Israeli airstrike on school in northern Gaza kills at least 30
Israeli forces have carried out an airstrike on a school where many Gazans have taken shelter, killing at least 30 people.
Israeli troops continued attacks on Gaza overnight on Sunday. The Defense Ministry on Monday said the ministry and security agency jointly struck "key terrorists" in a command and control center that previously served as a school in the Gaza City area.
The ministry claimed that prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.
But Palestinian media reported the same day that 30 Palestinians were killed when "Israeli occupation forces" bombed the school housing displaced people and fires broke out in the tents.
Footage taken by Reuters News Agency on Monday showed injured people receiving treatment at a hospital in Gaza.
Meanwhile, multiple Arab media have reported on the deadlocked ceasefire talks between Israel and the Islamic group Hamas.
Mediators, including the US, have suggested the two sides engage in negotiations for a full ceasefire during a proposed roughly 70-day ceasefire, while proceeding with the release of hostages, and other measures.
But Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported that Israel has rejected the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal.
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Japan Times
21 minutes ago
- Japan Times
Israeli strikes back Iran's leadership into a corner
Israel has gutted Iran's nuclear and military leadership with airstrikes that leave a weakened Tehran with few options to retaliate, including an all-out war that it is neither equipped for nor likely to win, four regional officials said. The overnight strikes by Israel — repeated for second night on Friday — have ratcheted up the confrontation between the arch foes to an unprecedented level after years of war in the shadows, which burst into the open when Iran's ally Hamas attacked Israel in 2023. Regional security sources said it was unlikely that Tehran could respond with similarly effective strikes because its missile capabilities and military network in the region have been severely degraded by Israel since the Hamas attacks that triggered the Gaza war. State news agency IRNA said that Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel on Friday in retaliation. But the Israeli military said the missiles numbered fewer than 100 and most were intercepted or fell short. No casualties were immediately reported. The regional security sources said Iran's leaders, humiliated and increasingly preoccupied with their own survival, cannot afford to appear weak in the face of Israeli military pressure, raising the prospect of further escalation — including covert attacks on Israel or even the perilous option of seeking to build a nuclear bomb rapidly. "They can't survive if they surrender," said Mohanad Hage Ali at the Carnegie Middle East Center, a think tank in Beirut. "They need to strike hard against Israel but their options are limited. I think their next option is withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." Withdrawing from the NPT would be a serious escalation as it would signal Iran is accelerating its enrichment program to produce weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, experts said. Iran's leadership has not confirmed whether it would attend a sixth round of deadlocked talks with the United States over its nuclear program scheduled for Sunday in Oman. Tehran's regional sway has been weakened by Israel's attacks on its proxies — from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq — as well as by the ousting of Iran's close ally, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Western sanctions have also hit Iran's crucial oil exports and the economy is reeling from a string of crises including a collapsing currency and rampant inflation, as well as energy and water shortages. "They can't retaliate through anyone. The Israelis are dismantling the Iranian empire piece by piece, bit by bit ... and now they've started sowing internal doubt about (the invincibility of) the regime," said Sarkis Naoum, a regional expert. "This is massive hit." Israel strikes targeting key facilities in Tehran and other cities continued into the night on Friday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was defiant on Friday, saying Israel had initiated a war and would suffer "a bitter fate." The nuclear option Abdelaziz al-Sager, director of the Gulf Research Center think tank, said Iran has been backed into a corner with limited options. One possibility would be to offer assurances — in private — that it will abandon uranium enrichment and dismantle its nuclear capabilities, since any public declaration of such a capitulation would likely provoke a fierce domestic backlash. He said another option could involve a return to clandestine warfare, reminiscent of the 1980s bombings targeting U.S. and Israeli embassies and military installations. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a televised message in Tehran on Friday, following Israeli strikes on the country. | Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader / WANA / via REUTERS A third, and far more perilous option, would be to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and accelerate its uranium enrichment program. Such a move, al-Sager warned, would be tantamount to a declaration of war and would almost certainly provoke a strong international response — not only from Israel, but also from the United States and other Western powers. Trump has threatened military action to ensure Iran doesn't obtain an atomic weapon. He reiterated his position on Thursday, saying: "Iran must completely give up hopes of obtaining a nuclear weapon." Iran is currently enriching uranium up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% it would need for nuclear weapons. It has enough material at that level, if processed further, for nine nuclear bombs, according to a U.N. nuclear watchdog yardstick. Israel's strikes overnight on Thursday targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, military commanders and nuclear scientists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. At least 20 senior commanders were killed, two regional sources said. The armed forces chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guard chief Hossein Salami, and the head of the Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were among them. "It's a big attack: big names, big leaders, big damage to the Iranian military leadership and its ballistic missiles. It's unprecedented," said Carnegie's Hage Ali. Sima Shine, a former chief Mossad analyst and now a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), said Israel would probably not be able to take out Iran's nuclear project completely without U.S. help. "Therefore, if the U.S. will not be part of the war, I assume that some parts of (Iran's) nuclear project will remain," she told reporters Friday. Shaken to the core Friday's strikes have not only inflicted strategic damage but have also shaken Iran's leadership to the core, according to a senior regional official close to the Iranian establishment. Defiance has transformed into concern and uncertainty within the ruling elite and, behind closed doors, anxiety is mounting, not just over the external threats but also their eroding grip on power at home, the official said. "Panic has surged among the leadership," the senior regional official said. "Beyond the threat of further attacks, a deeper fear looms large: domestic unrest." A moderate former Iranian official said the assassination in 2020 of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, on the orders of President Donald Trump, started the rot. Since then, the Islamic Republic has struggled to reassert its influence across the region and has never fully recovered. "This attack might be the beginning of the end," he said. If protests erupt, and the leadership responds with repression, it will only backfire, the former official said, noting that public anger has been simmering for years, fueled by sanctions, inflation and an unrelenting crackdown on dissent. In his video address shortly after the attacks started, Netanyahu suggested he would like to see regime change in Iran and sent a message to Iranians. "Our fight is not with you, our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years. I believe the day of your liberation is near," he said. The hope for regime change could explain why Israel went after so many senior military figures, throwing the Iranian security establishment into a state of confusion and chaos. "These people were very vital, very knowledgeable, many years in their jobs, and they were a very important component of the stability of the regime, specifically the security stability of the regime," said Shine. Iranian state media reported that at least two nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were killed in Israeli strikes in Tehran. Empire in decline Iran's most powerful proxy in the region, Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, is also in a weak position to respond. In the days leading up to the strikes on Iran, security sources close to Hezbollah said the group would not join any retaliatory action by Iran out of fear such a response could unleash a new Israeli blitz on Lebanon. Israel's war last year against Hezbollah left the group badly weakened, with its leadership decimated, thousands of its fighters killed and swaths of its strongholds in southern Lebanon and Beirut's suburbs destroyed. A direct war between Israel and Iran could swiftly expand to Gulf states whose airspace lies between the two enemies, and which host several U.S. military bases. Gulf monarchies allied with Washington issued internal directives to avoid any provocative statements following the attacks that might anger Iran, one official Gulf source said. Analysts said Trump could leverage the fallout from the Israeli strikes to bring Iran back to the nuclear negotiating table — but this time more isolated, and more likely to offer deeper concessions. "One thing is clear: the Iranian empire is in decline," said regional expert Naoum. "Can they still set the terms of their decline? Not through military terms. There's only one way to do that: through negotiations."
NHK
an hour ago
- NHK
Iran launches missile attacks against Israel
Iran's state-run television says Iranian military forces have begun attacks against Israel. Reuters quoted reports as saying "hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched." The strikes are likely to be in retaliation for Israeli attacks on more than 100 targets on Friday.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Iran strikes back at Israel with missiles over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes at Israel on Friday night, with explosions heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the country's two largest cities, following Israel's biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel as authorities urged the public to take shelter. Missiles were seen over Tel Aviv's skyline, with the military saying Iran had fired two salvos. Israel's military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles and most were intercepted or fell short. The U.S. military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel, two U.S. officials said. Israel's Channel 12 said two people were critically injured, eight moderately and 34 slightly from shrapnel. Several buildings were struck in the attack including an apartment block in a residential neighborhood in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv. Another building in central Tel Aviv was also struck, causing significant damage to multiple floors. The Israeli strikes on Iran throughout the day and the Iranian retaliation raised fears of a broader regional conflagration, although Iran's allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been decimated by Israel. Iran's state news agency IRNA said Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel after Israel blasted Iran's huge Natanz underground nuclear site and killed its top military commanders. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. Israeli officials said it may be some time before the extent of damage at Natanz was clear. Western countries have long accused Iran of refining uranium there to levels suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use. The above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz has been destroyed, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council on Friday. He said the U.N. was still gathering information about Israeli attacks on two other facilities, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and at Isfahan. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of starting a war. A senior Iranian official said nowhere in Israel would be safe and revenge would be painful. Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel's strikes on Iran and more than 320 people were wounded, most of them civilians. He accused the U.S. of being complicit in the attacks and said it shared full responsibility for the consequences. Israel's operation "will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a TV address. "Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future." Netanyahu, who for decades has raised the alarm about Iran's nuclear program, said he authorized the assault to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. Israel and its Western allies have said this is Tehran's objective but Iran denies it. Israel's U.N. envoy, Danny Danon, said intelligence had confirmed that within days Iran would have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. The U.N. nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global nonproliferation treaty. U.S. President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear program. Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran rejected the last U.S. offer. The price of crude leaped on fears of wider retaliatory attacks across the oil-producing region, although there were no reports that oil production or storage was damaged. OPEC said the escalation did not justify any immediate changes to oil supply. In a phone interview, Trump said nuclear talks between Tehran and the United States, scheduled for Sunday, were still on the agenda though he was not sure if they would take place. "We knew everything," Trump said of the Israeli attack plans. "I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out," Trump said. "They can still work out a deal, however, it's not too late." Members of the Israeli security forces inspect a site hit by a missile fired from Iran, in Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, on Friday. | AFP-JIJI Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said military action by itself would not destroy Iran's nuclear program, but could "create the conditions for a long-term deal, led by the United States" to get rid of it. Two regional sources said at least 20 Iranian military commanders were killed, a stunning decapitation reminiscent of Israeli attacks that swiftly wiped out the leadership of Lebanon's once-feared Hezbollah militia last year. Iran also said six of its top nuclear scientists had been killed. Among the generals killed on Friday were the armed forces chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, and the Revolutionary Guard chief, Hossein Salami. Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, promoted to replace Salami as Guard commander, vowed retaliation in a letter to the Supreme Leader read on state television: "The gates of hell will open to the child-killing regime." An Israeli security source said Mossad commandos had been operating deep inside the Islamic Republic before the attack, and the Israeli spy agency and military had mounted a series of covert operations against Iran's strategic missile array. Israel also established an attack-drone base near Tehran, the source added. The military said it had bombarded Iran's air defences, destroying "dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers". Iranians described an atmosphere of fear and anger, with some people hurrying to change money and others seeking a way out of the country to safety. "People on my street rushed out of their homes in panic. We were all terrified," said Marziyeh, 39, who was awakened by a blast in Natanz. While some Iranians quietly hoped the attack would lead to changes in Iran's hard-line clerical leadership, others vowed to rally behind the authorities. "I will fight and die for our right to a nuclear program. Israel and its ally America cannot take it away from us with these attacks," said Ali, a member of the pro-government Basij militia in Qom. Iran's ability to retaliate with weapons fired by its regional proxies has been sharply degraded over the past year, with the downfall of its ally Bashar Assad in Syria and the decimation of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Israel said a missile fired from Yemen — whose Houthi militia are Iran-aligned — had landed in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent said three Palestinian children were wounded by shrapnel there.
