Iran hits hospital, Israel strikes nuclear facilities as Trump says decision within 2 weeks

Live Iran hits hospital, Israel strikes nuclear facilities as Trump says decision within 2 weeks
Fighting between Iran and Israel continues into 7th day as Trump leaves world guessing. (Photo by various sources / AFP)
Short Url
Updated 19 June 2025
Follow

Iran hits hospital, Israel strikes nuclear facilities as Trump says decision within 2 weeks

Iran hits hospital, Israel strikes nuclear facilities as Trump says decision within 2 weeks
  • ‘I may do it. I may not do it,’ Trump says on joining attacks
  • Netanyahu says Israel ‘progressing step by step’ toward eliminating Iranian nuclear, missile threats

DUBAI/JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks as there is still a "substantial" chance of negotiations to end the conflict.

"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," Trump said in the statement.

 

Iran and European diplomats said nuclear talks will be held in Geneva on Friday, bringing together top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union as well as Tehran's Abbas Araghchi.

A hospital in southern Israel was hit as Iran fired a barrage of “dozens” of missiles, officials said Thursday, with impacts also reported in two Israeli towns close to commercial hub Tel Aviv.

The Soroka Hospital in Beersheba was left in flames, and its director Shlomi Codish said 40 people had sustained injuries.

“Several wards were completely demolished and there is extensive damage across the entire hospital,” he said.

Iran said the main target of its missile attack was not the hospital but a nearby military and intelligence base.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said “hospitals must be respected and protected,” citing international law.

UN rights chief Volker Turk urged restraint from both Iran and Israel, saying it is “appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage in the conduct of hostilities.”

 

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran would pay a “heavy price.”

Speaking in Beersheba after the hospital strike, Netanyahu said Israel was “committed to destroying... the threat of a nuclear annihilation” as well as Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.

His defense minister, Israel Katz, said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist.”

“Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed — he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals,” Katz told reporters. “Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist.”

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States was aware of Khamenei’s location but would not kill him “for now.”

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned that any targeting of Iran’s “supreme religious and political leadership” would have “dire consequences on the region.”

Trump said Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel’s strikes, and that Iran had reached out seeking negotiations on ending the conflict.

“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump told reporters. “I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”

Iran and European diplomats said nuclear talks will be held in Geneva on Friday, bringing together top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union as well as Tehran’s Abbas Araghchi.

The Wall Street Journal reported Trump has told aides he has approved attack plans but is holding off to see if Iran will give up its nuclear program.

A key Iranian government body, the Guardian Council, warned against any US involvement in the war, threatening a “harsh response” if “the criminal American government and its stupid president... take action against Islamic Iran.”

Tehran ally Moscow said any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step,” while pro-Iran groups in Iraq threatened retaliatory attacks.

 

A senior US diplomat, Tom Barrack, warned the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah against getting involved in the war, which he said in Beirut “would be a very, very, very bad decision.”

The Israeli military said it struck an “inactive nuclear reactor” in Arak in overnight raids on Iran that also saw the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz targeted again.

 

It said the strike on the Arak site was carried out “to prevent the reactor from being restored.”

The military said its fighter jets hit “dozens” of sites in the overnight raids.

Iranian police announced the arrest on Thursday of 24 people accused of spying for Israel and “trying to disturb public opinion and to tarnish and destroy the image of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.

Authorities in both Israel and Iran have announced arrests for espionage and other charges since the war began on Friday.

Trump: 'substantial chance' of negotiations to end conflict

US President Donald Trump said he will decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks as there is still a "substantial" chance of negotiations to end the conflict.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read out a message from Trump, saying there had been "a lot of speculation" about whether the United States would be "directly involved" in the conflict.

"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," Trump said in the statement.

The announcement could lower the temperature and give space for diplomacy.

Full story here

US and Iran keep discussion channels open, according to reports

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, Reuters reported.

According to three diplomats, Araqchi said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attacks.

They said the talks included a brief discussion of a US proposal given to Iran at the end of May that aims to create a regional consortium that would enrich uranium outside of Iran, an offer Tehran has so far rejected.

Iran's Atomic Energy Organization says no threat from Arak facility 

Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said there was no threat or harm to resident in the vicinity of the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor, which was hit by Israeli airstrikes.

The organizaton said there were also no casualties after the site was evacuated before the strikes.

The Israeli military said it earlier targeted the site, also known as Khondab, which includes a partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors produce plutonium, which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.

It was the latest attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel also said it had struck Iran's Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites.

Full story here

China urges Israel to stop fighting

Guo Jiakun, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said China strongly called on all parties involved in the conflict, especially Israel, to put the interests of the region's people first, and to immediately cease fire and stop fighting.

 

He added that the current situation in the Middle East region was “tense and sensitive,”  and at risk of “getting out of control.” 

Russia’s Putin dodges active involvement in Iran-Israel war

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday refused to discuss the possibility that Israel and the United States would kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the Iranian people were consolidating around the leadership in Tehran.

Full story here




Israel Katz accused Iran’s leader of “some of the most serious war crimes.” (FILE/AFP)
 

Israeli minister accuses Iran’s Khamenei of war crimes after hospital strike

Israel’s defense minister said Thursday Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be “held accountable” after an Iranian strike on a hospital in Israel, adding he had ordered the army to “intensify strikes” on the Islamic republic.

“These are some of the most serious war crimes - and Khamenei will be held accountable for his actions,” Israel Katz said, adding that he and the prime minister ordered the military “to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and against the power infrastructure in Tehran, in order to eliminate the threats to the state of Israel and to shake the Ayatollahs’ regime”.

Full story here

Iranian official warns US against involvement in Israel-Iran conflict

Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned against any direct US involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran, saying Iran had “all the necessary options on the table,” in comments reported by Iranian state media on Thursday.

Read more on this here




A missile is fired from Iran toward Israel on June 18, 2025, on the sixth day of fighting between the two foes. (FILE / AFP)

At least 47 injured in Israel after Iran missile attack: rescuers

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.”

Fleeing Tehran

Arezou, a 31-year-old Tehran resident, told Reuters by phone that she had made it out of the city to the nearby resort town of Lavasan.

“My friend’s house in Tehran was attacked and her brother was injured. They are civilians,” she said. “Why are we paying the price for the regime’s decision to pursue a nuclear program?”

In Israel, sirens rang out anew at dusk on Wednesday warning of further incoming Iranian missiles. A motorist was injured by missile debris, Israeli medics said. The army later advised civilians they could leave protected areas, signalling the threat had passed.

At Ramat Gan train station east of Tel Aviv, people were lying on city-supplied mattresses or sitting in the odd camping chair, with plastic water bottles strewn about.

“I feel scared, overwhelmed. Especially because I live in a densely populated area that Iran seems to be targeting, and our city has very old buildings, without shelters and safe spaces,” said Tamar Weiss, clutching her four-month-old daughter.

Iran has reported at least 224 deaths in Israeli attacks, mostly civilians, but has not updated that toll for days.

Since Friday, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel, some 40 of which have pierced air defenses, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

Leverage

Iran has been exploring options for leverage, including veiled threats to hit the global oil market by restricting access to the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important shipping artery for oil.

Inside Iran, authorities are intent on preventing panic and shortages. Fewer images of destruction have been allowed to circulate than in the early days of the bombing, when state media showed pictures of explosions, fires and flattened apartments. A ban on filming by the public has been imposed.

The communications ministry said on Wednesday that temporary restrictions on Internet access would be imposed to help prevent “the enemy from threatening citizens’ lives and property.”

Iran’s ability to hit back hard at Israel through strikes by proxy militia close to Israeli borders has been limited by the devastating blows Israel has dealt to Tehran’s regional allies — Hamas and Hezbollah — in conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon since 2023.


Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM

Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM
Updated 14 July 2025
Follow

Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM

Gaza ‘humanitarian city’ would be ‘concentration camp’: Ex-Israeli PM
  • Ehud Olmert slams proposal by defense minister, saying it amounts to ethnic cleansing
  • He condemns settler crimes in West Bank, calling extremist Israeli ministers ‘enemies from within’

London: Plans to build a “humanitarian city” for displaced Palestinians in Gaza would amount to creating a concentration camp, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.

The plan, outlined by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last week and backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes to relocate around 600,000 Palestinians — and eventually Gaza’s entire population of over 2 million — to the site in Rafah. Once there, they would only be allowed to leave if traveling abroad.

“It is a concentration camp. I am sorry,” Olmert told The Guardian. “If they (Palestinians) will be deported into the new ‘humanitarian city,’ then you can say that this is part of an ethnic cleansing.”

He added: “When they build a camp where they (say they plan to) ‘clean’ more than half of Gaza, then the inevitable understanding of the strategy of this (is that) it is not to save (Palestinians).

“It is to deport them, to push them and to throw them away. There is no other understanding that I have, at least.”

Israeli legal experts and journalists wrote to Katz last week warning that “under certain conditions it could amount to the crime of genocide.”

Olmert also condemned the uptick in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, criticizing complicity by Israeli authorities and calling the deaths of two men recently, including a US citizen, war crimes.

“(It is) unforgivable. Unacceptable. There are continuous operations organised, orchestrated in the most brutal, criminal manner by a large group,” he said.

“There is no way that they can operate in such a consistent, massive and widespread manner without a framework of support and protection which is provided by the (Israeli) authorities in the (Occupied) Territories.”

Discussing extreme right-wing Israeli Cabinet ministers pushing the violence in the West Bank and using language such as “cleanse” in relation to Gaza, Olmert called them “the enemy from within,” warning that their rhetoric and actions would fuel anti-Israel sentiment.

“In the US there is more and more and more expanding expressions of hatred to Israel,” he said. “We make a discount to ourselves saying: ‘They are antisemites.’ I don’t think that they are only antisemites, I think many of them are anti-Israel because of what they watch on television, what they watch on social networks.

“This is a painful but normal reaction of people who say: ‘Hey, you guys have crossed every possible line.’”

Olmert said that although he backed the initial invasion of Gaza after the October 2023 Hamas attack, he is “ashamed and heartbroken” at how Israel’s government has prosecuted the war and abandoned peace negotiations.

“What can I do to change the attitude, except for number one, recognising these evils, and number two, to criticise them and to make sure the international public opinion knows there are (other) voices, many voices in Israel?” he asked.

Saying he believes the Israeli military’s actions have caused “the killing of a large number of non-involved people,” he added: “I cannot refrain from accusing this government of being responsible for war crimes committed.”

However, he voiced hope that peace and a two-state solution are still possible, telling The Guardian that he is working with former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Qidwa to lobby the international community to help make it happen.


Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias

Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias
Updated 14 July 2025
Follow

Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias

Israel strikes military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian forces clash with Druze militias
  • Fighting between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters was the first time that sectarian violence erupted inside the city of Sweida itself

DAMASCUS: Israel has struck military tanks in southern Syria as Syrian government forces and Bedouin tribes clash with Druze militias there.
Dozens of people have been killed in the fighting between local militias and clans in Syria ‘s Sweida province. Government security forces that were sent to restore order Monday also clashed with local armed groups.
The Interior Ministry has said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured in that fighting.
Dozens of people have been killed in fighting between local militias and clans in Syria ‘s Sweida province, where government security forces sent to restore order Monday also clashed with local armed groups.
The Interior Ministry said more than 30 people died and nearly 100 others have been injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor reported at least 50 dead, including two children and six members of the security forces.
Clashes initially broke out between armed groups from the Druze religious minority and Sunni Bedouin clans, the observatory said, with some members of the government security forces “actively participating” in support of the Bedouins.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba told the state-run state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV that government forces entered Sweida in the early morning to restore order.
“Some clashes occurred with outlawed armed groups, but our forces are doing their best to prevent any civilian casualties,” he said.
The observatory said the clashes started after a series of kidnappings between both groups, which began when members of a Bedouin tribe in the area set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a young Druze man.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the observatory, said the conflict started with the kidnapping and robbery of a Druze vegetable seller, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.
Syria’s defense and interior ministries were deploying personnel to the area to attempt to restore order.
The Interior Ministry described the situation as a dangerous escalation that “comes in the absence of the relevant official institutions, which has led to an exacerbation of the state of chaos, the deterioration of the security situation, and the inability of the local community to contain the situation despite repeated calls for calm.”
Factions from the Druze minority have been suspicious of the new authorities in Damascus after former President Bashar Assad fled the country during a rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups in December. Earlier this year, Druze groups in Sweida clashed with security forces from the new government.
The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. In Syria, they largely live in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus, mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south.
The Druze developed their own militias during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war. Since Assad’s fall, different Druze factions have been at odds over whether to integrate with the new government and armed forces.


Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations
Updated 14 July 2025
Follow

Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations

Wizz Air to exit Abu Dhabi operations
  • Wizz said geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand
  • Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region

LONDON: Low-cost carrier Wizz Air said on Monday it was quitting its Abu Dhabi operation after six years to focus on its main European market, citing geopolitical instability and limited market access.

Wizz, which originally focused on central and eastern Europe but expanded into Britain, Italy and Austria, said in future it would concentrate on its much more profitable European business.

Wizz said the geopolitical instability had led to repeated airspace closures around Abu Dhabi, hitting demand, while the impact of the hot environment in the Middle East had hurt engine efficiency, making it hard to operate its low-cost model.

Failure to secure the flying rights for certain routes had also meant it was unable to grow in the region as it had hoped, the airline said.

“They just couldn’t make money out of the Middle East,” Davy analyst Stephen Furlong said.

Wizz said it will stop local flights from Sept. 1, 2025 and would be contacting customers regarding refunds.

“Supply chain constraints, geopolitical instability, and limited market access have made it increasingly difficult to sustain our original ambitions,” Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi said in a statement.

“While this was a difficult decision, it is the right one given the circumstances,” he added.

Wizz Air is in talks with Airbus about scaling back its order for 47 A321XLR, a longer range aircraft, and converting some of them to regular A321 jet.

“We have 47 XLRs on order. We are going to scale that back,” Varadi said.

“We have conversion rights for the majority of that of that aircraft order. So we are talking to the manufacturer.”


Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks

Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks
Updated 14 July 2025
Follow

Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks

Iran says ‘no specific date’ for US nuclear talks
  • Iran had been negotiating with the US before Israel began strikes on its nuclear facilities last month
  • The US launched its own set of strikes against Iran’s nuclear program on June 22

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no specific date” for a meeting with the United States on Tehran’s nuclear program, following a war with Israel that had derailed negotiations.

“For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei of plans for a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

Iran had been negotiating with the United States before Israel began strikes on its nuclear facilities last month, which Washington later joined.

Araghchi and Witkoff met five times, starting in April, without concluding a deal, before Israel launched surprise strikes on June 13, starting a 12-day war.

“We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round the Zionist regime, in coordination with the United States, committed military aggression against Iran,” said Baqaei.

The United States launched its own set of strikes against Iran’s nuclear program on June 22, hitting the uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.

The extent of the damage from the strikes remains unknown.

With its own strikes, numbering in the hundreds, Israel killed nuclear scientists and top-ranking military officers as well as hitting military, nuclear and other sites.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel, while it attacked a US base in Qatar in retaliation for Washington’s strikes.

Israel and Western nations accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied.

While it is the only non-nuclear power to enrich uranium to 60-percent purity, close to the level needed for a warhead, the UN’s atomic energy watchdog has said it had no indication that Iran was working to weaponize its stockpiles.


Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack

Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack
Updated 14 July 2025
Follow

Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack

Blast in residential block near Iran’s Qom, source says not Israeli attack
  • The agency said the residents of the building were ordinary citizens

DUBAI: An explosion at a residential building injured seven people in the Pardisan neighborhood of Qom city, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported, going on to quote an unnamed source saying it was not the result of any Israeli attack.
“Four residential units were damaged in the blast. Initial assessments show that the cause of the incident was a gas leak, and follow-ups are continuing in this regard,” the director of Qom’s fire department told Fars.
The agency said the residents of the building were ordinary citizens.
Iran’s regional arch-rival Israel has a record of assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists, whom it considers part of a program that directly threatens Israel. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Since the end of a 12-day air war last month between Iran and Israel, in which Israel and the United States attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, several explosions have occurred in Iran, but authorities have not blamed Israel.
“People should not worry about rumors (of Israeli attacks). If a hostile action occurs in the country, the news will immediately reach the people and alarm bells will simultaneously be activated in the Occupied Territories,” Fars quoted an unnamed Iranian source as saying following the blast in Qom.