Deadly strikes between Israel and Iran continued late into Sunday claiming lives in both countries, with Israel vowing to intensify its operation against Iran to “strengthen our security for years to come,” said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir.
“Iran will pay a very heavy price for deliberately murdering our citizens, women and children,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. “We will also achieve our objectives and we will also strike them forcefully. They will feel the might of our arm.”
Here’s what you need to know:
- Fresh barrage: Iran launched a “a new salvo of missiles and drones” at Israel late in Sunday, state media reported. The operation, dubbed Operation True Promise 3, included “hundreds of various ballistic missiles” targeting residential buildings and infrastructure in Israel, semi-official Iranian media outlet Mehr News reported on Sunday.
- A first daytime barrage: The strikes continued in both directions throughout Sunday, the first time since the conflict erupted earlier this week that assaults continued during daytime. Israel warned citizens across the country to stay near shelters after detecting missiles, while residents in the Iranian capital Tehran told CNN they felt fresh explosions shake the city on Sunday afternoon.
- Evacuation warnings: Iran’s military issued a warning to residents of Israel to evacuate from areas close to important Israeli military and scientific sites for their own safety. The Israeli military had made a similar warning to Iranians hours earlier, warning those who lived near weapons production facilities, a possible sign further strikes could be coming.
- Gas field hit: An official from a Gulf country has criticised as “reckless” an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field, the largest such facility in the world that Iran shares with Qatar. Video footage circulating on social media and geolocated by CNN showed a large blaze and plumes of smoke rising from the gas field in Iran’s southern Bushehr province.
- Israel hits military targets across Iran: Israel launched a series of strikes targeting surface-to-surface missiles in western and central Iran. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said Sunday that the Israeli air force struck and dismantled military targets in Tehran. The foreign ministry building in the Iranian capital was also struck, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday, adding that several people were injured. Separately, the chief of intelligence for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in attacks earlier today.
- Trump rejects assassination plan: Two US officials told CNN the US president rejected a plan by the Israelis to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his spokesperson have strongly denied the reports of such a plan.
- Death toll mounts: At least 224 were killed and 1,277 hospitalized in Iran since hostilities began, the country’s health ministry said, as cited by Iran’s official media. The vast majority of whom were civilians. In Israel, the attacks have killed at least 14 people and injured at least 380.
- ‘Mostly women and children’ killed in Iran: Israel struck the “nuclear command center of the Iranian regime” in overnight strikes on 80 targets across Iran Saturday, a military spokesperson said on Sunday. “We are not pausing for a moment,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief Spokesperson Effie Defrin added. Iran’s health minister told state media that most of those killed or injured by Israeli strikes are women and children. Israel says its strikes targeted nuclear and military research and development sites, as well as fuel depots.
- A weeks-long operation: In a televised speech on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would continue its operation “for as many days as it takes” to wipe out Iran’s nuclear threat. The operation is expected to take “weeks, not days” and is moving forward with the implicit approval of the United States, according to White House and Israeli officials. The administration of US President Donald Trump has not critiqued the weeks-long timeframe in private discussions, an Israeli official told CNN.
- US ‘had nothing to do’ with Israel’s attack: Trump said the US “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight” in a post to his social media platform Truth Social Sunday morning, issuing a warning to Tehran not to bring his country into the conflict. This spring, Trump gave Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 60 days to negotiate a nuclear deal, warning there would be consequences if they didn’t come to an agreement.
- Several areas hit in Israel: A building in northern Israeli city of Haifa and an area in the southern Israeli community of Zavdiel was struck amid the Iranian barrage on Sunday night, according to Israeli authorities.
- World leaders call for de-escalation: Several world leaders, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called for diplomatic talks to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Iran on Sunday.
- Netanyahu’s address: In a televised speech on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would continue its operation “for as many days as it takes” to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat. The Israeli military claims it has destroyed Iran’s ballistic missile launch sites and stockpiles.
- Iran’s response: Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful, says it has “no option but to respond.” Its elite military wing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, threatened to intensify its attacks if Israel continued hostilities.
Also read: Israel launches fresh wave of strikes on Iran
Featured photo source: Meghdad Madadi/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images
Source: CNN
