Israel’s Defence Minister calls for Khamenei's removal: Israel Katz said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist" after a missile strike hit Soroka hospital in southern Israel.
PM Netanyahu comments on US role: Speaking at the hospital, Netanyahu said the US is already helping by protecting Israeli airspace, but any decision on joining strikes is “for the president to make.”
Iranian missile hits Ramat Gan: A missile struck near Tel Aviv, damaging buildings and injuring civilians. A pizza outlet took the brunt of the blast.
Casualties and missile details: At least 240 people were wounded in Iran's missile attacks, four seriously. Israel said Iran used multiple warhead missiles, complicating Iron Dome interception.
Back-channel diplomacy ongoing: US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi have held multiple phone calls. Tehran insists it won’t return to talks unless Israel halts strikes.
Germany urges restraint: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Netanyahu to show moderation while reaffirming support for strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Hezbollah warned: US envoy Tom Barrack warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah not to intervene. Barrack met senior Lebanese leaders during his visit to Beirut.
Threat to Strait of Hormuz: An Iranian MP warned the strategic strait could be closed if Tehran's vital interests are threatened. Shipping is already avoiding Iranian waters.
Gaza deaths mount: At least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, including 15 near an aid site in the Netzarim corridor.
Iran to meet European leaders: Foreign Minister Araqchi confirmed talks in Geneva with the UK, France, Germany, and the EU on Friday.
IAEA tensions: Iran accused the UN nuclear watchdog of siding with Israel, calling it a “partner” in the aggression.
Ayatollah Sistani issues warning: Iraq’s top cleric cautioned against targeting Iran’s leadership, warning of regional chaos.
Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem has broken his silence, releasing an lengthy statement expressing support for Iran against Israeli attacks and US threats.
US President Donald Trump will make a decision on possible American involvement in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict within the next two weeks
U.S. President Donald Trump has told his top aides that he supports plans to strike Iran, but has not yet issued a final order. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump is waiting to see whether Iran halts its nuclear programme before deciding on further action.
One potential target under consideration is Iran’s Fordow enrichment facility - an underground site heavily fortified and difficult to destroy. Military experts believe only the most powerful bunker-busting bombs could penetrate it.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to rule out military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying he might strike or might not, but insisted Tehran was already “in a lot of trouble” and eager to negotiate, reported Al Jazeera.
Earlier, Trump had brushed off questions about a potential US military strike, saying, “I can’t say that … You don’t seriously think I’m going to answer that question.”
“You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. You don’t know. I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he had said.
While the US has publicly denied involvement in Israel’s ongoing military campaign targeting Iranian-linked assets, Trump’s remarks added to growing speculation about a broader regional escalation.
Iran's supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes Wednesday and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them." European diplomats prepared to hold talks with Iran on Friday.
The second public appearance by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the Israeli strikes began six days ago came as Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting that the missile threat from Iran was easing.
Khamenei spoke a day after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded in a social media post that Iran surrender without conditions and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”
The first flight carrying 110 Indian students, who were evacuated to Armenia from war-torn Iran, landed in Delhi in the early hours on Thursday.
Amid escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, Indian students in Tehran were moved out of the city, 110 of them crossing the border into Armenia, through arrangements made by the Indian Embassy on Tuesday under 'Operation Sindhu'.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said more people are being evacuated.
"We have planes ready. We will be sending another plane today. We are evacuating some more people from Turkmenistan. Our missions have opened 24 hour lines for any request for evacuation. As the situation evolves, we will be sending more planes to evacuate Indian nationals," Singh, who is also the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, told reporters.
Israel's military said it was carrying out a "series of strikes" around the Iranian capital Tehran and other areas of the country on Thursday.
There were no immediate details on the intended targets of the strikes, which came after Israel said it had intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" launched from Iran.
Israel’s military warned people Thursday to evacuate the area around Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor.
The warning came in a social media post on X. It included a satellite image of the plant in a red circle like other warnings that proceeded strikes.
The Arak heavy water reactor is 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran.
The Israeli military advised Iranians in two villages to leave early Thursday before it carried out strikes on "military infrastructure".
"The IDF issues an urgent warning to residents, workers and those present in the area of the two Iranian villages of Arak and Khondab, in the areas marked on the map, to evacuate immediately before the IDF targets military infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime," it wrote in a Telegram post in Arabic and Farsi using the military's official acronym.
Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel meanwhile, and the military said shortly afterwards it had intercepted a drone launched from Iran.
The fresh exchanges came a day after Iran said it had fired Fattah hypersonic missiles at Israel.
Reports indicate that the United States is preparing for a possible military strike on Iran.
According to Bloomberg News, senior US officials are “preparing for the possibility of a strike on Iran in the coming days.”
The report suggests that Washington is putting in place the infrastructure needed to directly enter the conflict.
Sources said the situation is still evolving and plans could change, with some pointing to a potential strike over the weekend.
“Top leaders at a handful of federal agencies have also begun getting ready for an attack, one person said,” the report added.
No further details have been released.
The State Department has begun evacuating nonessential diplomats and their families from the U.S. embassy in Israel as hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify and President Donald Trump warns of the possibility of getting directly involved in the conflict.
A government plane evacuated a number of diplomats and family members who had asked to leave the country Wednesday, said two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomatic movements. There was no indication of how many diplomats and family members departed on the flight or how many may have left by land routes to Jordan or Egypt.
The flight came shortly before US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on X that the embassy was making plans for evacuations by plane and ship for private American citizens.
Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel- US Embassy in Israel @usembassyjlm is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures.
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) June 18, 2025
You must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) (https://t.co/rXymPRTQJJ) You will be alerted w/ updates.
Hours after Huckabee’s tweet, however, the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs tweeted that “we have no announcement about assisting private U.S. citizens to depart at this time” from Israel or the Palestinian territories.
The State Department didn’t explain the discrepancy but said in response to questions that it is considering all options and “will alert the U.S. citizen community if there is additional information to share regarding departure options.” It added that it is providing information about routes out of Israel to Americans who want to leave “by their own means” and urged them to go as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Sirens sounded across Israel early Thursday as the Israeli military said it detected incoming missiles from Iran.
"A short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel," the military said in a post on Telegram.
Israel attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television said Thursday. The report said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever" and that the facility had been already evacuated before the attack.
Israel had earlier warned that it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.
Israel’s main southern hospital sustained a direct hit Thursday from an Iranian missile, with officials reporting “extensive damage” there.
The Soroka Medical Center is the main hospital in Israel’s south.
A spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheba said the hospital suffered “extensive damage” in different areas and people had been wounded in the attack. The hospital has requested people not come for treatment.
The hospital has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south, according to the hospital’s website.
Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said Thursday that at least 47 people were injured in Iran's latest missile strikes, updating an earlier toll and reporting 18 more injured "while running to shelter".
Three people are in serious condition, and two are in moderate condition, an MDA spokesperson said in as statement, adding that "an additional 42 people sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and blast trauma, and 18 civilians were injured while running to shelter".
Japan, China and Indonesia said Thursday they were preparing to help evacuate their citizens from Iran and Israel as the conflict between the two countries intensified.
The Israeli army said Thursday it had struck an "inactive nuclear reactor" in Arak in Iran during overnight raids that also saw the Islamic republic's Natanz nuclear site targeted again.
A statement said "the nuclear reactor in the area of Arak in Iran was targeted, including the structure of the reactor's core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production".
It said the strike on the site was carried out "to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development".
"Additionally, the (Israeli air force) struck a nuclear weapons development site in the area of Natanz," the statement added, saying that around 40 Israeli airforce jets had taken part in the overnight raids that saw "dozens" of sites hit.
Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran's leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos.
Sistani said in a statement Thursday that any targeting of Iran's "supreme religious and political leadership" would have "dire consequences on the region".
He warned that it could spark "widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of its (the region's) people and severely harm everyone's interests".
Sistani urged the international community to "make every effort to end this unjust war and find a peaceful solution" to Iran's nuclear programme.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran would "pay a heavy price" after a missile hit a hospital in Israel's south.
"This morning, Iran's terrorist dictators fired missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva and at civilians in the centre of the country. We will make the tyrants in Tehran pay a heavy price," Netanyahu said in a post on X.
הבוקר, רודני הטרור של איראן שיגרו טילים לעבר בית החולים סורוקה בבאר שבע ולעבר אוכלוסייה אזרחית במרכז הארץ.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) June 19, 2025
נגבה את מלוא המחיר מהרודנים בטהרן.
Iran, through its state-run IRNA news agency, claimed it targeted an Israeli military site, not the hospital.
Iran claimed the “blast wave” of the missile struck the hospital.
China on Thursday called for an immediate halt to hostilities in the Middle East, urging all parties - “especially Israel” - to cease fire following renewed exchanges between Israel and Iran, and as US President Donald Trump signalled he is considering military action.
“China strongly calls on all parties involved in the conflict, especially Israel, to put the interests of the region's people first, immediately cease fire and stop fighting,” said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.
It also said that it opposed the "use of force", in response to a question about US President Donald Trump warning he was weighing US military action in the Israel-Iran conflict.
Beijing "opposes any act that... infringes upon the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other countries, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations," Jiakun said.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister on Thursday warned the United States against intervening in the conflict in support of Israel, stating that Iran is prepared to defend itself if the situation escalates.
"If the United States wants to actively enter the field in favour of the Zionist regime, Iran will have to use its tools to both teach a lesson to aggressors and defend its national security and national interests," said deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi, according to state TV.
"Naturally, our military decision makers have all the necessary options on the table," he added.
Iranian missile strikes have reportedly damaged the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, according to Al Jazeera.
The building was ‘extensively damaged’ after Iran launched dozens of ballistic missiles.
Missile strikes continued for a seventh day on Thursday, as Israel hit the inactive nuclear reactor in Arak, while Iranian missiles struck key sites in Israel, including the Soroka Medical Centre in the south and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. At least 47 people were injured in the hospital strike.
Following the hospital strike, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran would “pay a heavy price”, while Iran, through its state-run IRNA news agency, said it had targeted an Israeli military site, not the hospital.
Tehran also warned the US not to intervene in the conflict, stating that its “military decision makers have all the necessary options on the table.”
Earlier in the day, a first flight carrying 110 Indian students evacuated from Iran to Armenia landed in Delhi.
According to US media reports, President Donald Trump had privately told his top aides that he backed any plan to strike Iran, though he has not issued a final order.
Earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any American military involvement would cause “irreparable damage to them.”
So far, Israeli strikes across Iran have killed nearly 650 people and injured more than 1,300, according to Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
Foreign ministers from key European powers France, Germany and Britain and the EU's top diplomat are aiming to meet their Iranian counterpart for nuclear talks in Geneva on Friday, European diplomats said.
The meeting being planned comes as European countries call for de-escalation in the face of Israel's bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear programme.
Iran on Thursday accused the UN's nuclear watchdog of acting as a "partner" in what it described as Israel's "war of aggression."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) accused Iran in a report prior to the start of the Iran-Israel war of non-compliance with its obligations in its nuclear programme.
"You betrayed the non-proliferation regime; You've made IAEA a partner to this unjust war of aggression," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei wrote on X, in a post addressed to the head of the agency, Rafael Grossi.
Iran’s foreign minister will meet with European counterparts in Geneva as an Israeli airstrike campaign continues to target his country, state media reported Thursday.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Geneva for the meetings Friday, the state-run IRNA news agency report.
This comes after foreign ministers from key European powers France, Germany and Britain and the EU's top diplomat said they aimed to meet Araghchi for nuclear talks.
As the first batch of 110 Indian students evacuated from Iran arrived in Delhi this morning, governments around the world began evacuating thousands of their nationals caught in the rapidly escalating Israel-Iran conflict, deploying buses and planes and, in some cases, helping people cross borders on foot.
Foreigners have rushed to leave both countries after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign last Friday targeting Iran's nuclear and military facilities, sparking retaliation from Tehran.
With Israel's air space closed and the two countries exchanging heavy missile fire, many people are being evacuated via neighbouring countries.
The US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack on Thursday warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war between its main backer Iran and Israel.
"I can say on behalf of President (Donald) Trump... that would be a very, very, very bad decision," Barrack said, responding to a question on what the US position would be on any involvement by Hezbollah in the war.
Israel's defence minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "can no longer be allowed to exist" after an Israeli hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack.
"Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed. He personally gives the order to fire on hospitals. He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal," Katz told journalists in Holon near Tel Aviv.
"Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist."
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday strongly condemned Israeli attacks on Iran in a phone call, the Kremlin said, adding that both leaders called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
"Both sides adhere to identical approaches, strongly condemn Israel's actions," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, adding that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities "should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means."
China's President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for all parties but "especially Israel" to stop hostilities in a phone call with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Chinese state media reported.
"Parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease hostilities as soon as possible to prevent a cyclical escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war," Xi said, according to Xinhua.
Russia's foreign ministry warned the United States not to take military action against Iran, amid speculation over whether Washington will enter the war alongside Israel.
"We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
A key Iranian body warned the United States that any intervention in support of its ally Israel would be met with a "harsh response".
"The criminal American government and its stupid president must know for sure that if they make a mistake and take action against Islamic Iran, they will face a harsh response from the Islamic Republic of Iran," the Guardian Council said in a statement carried by state television.
“The very fact that the Zionist regime’s American friends have entered the scene and are saying such things is a sign of that regime’s weakness and inability”, Iran’s supreme leader posted on X.
“I would like to tell our dear nation that if the enemy senses that you fear them, they won’t let go of you. Continue the very behavior that you have had up to this day; continue this behavior with strength”, Khamenei said.
The very fact that the Zionist regime’s American friends have entered the scene and are saying such things is a sign of that regime’s weakness and inability.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 19, 2025
Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "remove" the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by Iran, on the seventh day of war between the arch foes.
"We are committed to destroying the nuclear threat, the threat of a nuclear annihilation against Israel," Netanyahu told reporters in the southern city of Beersheba, where a hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack.
"Our goal is twofold , nuclear, ballistic missile. We're going to remove them. We are in the process of completing the (removal of) this threat."
Stock markets mostly fell Thursday and oil prices rose as the Israel-Iran conflict added to fears over a renewed spike in inflation that could dent economic growth in major countries.
The United Nations said Thursday it was appalled to see civilians being treated as collateral damage in the conflict between Iran and Israel and urged maximum restraint on all sides.
"It is appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage in the conduct of hostilities. Threats and inflammatory rhetoric by senior officials on both sides suggest a worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
Internet watchdog NetBlocks reports that Iran has been under a nationwide internet shutdown for the past 24 hours.
In a post on X, the group described the outage as the most severe since the November 2019 protests, warning that it significantly hinders the public’s ability to stay connected at a critical time.
On Wednesday, Iran’s Ministry of Communications announced that internet access would be temporarily restricted to prevent “the enemy from threatening citizens’ lives and property” amid the ongoing conflict with Israel.
⚠️ Update: It has now been 24 hours since #Iran imposed a nationwide internet shutdown; the ongoing blackout incident is the most severe tracked since the November 2019 protests and impacts the public's ability to stay connected at a time when communications are vital ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/swKNcCPtOb
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) June 19, 2025
The Israeli military said Thursday that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack, posing a new challenge to its defenses, reported AP.
Instead of having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads can pose a more difficult challenge for air defense systems, like Israel’s Iron Dome.
There was no immediate independent analysis that could be made.
US President Donald Trump has rejected a Wall Street Journal report claiming he had privately approved plans for a strike on Iran but paused for a final go-ahead, hoping Tehran would step back from its nuclear programme.
As reported by Al Jazeera, Trump responded on his platform Truth Social, writing: “The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump had said that he had yet to make a decision: “We’ll see what happens. I’ve been asked about it by everybody, but I haven’t made a decision.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned Israeli citizens to steer clear of “military and intelligence sites” as Iran continues its attacks amid the ongoing conflict.
In a post on X, Araghchi said Iran’s military had “accurately” eliminated an Israeli command, control and intelligence headquarters, “and another vital target,” though he did not disclose the location.
He added that the “blast wave” caused “superficial damage” to the nearby Soroka Medical Center, which he claimed was treating Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza.
While Israel alleges that Iran directly targeted the hospital, Iran maintains it was aiming at the nearby command center.
“Hundreds of innocent Iranians have been murdered in cold blood since Israel launched its illegal war against the Iranian people last week,” Araghchi stated.
“Our powerful Armed Forces will continue to pummel the criminals who target our people until they cease and pay for their criminal aggression against our nation,” he added.
The Iranian foreign minister is scheduled to travel to Geneva in Switzerland tomorrow to meet European counterparts for talks.
The WHO's leader on Thursday denounced attacks on health facilities in the conflict Iran-Israel war as "appalling", urging all sides to protect hospital buildings, staff and patients.
"The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran is putting health facilities and access to health care at risk. The reports on the attacks on health so far are appalling," World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
Iran has issued a fresh warning to any “third party” considering involvement in its ongoing conflict with Israel, threatening an “immediate” response if outside forces intervene.
According to a CNN report, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council released a statement on Thursday afternoon declaring that “confrontation with the enemy will continue, until the compensation is paid.”
As the hostilities with Israel stretch into a second week, the council said Iran has contingency plans ready for various scenarios.
Without naming any country directly, the council warned: “In the event of a third party’s intervention in this aggression, they will be confronted immediately according to a specific plan.”
US President Donald Trump will make a decision on possible American involvement in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict within the next two weeks, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday.
Quoting the president, Leavitt told reporters: “Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has publicly voiced support for Iran in its conflict with Israel and strongly criticised the United States for what he described as threats against the region’s sovereignty.
In a statement reported by Al Jazeera, Qassem condemned US President Donald Trump’s recent suggestion that the US could target Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling it “an aggression against all the people of the region.”
Though closely allied with Iran, Hezbollah has largely remained on the sidelines since the Israeli offensive began. The group, weakened by a major war with Israel last year, has so far refrained from opening the Lebanese front.
However, Qassem’s statement hinted at a possible shift, saying Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance “are not neutral between the legitimate and independent rights of Iran and America’s malevolence and its aggression with the cancerous tumour, Israel.”
He further stated that Hezbollah will act “as it sees appropriate” in response to what he described as “heinous American-Israeli aggression,” signalling that intervention could still be on the table.Hezbollah signals possible intervention, slams US over threats to Iran’s supreme leader
