 "Blasts in Tel Aviv, Haifa; more IRGC commanders killed… Israel-Iran conflict enters day 4")
The fighting between Israel and Iran continues on Monday (June 16) — it’s been four days since the two countries have launched air strikes against one another, starting on Friday, June 13. Civilians continue to be killed with world leaders raising concern that the biggest battle between old enemies could lead to a broad regional conflict.
Iran claims Israel has broadened its attacks — targeting sites in the east, namely oil refineries. Additionally, the strikes have killed the intelligence chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and hit population centres raising the death toll in the country to 224 people. In turn, multiple large explosions rocked Israel as Iran launched a new wave of attacks, with Times of Israel reporting that at least 29 people had to be rushed to hospital.
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Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump called for a deal between the two countries, as he said “many” calls and meetings were taking place that would lead to peace “soon”.
1) Late into Sunday, Iran launched a rain of missiles and drones as part of Operation True Promise 3 towards Israel. Tehran launched “hundreds of various ballistic missiles” towards residential buildings and infrastructure in Israel, reported Mehr News.
2) Several people have been injured in the Israeli port city of Haifa, 90 km from Tel Aviv, following the latest Iranian strikes, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. Al Jazeera reported that fires could be seen at the power plant in the vicinity of Israel’s Haifa port.
3) Israeli authorities, according to a Times of Israel report, have said that three people have died as a result of Iran’s strikes on residential areas while 29 others have been hospitalised with serious injuries.
4) Following the barrage of strikes, the Israel Defense Forces said that civilians no longer need to remain in bomb shelters. Meanwhile, Iranian armed forces called on Israeli residents to leave “the occupied territories,” saying the scope of Iran’s destructive response will encompass all parts of Israel. Colonel Reza Sayad, spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, urged Israelis to “take the warning seriously and leave those areas since they will soon no longer be habitable,” and that “[l]eaving this occupied land is the only way to save your lives.”
5) According to the Israel Electric Corporation, the Iranian strikes have damaged the local electricity grid in central Israel. “Teams are working on the ground to neutralise safety hazards, in particular the risk of electrocution due to torn electrical wires,” the Israel Electric Corporation was quoted as saying to CNN. “At the same time, work is being carried out to repair the infrastructure and restore the electricity supply,” it added.
6) Israel, too, launched powerful strikes at Iran, stating on Monday that it was “operating against this threat in our skies and in Iranian skies”. On Sunday, the Jewish nation targeted dozens of sites in Iran, including energy sites, radar systems, and ballistic missiles and their launchers — and killed Iran’s top intelligence officers . Iranian media confirmed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence chief, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy Hassan Mohaqiq were killed in an Israeli strike on Sunday. It added that a third IRGC intelligence officer, Mohsen Bagheri, was also killed in the strike in Tehran.
7) Israel also bombed an Iranian refuelling plane at Mashhad Airport in northeast Iran, some 2,300 kilometres from Israel, marking what it said was the most distant strike since the beginning of the operation. Mashhad is Iran’s second most populated city and home to the country’s most important Shia shrine, which attracts millions of pilgrims annually.
8) So far, Israel’s strikes on Iran have killed a total of 224 people since Friday. “After 65 hours of aggression by the Zionist regime, 1,277 people have been injured. 224 women, men and children have been martyred,” Iran’s spokesman Hossein Kermanpour wrote on X, adding that 90 per cent of those killed had been civilians.
9) Meanwhile, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed reports US President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Earlier, there were news reports that Israel had a window of opportunity on Friday to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but Trump had vetoed the idea. When asked about the same, Netanyahu told Fox News, “There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened and I’m not going to get into that.”
10) On Sunday, just before he departed for the G7 Summit in Canada, US President Donald Trump also said that he wants to see a deal reached between Israel and Iran and that he believes “there’s a good chance” of that happening. However, Reuters has now reported that Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack. “The Iranians informed Qatari and Omani mediators that they will only pursue serious negotiations once Iran has completed its response to the Israeli pre-emptive strikes,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the conflict.
With inputs from agencies
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