Photo shows dstruction at the site of an overnight Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, Israel
Tehran/Tel Aviv:
The fighting between Israel and Iran intensified overnight, as both nations kept up their attacks, killing civilians and raising concern among world leaders that the biggest battle between old enemies could lead to a broad regional conflict.
Here are the latest updates on Israel-Iran conflict:
- The number of deaths in Iran after four days of Israeli strikes had reached at least 230, with 90 per cent of the casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian health ministry spokesperson said. The Israeli authorities reported that at least 10 people have been killed in the Jewish state in Iranian attacks, including children. FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES
- Iran has rejected the ceasefire negotiations while under Israeli attack. Tehran reportedly told mediators Qatar and Oman that they will only pursue serious negotiations once Iran has completed its response to the Israeli pre-emptive strikes.
- Israel has said that its air strikes have hit key nuclear and military facilities in Iran, killing many top commanders and atomic scientists. Jerusalem also plans to kill Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but has been strongly advised against it by US President Donald Trump, news agency AFP reported, quoting a senior US official.
- The Israeli military hit more than 80 targets in Tehran overnight, as its attacks expanded from Iranian military and nuclear facilities to hit also oil and government sites. Israeli strikes hit two fuel depots in Tehran on Sunday. It also struck Ahvaz, in the oil-rich southwestern province of Khuzestan. Israel also targeted Tehran's police and defence ministry headquarters and a ministry-affiliated facility in Isfahan.
- Iran struck sites used by Israeli warplanes for refuelling, said the Revolutionary Guards. Israel said it had intercepted seven drones, as Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they also fired missiles at Israel on Sunday.
- The intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Kazemi, has reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks. Kazemi and his deputy were killed in Israel's attacks on Tehran on Sunday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
- After decades of hostilities and shadow wars fought through proxies and covert operations, Israel last week launched a surprise assault on Iran with the declared aim of wiping out Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The targeted strikes touched off one of the most intense fights yet in the Middle East, triggering fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the whole region.
- With the escalating tensions in the Middle East following the recent conflict between Iran and Israel, the Foreign Ministry, in a statement on Monday, said that India is closely monitoring the security situation to ensure the safety and welfare of Indian nationals in both countries. In a statement released on the social media platform X, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that the Indian Embassy in Tehran is "continuously monitoring the security situation and engaging Indian students in Iran to ensure their safety." The statement also added that "in some cases, students are being relocated with the Embassy's facilitation to safer places within Iran," adding that "other feasible options are also under examination". More than 1,500 Indian students, most of them from Jammu and Kashmir, are stranded in Iran.
- The Group of Seven leaders began gathering in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday, with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his goals for the summit include for Iran not to develop or possess nuclear weapons, ensuring Israel's right to defend itself, avoiding escalation of the conflict and creating room for diplomacy. He said the issue will be very high on the agenda of the G7 summit.
- US President Donald Trump has urged both Iran and Israel to "make a deal," but suggested they might need to "fight it out" first. "I think it's time for a deal," Trump told reporters, as Israel and Iran exchanged a fresh barrage of missile strikes and threatened more devastation in a conflict that appeared to be intensifying. "But sometimes they have to fight it out, but we're going to see what happens," Trump said, speaking at the White House before heading to Canada to take part in a G7 summit.
