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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Graham Russell (now); Léonie Chao-Fong, Cash Boyle and Adam Fulton (earlier)

Southern Beirut hit by airstrikes – as it happened

Iran Israel Beirut United States United Nations Gaza Joe Biden Lebanon Missile
Flame and smoke rises from airstrikes on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, follow Israeli warnings to evacuate early on Sunday.
Flame and smoke rises from airstrikes on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, follow Israeli warnings to evacuate early on Sunday. Follow the latest developments in the Middle East crisis, live. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

This liveblog is closing now – you can read our latest news report here, and continue to follow our wider Middle East coverage here. Thanks for reading.

Here are some photos taken of Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, early on Sunday.

New strikes on Beirut – report

Eight attacks on Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, have been reported in recent hours, according to Al-Jazeera.

Earlier, the Israeli military issued new warnings to evacuate specific buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs in advance of expected airstrikes. The Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted maps of three buildings in the Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath areas in the southern suburb of Beirut, warning people to evacuate them and the area immediately.

The official National News Agency in Lebanon said shortly after midnight that Israel had “targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut”, but did not elaborate.

Updated

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has confirmed Iran’s nuclear facilities were not affected by Saturday’s strikes, and urged “prudence and restraint”.

Saturday’s attacks destroyed Iranian air defences that were guarding oil, gas and petrochemical facilities as well as a major port, the New York Times reports, citing unnamed Iranian and Israeli officials.

They said key targets included Gulf petrochemical facilities and a port at Bandar Imam Khomeini and Abadan oil refinery, plus a gas field further north in Ilam province called Tange Bijar.

Striking the air defences rather than the oil and gas facilities themselves may indicate the US had a degree of success in its repeated public attempts to dissuade Israel from a direct attack that could trigger further escalation that could ultimately draw in US forces, cause economic chaos and potentially lead to an Iranian decision to try to build nuclear weapons.

Iranian officials have previously described attacks on its energy infrastructure as a “red line”.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about Saturday’s strikes, and issued a warning to Tehran that it “should not make the mistake of responding to Israel’s strikes, which should mark the end of this exchange”.

“The secretary also discussed the opportunities that now exist to use diplomacy to dial down tensions in the region, including a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza and an agreement in Lebanon that allows civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes,” the statement said.

Iran’s mission to the UN has taken aim at the US over Israel’s Saturday morning strikes, saying its “complicity in this crime is certain”. It said the attack came from US-controlled Iraqi airspace.

Iraqi airspace was closed briefly during Saturday’s airstrikes.

Summary of the day so far

It’s 1am in Beirut and Gaza, and 2am in Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

  • Joe Biden, the US president, said he hoped Israel’s latest strikes on Iran will mark the end of a months-long cycle of escalation. “I hope this is the end,” he told reporters on Saturday, as his administration doubles down on efforts to reach a ceasefire deal for Gaza and Lebanon. Biden said Israel gave him a heads up and it appeared “they didn’t hit anything but military targets” in their attacks. Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, hailed the US as his country’s “true ally” after Israeli strikes on military targets in Iran. The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, denied a report that Israel initially planned to strike Iran’s oil and natural gas facilities, but changed its plan to focus on Iranian military targets after pressure from the US.

  • Early on Saturday, waves of fighter jets and drones bombed military sites across Iran in an hours-long retaliatory attack against a missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October. The Israeli air force struck about 20 military bases across Iran, including missile and drone manufacturing sites and air defence systems. In a show of military confidence, an Israeli spokesperson had announced the attack as it got under way. The strikes marked the first time Israel has openly attacked Iran after decades of shadow warfare. Two US officials confirmed to the Associated Press that there was no US involvement in Israel’s operation against Iran.

  • Four soldiers were killed in the Israel strikes on Iran, Iranian media said. Iran said the airstrikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, causing “limited damage”. Iran’s mission to the UN said Israeli warplanes attacked several Iranian military and radar sites from Iraqi airspace, and blamed the US for what it called its “complicity”. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, described the Israeli attack as “reckless and cowardly”, adding that his country was determined to defend itself. The country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers killed.

  • The Israeli strikes reportedly hit Iranian facilities used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles. Satellite images obtained by Reuters appear to confirm that the Israeli attacks hit buildings that Iran used for mixing solid fuel for ballistic missiles. Israel struck Parchin, a massive military complex near Tehran, as well as Khojir, a sprawling missile production site near the Iranian capital, the news agency reported, citing two US researchers. Israel hit 12 “planetary mixers” used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, which make up the bulk of Iran’s missile arsenal, Israeli sources told Axios. The UN’s nuclear watchdog (IAEA) said Iran’s nuclear programme was not affected by Saturday’s strikes.

  • Iran’s military suggested it would prioritise an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and Lebanon over any retaliation against Israel. The carefully worded statement released on Saturday night suggests at least parts of Iran’s government want to avoid further escalation. Iran’s foreign ministry said it had a right to self-defence after Saturday’s attack. The statement said Iranian radar sites were damaged but some were already under repair, and added that Israel used so-called “stand off” missiles over Iraqi airspace to launch it attacks. They had lighter warheads to travel to targets inside Iran.

  • The strikes were restrained enough for Iranian officials to belittle the scale and effectiveness of the incursion and for Israeli hardliners to denounce their government for timidity. Israel’s military could have “exacted a higher price”, opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post on X after the bombing ended. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Saturday’s attack was “an opening blow” and strikes on the country’s strategic assets “must be the next step”.

  • Israel’s military warned Iran against responding soon after it finished the attack. “If the regime were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond,” said spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari.

  • World leaders called for restraint after the Israeli attack. The UN chief, António Guterres, said he was “deeply alarmed” and called on all sides to step back from further military action. The EU, Russia, Arab Gulf nations and G7 finance ministers and central Bank governors also warned against further escalation. The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, urged Iran not to respond, saying the Middle East needs to “avoid further regional escalation”.

  • More than 30 people were killed on Saturday during Israeli strikes on a residential block in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Among those killed are women and children, it said, and many others were injured. The strikes targeted a block of at least five homes in Beit Lahiya, it said.

  • Israeli troops withdrew from the Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalia on Saturday, after storming the medical facility and detaining dozens of its staff. Israeli forces seized 44 of the 70-strong team at the hospital, only 14 have since been released. Almost all male staff at the hospital had been taken away by Israeli forces, the head of the World Health Organsation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, describing the situation in the area as “catastrophic”. Among those missing is Dr Mohammed Obeid, an orthopedic surgeon working for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which said it was “deeply concerned” about his safety.

  • The UN’s acting humanitarian chief, Joyce Msuya, called for an urgent halt to the military operation in north Gaza, attacks on health facilities and mass detentions there. “The entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying,” she said.

  • Israel’s ground offensive in northern Gaza that began on 6 October has killed at least 800 people. The health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that at least 42,924 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October last year. Earlier this month the Biden administration’s concerns over shortages of food and medical supplies prompted a warning that Israeli access to US weapons funding would be at risk unless more aid reached Gaza.

  • Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli attacks killed 19 people in the country on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 2,653 since October 2023. The Israeli military issued new warnings to evacuate specific buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Saturday in advance of expected airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.

  • Israel’s military announced it was easing some safety restrictions for residents in areas of northern Israel on Saturday, a possible indication that it does not expect any immediate large-scale attack from Iran or its proxies in the region. The decision followed a “situational assessment”, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Saturday.

The son of the director of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, which was besieged by Israeli forces on Friday, has been killed by Israeli shelling, according to his father.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya said his son, Ibrahim, was killed at the entrance of the hospital on Saturday as he was approaching to see if the Israeli army had withdrawn from the facility.

Ibrahim’s dream was to become a doctor and he had been volunteering to help treat the wounded after a shortage in medical staff at the hospital, his father told CNN.

Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital on Saturday after seizing it and detaining dozens of medical staffers and some patients, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Abu Safiya told CNN that he was detained and interrogated by the Israeli army over unidentified wounded patients being treated in the hospital.

“I was accused of bringing in resistance fighters and treating them, which is not true,” he said, adding:

The soldier beat me and insulted me in front of the medical staff.

The hospital director said that, along with an assistant, he is the last remaining doctor in the hospital.

Several patients require surgeries but without a team, he said he was “overwhelmed by cases” and did not “know what to do”.

Updated

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers killed in Israeli overnight strikes.

Posting to X, Pezeshkian wrote:

Enemies of Iran should know these brave people are standing fearlessly in defence of their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described the Israeli attack on Iran last night “reckless and cowardly”.

Posting to X, Araghchi said Iran “strongly condemn[s] the criminal attack on Iranian military centers as a violation of international law and the UN Charter”.

The attack killed four Iranian army soldiers, he said, adding:

We fully reserve our right to duly respond to this aggression, which cannot be separated from Israel’s genocide in Gaza and bloodshed in Lebanon. The world must unite against this common threat to international peace & security.

Israel issues new evacuation warnings for south Beirut

The Israeli military has issued new warnings to evacuate specific buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs in advance of expected airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.

The Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted maps of three buildings in the Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath areas in the southern suburb of Beirut, warning people to evacuate them and the area immediately.

Updated

We reported earlier that Israeli airstrikes overnight are thought to have hit Iranian facilities used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles.

Satellite images obtained by Reuters appear to confirm that the Israeli attacks hit buildings that Iran used for mixing solid fuel for ballistic missiles.

Israel struck Parchin, a massive military complex near Tehran, as well as Khojir, a sprawling missile production site near the Iranian capital, the news agency reported, citing two US researchers.

Israeli strikes may have “significantly hampered Iran’s ability to mass produce missiles”, Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at the thinktank CNA, said.

He noted that a satellite image showed that an Israeli strike destroyed two buildings in Khojir where solid fuel for ballistic missiles was mixed. Images of Parchin showed that Israel destroyed three ballistic-missile solid-fuel mixing buildings and a warehouse, he said.

“Israel says they targeted buildings housing solid-fuel mixers,” Eveleth said.

These industrial mixers are hard to make and export-controlled. Iran imported many over the years at great expense, and will likely have a hard time replacing them.

Updated

Here are some of the latest images sent from the newswires from Gaza, where officials say about 800 people have been killed in Israeli strikes during a three-week offensive in the north of the Palestinian territory.

As we reported earlier, at least 30 people were killed, including women and children, in Israeli military strikes on several houses in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya on Saturday, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Updated

Israeli strike crippled Iran’s missile production – report

Israel’s strikes against Iran on Saturday morning took out a critical component in the Iranian ballistic missile programme, Axios is reporting.

Israel hit 12 “planetary mixers” used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, which make up the bulk of Iran’s missile arsenal, Israeli sources told the outlet.

The mixers are highly sophisticated equipment that Iran cannot produce on its own and must buy from China, they added.

The strikes severely damages Iran’s ability to renew its missile stockpile and could deter Iran from further massive missile strikes against Israel, they said.

A senior US official confirmed to the outlet that the Israeli strike cripples Iran’s missile production capability.

Updated

Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, hailed the US as his country’s “true ally” after Israeli strikes on military targets in Iran.

Herzog, in a statement on Saturday, said:

I especially wish to thank our great friend the USA for being a true ally, and for the overt and covert cooperation.

Updated

The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has denied a report that Israel initially planned to strike Iran’s oil and natural gas facilities, but changed its plan to focus on Iranian military targets after pressure from the US.

Netanyahu’s office called the report “totally false”, the Times of Israel reported. In a statement, the PM’s office said:

Israel chose in advance the attack targets according to its national interests and not according to American dictates. So it was, and so it will be.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said it is “deeply concerned” about the safety and whereabouts of one of its doctors working in Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza.

In a statement, MSF said it had lost contact with Dr Mohammed Obeid, an orthopedic surgeon who was sheltering and working in the hospital, since Friday afternoon.

Israeli forces seized Kamal Adwan hospital on Friday, reportedly detaining dozens of medical staffers and some patients.

Medics said at least 44 of the facility’s 70-member team of the hospital had been detained by the army. It later said the army had released 14 of them, including the hospital’s director.

At least two children died inside the hospital’s intensive care unit after Israeli fire struck the generators and oxygen station in the facility on Friday, it said.

Updated

Dozens killed in Israeli airstrikes on residential block in northern Gaza – report

More than 30 people were killed on Saturday during Israeli strikes on a residential block in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Among those killed are women and children, it said, and many others were injured.

The strikes targeted a block of at least five homes in Beit Lahiya, it said.

Updated

The UN’s nuclear watchdog (IAEA) said Iran’s nuclear programme was not affected by Israel’s deadly airstrike on its military facilities last night.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi, posting to X on Saturday, called for “prudence and restraint from actions that could jeopardise the safety and security of nuclear and other radioactive materials”.

The fallout continues from Israel’s air attack on military sites in Iran on Saturday.

The assaults, carried out in retaliation to the missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October, were heard over several hours in Tehran.

The UK was among the nations warning against further escalation, while Gaza and Lebanon continued to be attacked.

Here’s our video report:

WHO chief warns situation in northern Gaza 'catastrophic'

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that the situation in northern Gaza is “catastrophic” amid “intensive” operations unfolding around and within healthcare facilities.

Posting to X on Saturday, he said “a critical shortage of medical supplies, compounded by severely limited access, are depriving people of life saving care” in the north of the Palestinian territory.

His comments came after Israeli forces withdrew from Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza earlier on Saturday, a day after storming it. The siege “came at a heavy cost”, Tedros said.

The WHO chief said 44 male hospital staff had been detained, leaving only female staff, the hospital director and one male doctor to care for nearly 200 patients “in desperate need of medical attention”.

“Reports of the hospital facilities and medical supplies being damaged or destroyed during the siege are deplorable,” Tedros wrote.

The whole health system in Gaza has been under attack for over a year. WHO cannot stress loudly enough that hospitals must be shielded from conflict at all times. Any attack of healthcare facilities is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Updated

The US vice-president and Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, took a handful of questions from reporters in Michigan about the situation in the Middle East.

Harris said she had a “lengthy and important” conversation with the president, Joe Biden, and members of the US national security team earlier on Saturday, following Israel’s pre-dawn strikes on Iran.

“We maintain the importance of supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, Harris said. “And we are also very adamant that we must see de-escalation in the region going forward and that will be our focus.”

Underscoring her dual roles as vice president and candidate, Harris was briefed on the situation before stepping on the stage in Houston for a rally with Beyoncé on Friday night. Harris told reporters:

This war must end. We must get the hostages out and work toward a two-state solution.

Asked about the views of the US’s Arab allies, Harris said there was a “consensus among leaders in the region, and certainly it is the strong perspective of the United States that there must be the de-escalation and not an escalation.”

She stressed the US would always defend Israel against an attack by Iran.

Israel’s military announced it was easing some safety restrictions for residents in areas of northern Israel, a possible indication that it does not expect any immediate large-scale attack from Iran or its proxies in the region.

The decision followed a “situational assessment”, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Saturday.

The IDF made no mention of Israel’s bombing of military sites in Iran in the early hours of Saturday, Reuters reported.

Updated

Israel’s extremist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said his country has a “historic obligation to remove” the threat posed by Iran.

Posting to X on Saturday, Ben Gvir welcomed last night’s Israeli attack on Iran, describing is an “opening blow to damage Iran’s strategic assets”. He added:

We have a historic obligation to remove the Iranian threat to destroy Israel.

Updated

Iran says Israeli attack came from Iraqi airspace, accuses US of 'complicity'

Iran’s mission to the UN said Israeli warplanes attacked several Iranian military and radar sites from Iraqi airspace, and blamed the US for what it called its “complicity”.

Updated

Qatar’s foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, after Israeli strikes on Saturday.

During the call, the Qatari minister expressed his country’s “grave concern” over possible consequences of the Israeli attack on Iran, according to a readout from his ministry.

Updated

Death toll from Israeli attacks on Iran rises to four

Iran’s military has announced the deaths of two additional soldiers following Israel’s attacks on the country, bringing the total death toll to four.

All four men served in the country’s military air defence, it said.

For years, Israel and Iran have waged a “shadow war”, attacking each other indirectly using proxy forces, assassinations, informants, spies and hybrid, non-military covert means.

Now this undeclared, largely silent war is undisguisedly out in the open. It’s become a shooting war, it’s noisy, it’s escalating, and there’s no end in sight.

This is not to say Israel’s large-scale, three-wave air assault on Tehran and other targets inside Iran early on Saturday morning means the two enemies are now engaged in all-out conflict.

This is not yet the full-scale, region-wide conflagration so many in the Middle East fear. That may be coming, but it’s still in the future.

What Israel’s attack – retaliation for Iran’s 181-missile barrage earlier this month – does mean is that another psychological barrier has been passed.

Before the 7 October massacres of Israelis by Iran’s ally Hamas, it was hard to imagine face-to-face military confrontation on each other’s soil. It seemed too risky. Now it is being normalised.

Read the full analysis: Iran-Israel’s shadow war is out in the open and will only escalate unless causes are addressed

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said his country was determined to defend itself after Israeli attacks struck military targets in Iran early on Saturday.

In an interview reported by AFP, Araghchi said:

I think we’ve shown that our determination to defend ourselves knows no limits.

The Israeli military has released photos of what it says are Israeli air force planes preparing to launch attacks on Iran overnight.

Updated

Hezbollah condemns Israeli strikes on Iran as ‘dangerous escalation’

Hezbollah has condemned Israel’s attack against Iran, calling it a “dangerous escalation in the region”.

The US “bears full responsibility for the massacres, tragedies and pain” caused by Israel, the group said.

Updated

UN chief ‘deeply alarmed’ after Israeli attacks on Iran

The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, is “deeply alarmed” by the escalation in the Middle East following attacks overnight by the Israel Defense Forces on Iran, according to a statement from his spokesperson.

“All acts of escalation are condemnable and must stop,” Guterres said in the statement, adding:

The secretary-general urgently reiterates his appeal to all parties to cease all military actions, including in Gaza and Lebanon, exert maximum efforts to prevent an all-out regional war and return to the path of diplomacy.

Updated

Biden says he 'hopes this is the end' after Israeli strikes on Iran

Joe Biden, the US president, has said he hopes the Israeli strikes on Iran overnight were “the end”.

Biden also said it appeared that Israel had only struck military targets in its attack on Iran.

Iran has said three sites were hit and that “limited damage” was caused.

Updated

Egypt’s flagship airliner has cancelled Saturday flights from Cairo to Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq and Amman, Jordan.

EgyptAir blamed the cancellations on “the ongoing developments in the region”.

Israeli attacks killed 19 in Lebanon on Friday, says health ministry

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli attacks killed 19 people in the country on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 2,653 since October 2023.

Summary of the day so far

It’s just after 6.30pm in Tehran and 6pm in Tel Aviv. Here’s a roundup of the latest developments:

  • Two soldiers were killed in Saturday morning’s Israeli airstrikes on Iran, according to the official news agency IRNA. The attacks, carried out in retaliation to the missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October, were heard over several hours in Tehran, the capital, and at nearby military bases.

  • The UK and US are among the nations to have warned against further escalation alongside the EU. Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan have all condemned the attacks.

  • Iran’s foreign ministry has defended its right to “defend itself against external aggressive acts”. The ministry called the Israeli attack a violation of international law, adding that Tehran “recognises its responsibilities towards regional peace and security”.

  • The internal debate on how Iran should respond turns on whether to treat Israel’s actions as too grave to be ignored, or to elect not to launch reprisals on the basis of advice coming from the region and from the US.

  • Hezbollah has fired rockets at Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of Lebanon village Aita al-Shaab, and has also launched drones against an Israeli air base south of Tel Aviv. The “aerial attack with drones” against the Tel Nof base was the first claim of its kind in one year.

  • Hezbollah also fired rockets at five residential areas in northern Israel on Saturday, including the outskirts of Krayot near Haifa. Elsewhere the Israeli military has said that it killed a Hamas militant during a raid in the West Bank on Saturday.

  • Israeli forces have withdrawn from a hospital complex in northern Gaza one day after storming it. Medics said at least 44 of the 70-member team at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalia had been detained by the army, with 14 later released.

Entire population of North Gaza 'at risk of dying'

The UN’s acting humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya has urged Israeli forces to stop what they are doing in northern Gaza, where the entire population “is at risk of dying”.

It has been reported that efforts to clear north Gaza by way of effecting “the generals’ plan” are under way.

This plan is designed to force the remaining population to flee by tightening the siege and cutting off aid. Experts say such tactics amount to war crimes.

Updated

The EU has called for “utmost restraint” after two Iranian solders were killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.

Israeli airstrikes which hit in Iran early on Saturday saw at least seven explosions reported in Tehran and nearby Karaj, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad.

The attacks were carried out in response to Iran launching a missile barrage on 1 October in which an estimated 180 ballistic missiles fired towards Tel Aviv and military bases.

Iran’s foreign secretary has defended the country’s right “to defend itself against external aggressive acts”.

On Saturday the EU called for all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an “uncontrollable escalation” in the Middle East.

The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliations risks causing a further expansion of the regional conflict,” the 27-nation bloc said in a statement.

While acknowledging Israel’s right to self-defence, the EU calls on all parties to exercise utmost restraint to avoid an uncontrollable escalation, which is in no one’s interest.

In calling for restraint the EU has echoed sentiments expressed by leaders across the world.

Updated

Here are some photos of Tehran today after the Israeli strikes on military targets overnight.

Updated

Israeli forces withdraw from northern Gaza's last functioning hospital

Reuters has reported that Israeli forces have withdrawn from a hospital complex in northern Gaza one day after storming it.

On Friday Gaza’s health ministry accused Israeli forces of storming Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabalia camp. The ministry also claimed that hundreds of staff, patients and displaced people were detained.

Medics said at least 44 of the facility’s 70-member team of the hospital had been detained by the army. It later said the army had released 14 of them, including the hospital’s director.

At least two children were also said to have died inside the intensive care unit after Israeli fire hit the generators and oxygen station in the facility on Friday.

Footage circulated by the health ministry - which Reuters could not immediately verify - showed damage to several buildings after the Israeli forces withdrew.

Military strikes on the towns of Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza have so far killed around 800 people during a three-week offensive, the Gaza ministry added.

A Hamas militant has been killed in a raid in the West Bank, according to the Israeli military.

In a joint statement shared by AFP, the Israeli military, police and domestic security agency Shin Bet said forces killed the militant during a “counterterrorism operation” being conducted in Tulkarem.

The operation was intended to “eliminate Islam Odeh” who they accused of planning terror attacks. Odeh “opened fire at the security forces” during the operation. He was encircled and then killed, the statement said.

“The forces located weaponry, including compounds used to produce IEDs, in his vehicle”, they added.

Odeh had recently been “tasked with commanding the terrorist network in Tulkarem and had started to plan additional terror attacks”.

Our graphics team has produced this map of the Israeli airstrikes travelling to Iran in the early hours of Saturday morning:

Updated

Hezbollah has fired rockets at five residential areas in northern Israel.

AFP reported that Hezbollah fired “rocket salvos” on five residential areas in northern Israel on Saturday, including the outskirts of Krayot near Haifa.

The Israeli army had claimed that the Iran-backed group fired about 80 projectiles across the border.

It was reported earlier on Saturday that Hezbollah has fired rockets at Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of Lebanon village Aita al-Shaab, alongside launching drones against an Israeli air base south of Tel Aviv.

An Israeli strike on a medical centre in south Lebanon has killed a Hezbollah-linked rescuer.

AFP has reported that the paramedic was killed on Saturday in a strike at a medical centre in Bazuriyeh. Five others, including three Hezbollah-linked paramedics, were wounded.

Lebanon’s health ministry said that the raid took place on a medical centre in Bazuriyeh. This death means that 164 rescuers and paramedics have been killed since Hezbollah and Israel began trading cross-border fire last year.

Analysis: Iran mocks Israel’s ‘weak’ attacks as hardliners call for reprisal

There are two strands to the internal Iranian debate on how to respond to the long-awaited Israeli attack: treat it as a breach of Iranian national sovereignty too grave to ignore, or acknowledge the attack’s relatively limited nature and elect against launching reprisals.

You can read a full analysis of the situation here:

Updated


In a statement on Saturday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel’s attack on their military targets and said they were entitled to defend themselves. .

“On the basis of its inherent right to legitimate defense, stipulated in the Article 51 of the UN Charter, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers itself to be rightful and duty bound to defend against the foreign acts of aggression.”

The Iranian news agency Tasnim reports that Iran will “employ all of the physical and spiritual capabilities of the Iranian nation to protect its interests and security.”

German chancellor Olaf Scholz says his message to Iran is clear: “We cannot continue with massive reactions of escalation, this must end now.”

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has condemned Israel’s strikes, saying they will exacerbate violence in the Middle East.

The strikes are “an attempt to aggravate the violence in the region, which further complicates and intensifies the unfavorable situation in the region,” a statement from the Afghani foreign ministry says.


Russia urges Israel and Iran to show restraint to avoid catastrophe in the wake of Israel’s attack on Iran on Saturday.

“We urge all parties involved to exercise restraint, stop the violence, and prevent events from developing into a catastrophic scenario,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says, warning of an “explosive escalation.”

The Israeli military says that Tehran and its proxies “have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil”.

“Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond,” an Israeli army spokesperson said.

10 members of Iran’s national police force have been killed 1,200 kilometers southeast of Tehran, reports the Associated Press.

The assault came after Israel bombarded Iran early Saturday morning. No suspects have been identified nor has any group claimed responsibility.

Summary

If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of today’s developments as the fallout continues from Israel’s air attack on military sites in Iran. It’s approaching 3.15pm in Tehran and 2.45pm in Tel Aviv.

  • Two soldiers were killed in Saturday morning’s Israeli airstrikes on Iran, according to the official news agency IRNA. The attacks, carried out in retaliation to the missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October, were heard over several hours in Tehran, the capital, and at nearby military bases.

  • The Israeli army has intercepted two drones crossing from Lebanon, with the interception happening hours after Israeli airstrikes hit Iran early on Saturday.

  • The UK and US have warned against further escalation, while nations including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan have all condemned the attacks.

  • Israel bears ‘full responsibility’ for the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, the Pakistan foreign ministry has said. The ministry said the Israeli airstrikes “undermine the path to regional peace and stability”.

  • Iran is “entitled and obligated to defend itself against external aggressive acts”, its foreign ministry has said. The ministry called the Israeli attack a violation of international law and said that Tehran “recognises its responsibilities towards regional peace and security”.

  • Hezbollah has fired rockets at Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of Lebanon village Aita al-Shaab, and has also launched drones against an Israeli air base south of Tel Aviv. The “aerial attack with drones” against the Tel Nof base was the first claim of its kind in one year.

  • At least 42,924 people have been killed since the Israel-Gaza war began, according to the health ministry in Gaza. This includes 77 deaths in the previous 48 hours.

Updated

At least 42,924 people have been killed since the Israel-Gaza war began

The health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that at least 42,924 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October last year.

This number includes 77 deaths in the previous 48 hours, AFP has reported. According to the ministry, 100,833 people have been wounded since the Israel-Gaza war began just over a year ago.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has warned Iran against further escalation and says Israel has concluded its retaliatory strikes. See here:

Updated

The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza has been unable to respond to emergency calls from residents in the Jabalia region, according to Al Jazeera.

Defence operations have been “completely halted due to ongoing Israeli targeting and aggression in northern Gaza”, statement published by the organisation said.

We are unable to respond to numerous pleas for help from homes that have been targeted and burned by Israeli bombardment in Jabalia and Jabalia Nazla in northern Gaza.

The region has been under siege for 22 days, and on Friday Gaza’s health ministry accused Israeli forces of storming the Kamal Adwan hospital – the last functioning facility in northern Gaza.

France calls on Israel to refrain from further escalation

France has called on Israel to “refrain” from any action which could further escalate already heightened tension in the Middle East.

Multiple explosions were heard in Tehran, the capital, and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2am local time (2230 GMT on Friday).

At least seven explosions were reported over Tehran and nearby Karaj, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad. Official news agency IRNA reported that two soldiers were killed.

The Israeli airstrikes were carried out in retaliation to a missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October.

In a statement issued by the Quai d’Orsay on Saturday, the French foreign ministry urged Israel to “refrain from any escalation or action likely to aggravate the context of extreme tension” in the region.

Updated

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says northern Gaza’s last functioning hospital is “still under seige” but it has managed to contact staff.

On Friday Gaza’s health ministry accused Israeli forces of storming Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabalia camp, where it launched a major operation earlier this month.

It said the raid left two children dead, accusing the Israeli forces of detaining hundreds of staff, patients and displaced people. The Israeli military said its forces were operating around Kamal Adwan, but was “not aware of live fire and strikes in the area of the hospital”.

Late on Friday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted this update on X.

Iran 'entitled and obligated to defend itself', foreign ministry says

Iran is “entitled and obligated to defend itself against external aggressive acts”, its foreign ministry has said.

Iranian media reported multiple explosions over several hours in Tehran, the capital, and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2am local time (2230 GMT on Friday).

At least seven explosions were reported over Tehran and nearby Karaj, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad. Official news agency IRNA reported that two soldiers were killed.

Calling the Israeli attack a violation of international law, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Tehran “recognises its responsibilities towards regional peace and security”.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan have all condemned the attacks, while the UK and US have warned against further escalation.

Updated

As we reported earlier, UK prime minister Keir Starmer has urged Iran not to respond to the Israeli airstrikes launched overnight. You can watch a video clip from his press conference below:

Updated

Hezbollah fires rockets at Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon

A barrage of rockets were fired by Hezbollah on Saturday at Israeli forces near a village in southern Lebanon.

AFP has reported that the rockets were fired on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, where the Israeli army has carried out ground incursions for weeks.

The Iran-backed group said in a statement that its fighters had launched a “salvo of rockets” at Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah has also said on Saturday that it had launched drones against an Israeli air base south of Tel Aviv.

The “aerial attack with drones” against Tel Nof base was the first claim of its kind in one year.

Updated

Israel bears ‘full responsibility’ for the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, the Pakistan foreign ministry has said.

The ministry condemned the Israeli airstrikes which hit in Iran early on Saturday and said they “undermine the path to regional peace and stability”.

“Israel bears full responsibility for the current cycle of escalation and expansion of the conflict,” it added in a statement carried by AFP.

The official news agency IRNA reported that two soldiers were killed in the attacks, which saw at least seven explosions reported in Tehran and nearby Karaj in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Explosions were also heard in the eastern city of Mashhad just after 2.30am local time on Saturday.

The attacks were widely expected as a retaliation to a missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October in which an estimated 180 ballistic missiles fired towards Tel Aviv and military bases.

The Israeli army has blown up houses in a border village in Lebanon, according to reports.

AFP has carried comments from Lebanese state media which said houses in the border village of Adaisseh had been dynamited on Saturday morning.

The official National News Agency said “the army of the Israeli enemy has since dawn blown up and destroyed houses” in the border village of Adaisseh.

This comes after an Israeli airstrike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday evening.

Two soldiers killed in Israeli airstrikes on Iran

Two soldiers were killed in Saturday morning’s Israeli airstrikes on Iran, the official news agency IRNA has reported.

Reuters carried a statement from the Iranian army which confirmed the fatalities.

The army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in defending Iran’s security and protecting the people and Iran’s interests, sacrificed two of its fighters while countering projectiles from the criminal Zionist regime.

Iranian media reported multiple explosions over several hours in Tehran, the capital, and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2am local time (2230 GMT on Friday).

At least seven explosions were reported over Tehran and nearby Karaj, as well as in the eastern city of Mashhad. The attacks were launched in retaliation to the missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October that saw an estimated 180 ballistic missiles fired towards Tel Aviv and military bases.

Regimes from across the world have responded to the attack. UK prime minister Keir Starmer urged Iran not to respond and said the Middle East needs to “avoid further regional escalation”.

A senior US official said Israel’s “targeted and proportional strikes” should be the end of direct exchange of fire between the two countries.

Updated

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says children are being medically evacuated from Gaza at a rate of fewer than one child per day.

Speaking yesterday at the UN office in Geneva, spokesman James Elder said that it would take “more than seven years to evacuate the 2,500 children in need of urgent medical care” should this pace continue.

According to UNICEF, this rate has fallen from 296 to 22 children per month since the Rafah border crossing closed on 6 May.

“That is just 127 children – suffering from head trauma, amputations, burns, cancer, and severe malnutrition – [who] have been allowed to leave Gaza since Rafah closed.”

A year into Israel-Hamas war, civilians clinging on in northern Gaza say the situation is worse than it has ever been.

Palestinians say “the generals’ plan” to clear north Gaza is under way. This plan is designed to force the remaining population to flee by tightening the siege and cutting off aid.

Experts say such tactics amount to war crimes.

The Israeli army says it has intercepted two drones crossing from Lebanon.

AFP reports that the interception happened hours after Israel struck military sites in Iran early on Saturday in retaliation against Tehran’s strikes on Israel early this month.

“Following the sirens that sounded between 08:39 (05:39 GMT) and 08:41 in the Upper Galilee area, the IAF (air force) intercepted a UAV that crossed into Israel from Lebanon,” the military said in a statement, later adding that another drone had also crossed and been intecepted.

Updated

Israel strikes Iran as Middle East edges closer to regional war

Israel has launched direct airstrikes against Iran in a high-stakes retaliatory attack that brings the Middle East closer to a regional war that could draw in the US.

Iranian air defences said Israel attacked military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam, with the air attack completed on Saturday morning.

At least seven explosions were reported over the capital, Tehran, and nearby Karaj as well as the eastern city of Mashhad just after 2.30am local time on Saturday.

You can read our full report here:

Updated

Summary

If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of today’s developments as Israel launched an air attack on military sites in Iran. It’s approaching 10.30am in Tehran and 10am in Tel Aviv.

  • Israel struck military sites in Iran early on Saturday, saying it was retaliating against Tehran’s strikes on Israel early this month. Iranian media reported multiple explosions over several hours in Tehran, the capital, and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2am local time (2230 GMT on Friday).

  • At least seven explosions were reported over Tehran and nearby Karaj as well as the eastern city of Mashhad just after 2.30am as Israeli jets struck military targets in the country.

  • The Israeli military said it had completed its “targeted” air attacks on Saturday morning, hitting missile manufacturing sites and aerial defences in several areas inside Iran, and that its planes had safely returned home. Israel’s public broadcaster said three waves of strikes had been completed. The Israeli military said after its airstrikes: “If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.”

  • Iran said its air defence system successfully countered Israel’s attacks on military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam with “limited damage” to some locations. A semi-official Iranian news agency vowed a “proportional reaction” to Israeli moves against Tehran.

  • In the US, a senior Biden official said Israel’s “targeted and proportional strikes” should be the end of direct exchange of fire between the two countries, but that the US was fully prepared to once again defend Israel if Iran should choose to respond. A US official said earlier that Israel notified Washington before carrying out the strikes, which it said were “an exercise of self-defence”, and that the US had no involvement in the Israeli military operation.

  • Iran briefly suspended all flights after the Israeli strikes. Its civil aviation authority later resumed flights from 9am (0530 GMT) on Saturday.

  • Iranian media initially appeared to downplay the airstrikes, noting that Tehran’s airport was operating normally. State TV reported several strong explosions heard around the capital, while the state news agency, IRNA, said there had been no casualties. There was no immediate official comment about the source of explosions, which Iranian news outlets reported were under investigation. Air defence systems were activated around the country.

  • The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took the rare step of acknowledging the attack on Iran, in a confirmation in a statement that a decades-old shadow war between the enemy states had now firmly moved into the open. The IDF posted on X: “In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the state of Israel – right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran.” Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, said dozens of fighter jets were involved in the operation.

  • The attacks were widely expected as a retaliation to a missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October that saw an estimated 180 ballistic missiles fired towards Tel Aviv and military bases in an unprecedented direct altercation between the two regional enemy states.

Updated

UK calls for 'all sides to show restraint' after Israel attacks Iran

UK prime minister Keir Starmer, who is giving a press conference now, has urged Iran not to respond to the attack, saying the Middle East needs to “avoid further regional escalation”.

He said:

I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression.

I’m equally clear that we need to avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to show restraint. Iran should not respond.

We will continue to work with allies to deescalate the situation across the region.

Updated

Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting that the country’s air defence “intercepted and countered successfully” the Israeli airstrikes against some Iranian military centres, while saying they “caused limited damage”.

It quoted the Iranian air defence command’s public relations office as saying in a statement that Israel launched airstrikes against military centres in Tehran, the western province of Ilam and the south-western province of Khuzestan.

The news agency’s report said:

The statement also urged people to remain calm, maintain solidarity and rely only on news from state media. It called on the nation to ignore enemy media rumours.

Earlier, the report said, IRNA reported that Iran’s air defence system was activated when Israeli forces attacked positions in the country.

The defence system neutralised these efforts, successfully intercepting and countering the attacks, according to an air defence force public relations official.

Updated

We’ve just launched an explainer with the latest we know so far about Israel’s attack on Iranian military sites early today. Here it is:

Israel warned Iran ahead of strikes – report

Israel sent a message to Iran on Friday ahead of its retaliatory airstrikes warning the Iranians not to respond, Axios has reported, citing three sources.

The US news website said the Israeli message was an attempt to limit the ongoing exchange of attacks between Israel and Iran and prevent a wider escalation, according to the sources, who had knowledge of the issue.

The Israeli message was conveyed to the Iranians through several third parties, Axios reported the sources as saying.

“The Israelis made it clear to the Iranians in advance what they are going to attack in general and what they are not going to attack,” one source told the website.

Two other sources said Israel warned the Iranians not to respond to the attack and stressed that if Iran did retaliate, Israel would conduct another more significant attack, especially if Israeli civilians were killed or injured, the report said.

The office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not respond for a request for comment, the report said.

IDF spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari told reporters on Saturday that if Iran escalated in response to the Israeli strikes, Israel would be compelled to retaliate.

Updated

Saudi Arabia has condemned the military targeting of Iran as a “violation of its sovereignty” and international laws.

Reuters also reports that Saudi Arabia urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and called on the international community to take action towards de-escalation and ending conflicts in the region.

More here on Iran resuming flights after a brief suspension following Israel’s strikes early today.

The Civil Aviation Organisation said flights would return to normal from 9am (0530 GMT) on Saturday, according to the official IRNA news agency, reports Agence France-Presse.

Here are some photos of Tehran this morning after the Israeli strikes on military targets overnight.

Iran to resume flights – report

Iran is to resume flights after Israel’s airstrikes, Agence France-Presse is reporting the country’s aviation authority as saying.

The US has urged Iran to stop attacking Israel to break the cycle of violence after Israel’s airstrikes on Iranian military targets in retaliation for a missile barrage.

The US National Security Council spokesman, Sean Savett, said on Saturday: “We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation.”

Stressing that the US did not participate in the operation, he also said:

It is our aim to accelerate diplomacy and de-escalate tensions in the Middle East region.

A senior administration official said President Joe Biden and his national security team had worked with the “Israelis over recent weeks to encourage Israel to conduct a response that was targeted and proportional with low risk of civilian harm”.

“And that appears to have been precisely what transpired this evening,” the official told reporters.

– Agence France-Presse, Reuters

Updated

The Israeli military says its strikes targeting Iran’s air defences on Saturday have given it more freedom to operate in skies over Iran.

“Now, the state of Israel has wider freedom of action in the air over Iran as well,” Agence France-Presse quoted military spokesman R Adm Daniel Hagari as saying in a televised briefing.

We’ve launched video footage of the blasts and light flashes in Tehran early today and Iran’s air defences appearing to be at work. See here:

Updated

Meanwhile in Gaza, many believe Israel’s new offensive in the north – along with a tightening of its siege – is following a blueprint for removing the remaining population.

As Bethan McKernan, the Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent, reports:

Hospitals shelled, shelters set alight, men and boys separated from their families and taken away in military vehicles. A year into Israel-Hamas war, civilians clinging on in northern Gaza say the situation is worse than it has ever been.

About 400,000 people have remained in Gaza City and surrounding towns since Israel cut the area off from the rest of the territory and issued evacuation orders. Some are unwilling to leave home, afraid they will never be allowed to return; others decided to stay put for the sake of elderly or disabled family members.

Civilians have reported that the routes to the relative safety of the south are unsafe, citing sniper fire and detention by Israeli forces.

Now, many believe Israel is trying to finish the job with a new aerial and ground offensive on the area that has killed at least 800 people since it began on 6 October.

See the full story here:

Updated

In London, the UK government said it was “monitoring this situation closely” after the Israeli strikes on Iran.

A Downing Street spokesman said:

We support Israel’s right to self-defence and to protect itself in line with international humanitarian law. Further escalation is in no one’s interest.

Strikes were 'extensive' and 'precise', says senior US official

The US did not participate in the strikes across Iran, but worked with the Israeli government to encourage a low-risk attack with no civilian harm, a senior US administration official said late on Friday, adding that it appears that is what was achieved.

The official described the strikes as “extensive”, “precise” and against military targets across Iran.

“The effect was a proportionate self-defence response. The effect is to deter future attacks and to degrade Iran’s abilities to launch future attacks.”

The official stressed that the US considered the operation to be an “end to the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran”.

This should be the end of the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran. We had a direct exchange in April and that was closed off and now we’ve had this direct exchange again.

Updated

Iran says 'limited damage' after Israeli strikes

Iran says its air defence system successfully tracked and countered Israel’s “aggression” but limited damage was caused to some locations, Reuters reports.

Iranian air defences said Israel attacked military centres in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had completed its air attack on Iran, and that it hit missile manufacturing facilities, surface-to-air missile arrays and other aerial capabilities across several areas of the country.

The military said in a statement:

Based on intelligence, IAF [air force] aircraft struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.

Updated

Reuters has quoted the Israeli military as saying that if the Iranian regime were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, “we will be obligated to respond”.

Israel says strikes in Iran completed

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had completed its “targeted” attacks against military targets in Iran.

It added that its planes had safely returned home, Reuters reports.

Iran suspends all flights

Iran has suspended all flights until further notice, the aviation authority announced on Saturday, after Israel said it was conducting strikes in the country.

“Flights on all routes have been cancelled until further notice,” a spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Organisation said, according to the official IRNA news agency, reports Agence France-Presse.

• This post was amended on 26 October 2024 to remove a picture wrongly described as showing Imam Khomeini international airport; it was not an airport in Iran at all.

Updated

Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials were assessing the security situation, the Israeli prime minister’s office said, as the Israeli military carried out airstrikes on Iran early on Saturday.

Netanyahu was conducting the assessment at the air force base in the defence ministry with the defence minister, the army chief, the head of the Mossad and the head of the Shin Bet, Agence France-Presse reported the statement from his office as saying.

Opening summary

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. Here’s a snapshot of the latest news.

Israel has launched direct airstrikes against Iran in a high-stakes retaliatory attack that could bring the Middle East closer to a regional war, drawing in the US.

At least seven explosions were reported over the capital, Tehran, and nearby Karaj just after 2.30am local time on Saturday, as Israeli jets struck what were described as “military targets” in the country, Andrew Roth and Bethan McKernan report.

It was not immediately clear if that marked the end of the attack – fresh blasts were reportedly heard around Tehran on Saturday shortly after the earlier ones. Continuous explosions and light trails were visible across the sky in central Tehran, Agence France-Presse said.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it had begun to launch “precise strikes on military targets in Iran” in response to “months of continuous attacks” from Iran against Israel.

Iranian state TV reported several strong explosions heard around Tehran. There were no casualties, the state news agency IRNA said.

In other developments:

  • A US official confirmed that Israel notified Washington before carrying out the strikes, and that the US had no involvement in Israel’s military operation. The White House said it understood Israel was conducting the strikes “as an exercise of self-defence”.

  • There was no immediate official Iranian comment about the source of explosions, which Iranian news outlets said were under investigation.

  • Some of the blasts reportedly occurred near Imam Khomeni international airport. Iran’s Tasnim news agency said civilian flights were operating normally as of Saturday morning. Iraq suspended flights in all its airports until further notice.

  • In Gaza, Israeli military strikes across the territory have killed at least 72 Palestinians since Thursday night, including strikes on residential areas in southern Gaza that killed 38 people, including 13 children from the same extended family, Palestinian health officials said. Gaza’s health ministry saids dozens of people were wounded as Israeli airstrikes and shelling pounded the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli strikes on three houses in Beit Lahiya killed 25 people and wounded dozens more, medics said. Later on Friday, an Israeli airstrike killed nine people in Shati camp in Gaza City, medics said.

  • Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan hospital, one of the few medical facilities still functioning in north Gaza, on Thursday night, according to reports. “Israeli forces have stormed and are present inside Kamal Adwan hospital” in the city of Jabalia, Gaza’s health ministry said. The World Health Organisation said on Friday it lost touch with staff at the hospital, where some had been the night before to deliver supplies and help transfer patients to Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The hospital’s director, Abu Safiya, could not be reached on Friday.

  • The UN rights chief, Volker Türk, described Israel’s renewed assault on northern Gaza as the “darkest moment” of the year-long war on the territory so far. “We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity,” Türk said in a statement on Friday.

  • Three journalists from the Hezbollah-affiliated TV stations Al Mayadeen and Al-Manar were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on their press station in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, early on Friday. The strikes hit a group of small chalets that 18 journalists from at least seven different media outlets – including Al Jazeera, Sky News Arabia and TRT – were staying in while covering the Israel-Hezbollah war in south Lebanon. Several cars with “Press” signs on them were parked in front of the site. Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, said the attack was “deliberate” and “aims to terrorise the media to cover up crimes and destruction”.

  • UN peacekeepers withdrew from a observation post in Zahajra town in south Lebanon on Tuesday after Israeli forces fired at it, the force said on Friday. Unifil added that the Israeli military has repeatedly demanded that its peacekeepers vacate its positions along the Blue Line and deliberately damaged camera, lighting and communications equipment at some of these positions.

  • Two people were killed in a strike on Majd al-Krum in northern Israel, Israeli media said on Friday, following a statement from Hezbollah saying it targeted the northern Israeli town of Karmiel with a large missile salvo.

  • Lebanon’s transport minister, Ali Hamieh, said Israeli bombing put a second border crossing between the country and Syria out of service, leaving one official passage between the two nations operational. The UN refugee agency (Unhcr) said Israel’s overnight airstrike on the Jousieh crossing in Lebanon’s northern Bekaa area jeopardised the main escape route for people fleeing the conflict in Lebanon in search of refuge in Syria. More than half a million people, mostly Syrians, had crossed into Syrian territory since Israel began heavily striking Lebanon late last month, according to figures by the Lebanese authorities on Friday.

  • Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, called for pressure on Israel to end what he called the “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, as he met the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in London. Blinken stopped over in the UK to brief leaders from Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan after he had been unable to meet them on his recent tour of the Middle East. Blinken also met with Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, in London on Friday, with the US top diplomat saying Israel “must take the necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger UN peacekeepers or the Lebanese armed forces”.

Updated

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