- Iran launches a new wave of attacks on Israel, killing at least three people in Tel Aviv and hitting the port city of Haifa, hours after the Israeli military bombed the Iranian capital, Tehran.
- The death toll in Iran has risen to 224, including 70 women and children. The intelligence chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and two other generals were killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday.
- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the Iranian response will stop when Israel halts its attacks on Iran.
- US President Donald Trump says he’s hopeful that Israel and Iran can make a deal, and adds that Washington will continue its support for Israel.
How Iran is showing restraint in its response against Israel
More from Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council.
He told Al Jazeera that Iran has so far shown restraint in its retaliation against Israel.
“I think that they have actually been restrained in not targeting US bases or forces so far,” Abdi said from Washington, DC.
“They’ve been restrained and not escalating by shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. They’ve also not said they’re leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty, or that they’re kicking out all the inspectors. They’re downgrading the cooperation with weapons inspectors, but still leaving out this room for hope that maybe there is a way back from this,” he said.
However, the analyst said he does not know how long this restraint could last.
“But it does seem like they are trying to keep their power dry. Because a lot of people believe that if Israel is going to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, that Iran would then use the hardened facilities to finally, after 30 years of this, make the decision to break out and build a nuclear weapon and do so under the shadow of war.”
Israeli medics transfer more wounded people to hospital
Earlier, we reported that at least three people were killed in the Iranian strikes on central Israel.
The Israeli Magen David Adom ambulance service now says some 67 others were transferred to the hospital from four different sites following the attacks. They include a 30-year-old woman who is in a serious condition.
Six others are described as being in a “moderate condition,” while 60 have minor injuries, according to the ambulance service.
Israel ‘actively working to destabilise the Iranian regime’: Report
Israel’s Channel 14 is reporting that Netanyahu’s government is “actively working to destabilise” the Iranian government in an escalation of its military offensive.
Tamir Morag, Channel 14’s diplomatic correspondent, says that the “newly approved strike plan” authorised by Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz aims to trigger a “mass exodus” of civilians from Tehran.
“As part of the operation, regime targets in Tehran will now be attacked, accompanied by the mass evacuation of civilians from those areas as a means of applying pressure on the regime, in response to attacks on the Israeli home front,” Morag said in a post on X.
“The plan is designed to trigger a mass exodus of civilians from Tehran and serves as a powerful lever of pressure on the regime – in a way that could destabilise it.”
Morag also quoted an unnamed security official as saying that “each day, the plan will intensify and produce results”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar earlier denied that Israel is seeking regime change in Iran, saying in an interview with CNN that that would be “for Iranian people to decide”.
Two wounded, three missing in Israel’s Haifa: Report
Israel’s Kan public broadcaster is reporting that at least two people were lightly wounded and three others are missing in the port city following Iran’s latest wave of attacks.
Earlier, we reported that fires had been sighted at a power plant in the vicinity of the Haifa port following the Iranian missile barrage.
Three killed in latest Iranian strike on Israel: Reports
At least three people have been killed in central Israel following the latest Iranian strike, according to The Jerusalem Post, Channel 12 and Ynet News.
More details to follow…
Fires seen at Haifa power plant after Iranian attack
We’ve been reporting on the casualties and damage in central Israel following the latest attacks.
Now, we are getting reports of hits in northern Israel, in the port city of Haifa.
The UK maritime security firm Ambrey said fires have been observed at the power plant in the vicinity of Israel’s Haifa port. It also said it observed video footage of the Israeli military intercepting the attack, followed by impacts from two hypersonic missiles.
Israelis support attacks on Iran, but do not trust Netanyahu
We’ve been speaking to Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg on the Israeli public sentiment regarding the ongoing attacks on Iran.
He said that Israelis have long regarded Iran as “the number one enemy” for its role in funding, aiding and abetting Hamas and Hezbollah.
So the general support for Israel’s war against Tehran is “quite large”, he said.
“On the other hand, there isn’t a lot of trust when it comes to the Netanyahu government. Netanyahu is beleaguered both by personal and political trouble.”
Goldberg added that “there is no visible endgame” when it comes to Israel’s war against Iran, noting that even though the public does not trust Netanyahu, they trust the military to carry out the ongoing operation.
Dozens wounded in Israel after Iranian strikes, ambulance service says
Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) service says that 29 wounded people have been evacuated following Iran’s latest attacks, three of whom are in moderate condition.
It said that 26 of the victims had minor injuries.
“Search and location operations are still continuing vigorously at all the scenes for casualties,” the emergency service said in an X post written in Hebrew.
Do people in Iran support Israel’s plans for regime change?
Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, says Israel’s attacks have ostracised any Iranians who were sympathetic to its plans for regime change in Iran.
“I think that this is an epic miscalculation by Netanyahu,” he told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.
“The legitimacy of the Islamic Republic really has been at a low point. The ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests in 2022 was really an explosion of calls by Iranians to get rid of the regime. And for decades, Netanyahu has pushed this line that the US should get involved in regime change, and the Israelis have also engaged in what I would call a psyops campaign aimed at creating more and more pressure on Iranians, and blaming the Islamic Republic, as they do deserve the blame,” he said.
And for a long time, there were some people in the Iranian diaspora who supported Israeli attacks on Iran, who thought that Israel would only strike “Islamic Republic targets”, and not Iranians, Abdi said.
But that view has now changed, he said.
“Netanyahu is now talking about turning Iran into Beirut: the Beirut strategy. Tehran is going to burn. It seems like they are now transitioning to a regime destabilisation campaign. And I think for a lot of people, especially people who maybe thought the Israelis are their friends, are now realising that what we saw in Gaza, what we saw in Lebanon, what we have seen across the region, is now coming for Iranians. And it is not liberation, it is death.”
‘Very strong, quite fearful’ booms in Tel Aviv during Iranian assault
We’ve been speaking to Gideon Levy, an Israeli journalist, about what he experienced during the latest wave of Iranian strikes on Israel.
“I’m very grateful I didn’t see but I hear it. I heard it, and how it was the closest ever. I was in the public shelter next to my home, and the booms this time were much, much stronger than ever,” he told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.
When he exited the shelter, “we heard from neighbours about windows broken”, Levy said.
“It’s not far away. I don’t know exactly where, and it was serious, no doubt. Then it was followed by sirens of ambulances and other aid workers. I know nothing more than this, but it was very, very strong and quite fearful.”
At least four sites hit in central Israel: Report
Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, is reporting that at least four areas were hit in the latest Iranian attacks on central Israel.
It said that at least one person was seriously wounded in central Israel.
Earlier, Israel’s Ynet News reported that 12 people were wounded in central Israel and that all of them had moderate or mild injuries. It also reported that there had been a fire in the city of Petah Tikva.
Europe’s von der Leyen speaks with Netanyahu
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that a “negotiated solution” is needed in the Israel-Iran crisis, while stopping short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Speaking at a media briefing, von der Leyen relayed details of a phone call she held with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
“Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, without any question,” von der Leyen said. “Of course, I think a negotiated solution is, in the long term, the best solution.
Earlier, von der Leyen said she had reiterated the bloc’s “commitment to peace, stability, and diplomatic efforts leading to de-escalation”, and “underlined that Israel has the right to defend itself”, in the call.
“Iran is the main source of regional instability. Europe has always been clear: Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon. There is an urgent need for a negotiated solution,” von der Leyen said in a post on X.
“We have consistently voiced strong concerns about Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs – the same missiles indiscriminately hitting cities not only in Israel, but also in Ukraine.”
Israel not seeking regime change in Iran, foreign minister says
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has denied that Israel is seeking regime change in Iran.
Asked in an interview with CNN whether Khamenei is a potential target of Israeli’s military offensive, Saar said his government is not aiming to topple the Iranian leadership.
“The Security Cabinet had decided on the objectives – it was not one of the objectives. This is for the Iranian people to decide. We, Israel, do not see the Iranian people as our enemies. We had great relations with Iran until 1979, until the Islamic revolution… when a very barbaric regime came to power. These are the people that chant, ‘Death to America, death to Israel,’” Sa’ar said.
Multiple media outlets have reported that Israel presented a plan to kill Khamenei to the US, but Trump rejected the proposal.
