Israeli Army Chief Vows Escalation of Strikes on Iran in Historic Operation
Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir has issued a statement vowing to increase attacks on Iran, as part of a 'historic and unprecedented operation aimed at delivering a significant blow to an existential threat'.
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Nahar Net
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- Nahar Net
Huge turnout at second Dutch protest seeking government action against Israel
by Naharnet Newsdesk 16 June 2025, 12:19 Tens of thousands of demonstrators in the Netherlands donned red clothing and marched Sunday to protest the Dutch government's policy toward Israel, exceeding the turnout for a similar event in May. Protesters walked a 3-mile (5-kilometer) loop around the center of The Hague to symbolically create the red line they say the government has failed to draw to halt Israel's campaign in Gaza. "I don't want to be complicit in these horrendous crimes happening there and I want to speak out," protester Marin Koning told The Associated Press. The human rights groups and aid agencies — including Amnesty International, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders — that organized the march estimated the peaceful crowd at more than 150,000 people. Local media put the numbers closer to 100,000. In neighboring Belgium, around 75,000 people, many of them also clad in red, hit the streets in the capital Brussels, police said. Several rallies have been held to draw attention to Israel's actions in Gaza, but Sunday's was the biggest rally so far. The Dutch protest sent a "clear signal," according to Marjon Rozema of Amnesty International Netherlands. Dutch officials must "act now, at both the national and international level, to increase the pressure on the Israeli government," she said in a statement. As during the first Red Line protest in May, the march took the crowds past the Peace Palace, headquarters of the United Nations' International Court of Justice, where last year judges ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza. Israel strongly denies that it is violating international law in Gaza. The event takes place weeks after the country's ruling four-party coalition collapsed, leaving the Netherlands with a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of NATO leaders at the end of June. Hamas started the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, with militants killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 251 hostage. The militants still hold 53 hostages, fewer than half of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's military campaign has killed over 55,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It says women and children make up most of the dead but doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The European Union's top diplomat, meanwhile, convened an emergency meeting of the 27-nation bloc's foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran. The meeting, to be held via video link, "will provide an opportunity for an exchange of views, coordination on diplomatic outreach to Tel Aviv and Tehran, and possible next steps." EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas's office said Sunday. "We will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and to find a lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue which can only be through a negotiated deal," it said.
Nahar Net
an hour ago
- Nahar Net
Iran renews missile attacks on Israel, killing 5 and wounding dozens
by Naharnet Newsdesk 16 June 2025, 12:00 Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least five killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of a conflict between the regional foes that showed no sign of slowing. One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, causing minor damage, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. There were no injuries to American personnel. Iran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for Israel's sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since last Friday. Ahead of the initial attack, Israel's Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran, and since then Iran has reportedly detained several people on suspicion of espionage. On Monday, authorities hanged a medical doctor identified as Esmail Fekri, who had been in prison since 2023 after being convicted of supplying the Mossad with "sensitive and classified" information, Iranian state-run television reported. Israel said so far 24 people have been killed and more than 500 injured as Iran launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones. In response the Israeli military said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran's Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran. Explosions rock Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva Powerful explosions, likely from Israel's defense systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn on Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city. Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said that Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments. The Israeli Magen David Adom emergency service reported that two women and two men — all in their 70s — and one other person were killed in the wave of missile attacks that struck four sites in central Israel. "We clearly see that our civilians are being targeted," said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne outside the bombed-out building in Petah Tikva. "And this is just one scene. We have other sites like this near the coast, in the south." Petah Tikva resident Yoram Suki rushed with his family to a shelter after hearing an air raid alert, and emerged after it was over to find his apartment destroyed. "Thank God we were OK," the 60-year-old said. Despite losing his home, he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep up the attacks on Iran. "It's totally worth it," he said. "This is for the sake of our children and grandchildren." In addition to those killed, the MDA said paramedics had evacuated another 87 wounded people to hospitals, including a 30-year-old woman in serious condition, while rescuers were still searching for residents trapped beneath the rubble of their homes. "When we arrived at the scene of the rocket strike, we saw massive destruction," said Dr. Gal Rosen, a paramedic with MDA who said he had rescued a 4-day-old baby as fires blazed from the building. No sign of conflict letting up During an earlier barrage of Iranian missiles on central Israel on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran will stop its strikes if Israel does the same. But after a day of intensive Israeli aerial attacks that extended targets beyond military installations to hit oil refineries and government buildings, the Revolutionary Guard struck a hard line on Monday, vowing that further rounds of strikes would be "more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones." Health authorities also reported that 1,277 were wounded in Iran, without distinguishing between military officials and civilians. Rights groups, like the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group called Human Rights Activists, have suggested that the Iranian government's death toll is a significant undercount. Human Rights Activists says it has documented more than 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians. Israel argues that its assault on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists was necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003. But Iran has enriched ever-larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have the capacity to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.
Nahar Net
an hour ago
- Nahar Net
Israel death toll from Iran missiles at 24
by Naharnet Newsdesk 16 June 2025, 11:57 Iranian missiles have killed at least 24 people in Israel since Friday, the Israeli prime minister's office said in an updated toll following the latest attacks. The toll issued on Monday includes 11 deaths recorded since midnight, the office said, including four in Petakh Tikva near Tel Aviv, three in Haifa and one in the Bnei Brak suburb of Tel Aviv. It also includes two bodies retrieved following a previous strike on Bat Yam and one more killed in an unspecified location. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Tehran's residents would "pay the price" for Iranian strikes on Israeli civilians, after overnight missile attacks killed several. "The boastful dictator from Tehran has turned into a cowardly murderer, deliberately firing at Israel's civilian home front in an attempt to deter the (Israeli military) from continuing the offensive that is crippling his capabilities," Katz wrote on his Telegram channel. "The residents of Tehran will pay the price -- and soon."
