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader. He was an important interlocutor with Arab countries, and some Western officials saw him as a preferred mediator in discussions with Iran, making his death a significant blow to potential diplomatic efforts. He was born in 1955 in Ahvaz, a city in western Iran, and studied engineering at university. While a student, he was a member of an underground organisation called Mansouroun, which was fighting against Iran's royal dynasty of the day. Shamkhani worked his way up serving in various positions in the IRGC, as well as cabinet minister for the revolutionary guards in the 1980s and for defence from the late 1990s to early 2000s. After the death of Soleimani in 2020, Shamkhani said Iran's response would be a 'historic nightmare' for the US. 'Even if the weakest of these scenarios gains a consensus, the implementation of it can be a historic nightmare for the Americans... The entirety of the resistance forces will retaliate,' he said. In 2023, however, he resigned as the country's top security official over his close ties to a British spy, the New York Times reported at the time. Iran international reported that his resignation was due to his involvement in a government circle linked to a cartel engaged in kidnapping and drug trafficking in collaboration with the IRGC. He was reported to have been injured in Israel's latest strikes, and to have died hours later in hospital. Gholam Ali Rashid – senior commander of IRGC Less was known about General Gholam Alo Rashid. Born in 1953 in Khuzestan, he joined the IRGC at the start of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980. He became one of the key decision-makers during the war and was eventually promoted to deputy chief-of-staff of the Iranian armed forces. Like Bagheri, he was also a member of the IRGC's Command Network and had previously declared that any military action taken by the US against Iran would be a strategic mistake. At the time of his death, he was serving as the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, a combatant command that coordinates joint military operations. Nuclear scientists Six nuclear scientists were killed in Israel's strikes, according to Iranian state media, in a blow to Iran's nuclear programme. Nuclear scientist Fereydoun Abbasi and theoretical physicist Dr Mohammed Mehdi Tehranchi had already been named among the dead by Mehr News. Abbasi was a professor of nuclear physics, reported to be a member of the IRGC, who was regularly linked to Iran's nuclear weapons programme. He is reported to have personally directed work to calculate the yield of a nuclear weapon. Less is known about Mehdi, a professor of physics. He was a theoretical physicist and president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Iran could have built ‘15 nuclear bombs within days', says Israel after strike
Follow the latest updates in our live blog Israel has launched airstrikes against Iran, saying the regime has enough material to build 15 nuclear bombs 'within days'. In what could be the opening salvo of a regional war, explosions lit up the skyline in Tehran, as jets attacked both nuclear and conventional regime targets – without the support of the US. Blasts were heard in Natanz, one of two known nuclear underground sites, according to state television. The headquarters of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were also ablaze, in a sign that Israel is targeting key elements of the regime, not just military infrastructure. Iranian state media confirmed that Hossein Salami, the IRGC commander, was killed in Thursday night's airstrikes. Iran's state TV said nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi were killed in an Israeli strike earlier this morning. Early on Friday, Israel was braced for a retaliatory missile and drone attack. 'We are at a decisive moment in Israel's history,' said Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video address. 'We are defending the free world from the terrorism and barbarism that Iran fosters and exports across the globe.' Confirming that the IDF had struck Iran's main enrichment facility at Natanz, targeting leading scientists in the process, the Prime Minister added that 'This operation will take as long as is needed to complete the task of fending off the threat of annihilation against us.' Prime Minister Netanyahu: "Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat." — Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 13, 2025 The attacks come despite ongoing talks between Iranian and US negotiators to broker a nuclear deal. Earlier on Thursday, Donald Trump said he did not want the strikes to happen and warned of 'massive conflict' in the Middle East. It is currently unknown if the US was warned in advance. Marco Rubio, the American Secretary of State, confirmed the US was not involved in the strike. Israel said it decided to attack after intelligence indicated that the Islamic republic was closing on a bomb despite the ongoing talks. A military official said: 'Nuclear scientists and senior officials in Iran have been working to secretly develop all components needed for developing a nuclear weapon – explosive materials, the core - enriched uranium- and neutron source'. 'In accordance with this decision, the regime has enough fission material for 15 nuclear bombs within days. 'In recent months, secret attempts to assemble this have been made with the approval of the regime.' Mr Netanyahu said Iran already had enough enriched uranium for nine nuclear bombs. Israel said the decision was taken also because of Iran's plans to 'triple' its stockpiles of conventional ballistic missiles, which were described as an 'existential threat' to the state of Israel. Renewed attempts by Iran to arm terrorist proxies in the region for attacks against Israel further played into the decision. Mr Netanyahu said the Islamic republic had plans to accumulate 20,000 missiles within six years. According to Israeli sources, these elements amounted to a new strategy after Iran's decades-long policy of fighting by proxies was heavily set back last year, with defeats for Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. 'We can't leave these threats for the next generation,' he continues. 'Because if we don't act now, there will not be another generation. If we don't act now, we simply won't be here,' said Mr Netanyahu in a video address. 'Never Again' is now, A military source said: 'If we don't act now, with each day we will have less chance. We have a gun to our head. We are nearing the point of no return.' Previously, analysts believed that Iran had enriched uranium to more than 60 per cent, putting it within 'weeks' of building a crude nuclear warhead. Israeli strategists are known to have been agitating for a strike during a favourable military window created by the IDF's destruction of Iran's S-300 air defence systems last autumn. The effective defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon also means Israel can attack with less fear of retaliation on its northern communities. However, the whole of Israel was tonight put on high alert for an Iranian retaliatory barrage of ballistic missiles, with an order prohibiting educational activities, gatherings and workplaces, except for essential sectors. Flights to and from Israel have also been suspended. The chief of the Home Front Command, Maj Gen. Rafi Milo, said: 'Movement and travel should be minimised. We are facing intense and complex days. We are strong and prepared to safeguard and defend the State of Israel.' Sirens wailed across Israel at 3am local time to alert the population of the change to what is effectively war footing. Previously, attacking Iran without an explicit green light from the US would have been considered unthinkable by most Israeli strategists. Although Mr Trump himself threatened to bomb Iran repeatedly before the talks started, he is thought to want a deal with Tehran in order to avoid a war and establish his legacy as a statesman. Israel said it is prepared to defend itself from Iran's expected retaliation. However, its sophisticated missile defence system can become overwhelmed, and military chiefs would prefer active US support in fending off ballistic missiles. Israel has been at war on several fronts since October 7 2023 and is currently embarked on an expanded offensive in Gaza. Israel has placed all Palestinian towns in the West Bank under lockdown until further notice, and mobilised troops near its northern border to defend against an attack, if needed. Senator Jack Reed, a senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, criticised the strikes as 'reckless escalation' that put the region and American forces at risk. On Thursday the US prepared to evacuate non-essential staff from its embassy in Baghdad, which is vulnerable to Iranian retaliation, and issued an order restricting the movement of its staff within Israel. A number of Iranian civilians have been killed in the strikes so far, according to Iranian state media. Dozens of commercial airliners were in Iranian airspace when the attacks started, according to flight tracking websites.
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
Iranian state media confirms killing of Revolutionary Guards chief in Israeli strike
June 13 (Reuters) - Iranian state media confirmed on Friday the killing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami in an Israeli strike.
