June 16: Sirens sound across country after IRGC vows to strike Israel ‘without interruption’

Iranian FM tells European counterparts Israeli strikes ‘deal a blow’ to diplomacy

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (C) gives a statement during his visit to the mausoleum of slain Lebanese Hezbollah's Leader Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, on June 3, 2025. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)

Iran’s Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi says Israel’s strikes against his country “deal a blow” to diplomacy, during a call today with his French, British and German counterparts.

“The Israeli aggression against Iran in the midst of nuclear negotiations with the United States is a blow to diplomacy,” Abbas Araghchi says during a call reported by his ministry with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, the United Kingdom’s David Lammy, Germany’s Johann Wadephul and the European Union’s head of foreign affairs Kaja Kallas.

These three countries and the EU, along with China and Russia, signed a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, but the United States later unilaterally withdrew.

European FMs urge Iran to return to diplomacy, avoid escalation

The foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany urged their Iranian counterpart in a call today to return back to diplomacy and refrain from any regional or nuclear escalation, a French diplomatic source says.

“The ministers urged Iran to return to the negotiating table as quickly as possible, without preconditions,” the source says, calling on Iran to avoid any headlong rush against Western interests.

Police detain photographers who planned to livestream missile attack on Haifa port

Smoke billows from a missile impact site in the northern city of Haifa on June 16, 2025, where three people were killed in a strike on the Bazan oil refinery complex. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Police officers detained for questioning people who intended to livestream possible missile attacks on the port of Haifa, says a police spokesman.

According to the Israel Police, officers from the Haifa station received a report of people setting up cameras on a hotel balcony aimed at the Haifa port intending to broadcast possible attacks.

The photographers were taken for questioning and their equipment was seized, police say, with details also passed on to the Shin Bet.

Iran has said that the Haifa port is a major target, and last night its missiles struck the Bazan oil refinery, causing damage that shut it down and killing three people.

The IDF censor forbids live broadcasting of direct interceptions or missile impacts on the ground for security reasons.

US deploying more defensive capabilities to Middle East, says defense secretary

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers a speech at the US cemetery to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings, June 6, 2025 in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy. (AP/Thomas Padilla)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he has ordered the deployment of additional defensive capabilities to the Middle East, as the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran drives regional tensions higher.

Hegseth did not disclose what military capabilities he sent to the region. But Reuters was the first to report earlier today a deployment of a large number of US military refueling aircraft and the movement of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East.

“Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” Hegseth says in a post on social media platform X.

Civilians can leave bomb shelters after latest missile attack, says IDF

The moon rises in Tel Aviv, June 17, 2025. (AP/Leo Correa)"

The IDF Home Front Command says civilians can leave bomb shelters after Iran’s latest missile attack.

According to initial IDF estimates, a small number of missiles were launched in the attack.

No initial reports of impacts in populated areas following latest barrage, says MDA

There are no reports of impacts in urban areas or injuries in the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel, Magen David Adom says.

One missile reportedly hit an open area in southern Israel.

Sirens sound across central, southern Israel amid barrage of ballistic missiles from Iran

Sirens are sounding across central Israel and the Beersheba area in southern Israel following a ballistic missile attack from Iran.

Civilians in areas where sirens are sounding are instructed to remain in shelters until further notice.

IDF warns of incoming barrage of ballistic missiles from Iran

The IDF says it has detected a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran at Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes, as air defenses work to shoot down the threats.

Civilians are instructed to enter bomb shelters and remain in them until further notice.

Trump says he believes ‘a deal will be signed’ with Iran

US President Donald Trump attends a working session during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada on June 16, 2025. (Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)

US President Donald Trump says Iran should have signed a deal with the United States on its nuclear program before Israeli strikes began and that he believes they now want to make an agreement.

“As I’ve been saying, I think a deal will be signed, or something will happen, but a deal will be signed, and I think Iran is foolish not to sign,” Trump tells reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit.

IRGC vows to strike Israel ‘without interruption until dawn’

Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 16, 2025. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Iran will strike Israel “without interruption until dawn” overnight from Monday to Tuesday, its Revolutionary Guards announces.

“The ninth wave of combined drone and missile attacks has begun and will continue without interruption until dawn,” says the Guards’ spokesman, Ali Mohammad Naini, according to the official IRNA news agency.

There have not been any missile alerts in Israel in more than four hours. In the past some missiles and drones are shot down outside of Israel or fall short.

Dani Avraham, 59, named as one of fatalities in Haifa missile impact

Smoke billows from a missile impact site in the northern city of Haifa on June 16, 2025, where three people were killed in a strike on the Bazan oil refinery complex. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Dani Avraham, 59, from Kiryat Motzkin, is named as one of the three fatalities in the Iranian missile impact on the Bazan oil refinery in Haifa last night.

He was a father of two who worked for the refinery and was remembered by the Kiryat Motzkin municipality as a “modest man, dedicated and respected, who worked in the energy industry for more than 30 years and was always willing to help even in difficult times.”

הותר לפרסום: דני אברהם, בן 59 מקריית מוצקין, הוא אחד מ-3 ההרוגים במתקני בזןhttps://t.co/OpP2ggznpE pic.twitter.com/w59cAF85j8

— ynet עדכוני (@ynetalerts) June 16, 2025

Iranian Red Crescent says three rescue workers killed in Israeli strike in Tehran

The Iranian Red Crescent says that three of its rescue workers were killed by an Israeli air strike in northwest Tehran.

“This incident is not only a crime against international humanitarian law but also a blatant attack on humanity and morality,” the organization says in a statement, adding that the three workers were aiding the wounded in the capital’s Shahid Bagheri district.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

Reports: Three emergency workers of the Iranian Red Crescent were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran today. Attack said to have taken place during rescue operations. Footage shows burned out emergency services vehicle. pic.twitter.com/tSo4UAvudj

— Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) June 16, 2025

IDF downs drone over Golan Heights as sirens sound in local communities

Yet another drone that was launched at Israel, apparently from Iran, was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the Golan Heights a short while ago, the military says.

Sirens had sounded in several communities.

The IAF has shot down at least a dozen drones over northern Israel today.

🚨 ✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [23:24:18] – 3 Alerts:

• Southern Golan — Nov, Haspin, Ramat Magshimim

Population: 3,700 pic.twitter.com/xUnoBK82Xa

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) June 16, 2025

Iran TV says new wave of missiles launched; No sirens or alerts in Israel

Iranian state media claims a new barrage of missiles is targeting Israel tonight.

“A new salvo of missiles against the occupied territories [Israel] is beginning,” state TV reports.

However, 15 minutes after the announcement, there are no sirens or alerts of an impending strike in Israel.

Herzog visits patients wounded from Iranian missile attacks at Sheba’s underground hospital

President Isaac Herzog visits Israelis wounded in recent Iranian missile strikes at Sheba hospital's underground treatment facility on June 16, 2025. (Haim Zach / GPO)

President Isaac Herzog visits patients injured in the recent Iranian missile attacks at the underground hospital at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.

Since the start of the operation, around 200 wounded individuals of varying severity have arrived at the medical center, which is treating patients underground to protect them from incoming missile barrages, according to a statement from Herzog’s office.

Herzog and his wife, Michal, meet with the patients and listen to their accounts of injuries and experiences, the statement reads.

The president “expressed deep appreciation for the medical teams, praising their outstanding dedication and professionalism during this period,” Herzog’s office adds.

IDF deploys Oketz canine unit to assist with rescue efforts at missile impacts

Soldiers of the Oketz canine unit operate at the site of a ballistic missile impact in Bat Yam, June 15, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

In recent days, amid the conflict with Iran, the IDF’s Oketz canine unit has assisted in rescuing those wounded or trapped under rubble at missile impact locations across the country.

The military says Oketz has deployed a team whose dogs have undergone special training to locate trapped people at impact sites. The team is made up of both male and female handlers.

Additionally, the IDF says the LOTAR counter-terrorism school has dispatched climbing, rappelling, and rescue instructors to missile impact sites to assist with rescue efforts.

The LOTAR team has used drones to scan damaged buildings to provide an accurate picture for Home Front Command search and rescue forces, the army adds.

Home Front Command troops have been operating at several impact sites in recent days, rescuing civilians and recovering bodies from under rubble.

An Oketz dog is seen searching at the scene of a ballistic missile impact in central Israel, in a video published by the IDF on June 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

All facilities at Haifa oil refinery shut down after deadly Iran missile strike overnight

Smoke billows from a missile impact site in the northern city of Haifa on June 16, 2025, where three people were killed in a strike on the Bazan oil refinery complex. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

The Bazan Group says that as a result of the Iranian strike on its oil refinery in the Haifa Bay, all its facilities have been shut down.

Three people were killed in an Iranian missile strike on the refinery overnight.

In a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Bazan says that “as a result of damage to the facilities, the power plant was significantly damaged, and therefore all of the refinery’s and subsidiary companies’ facilities were shut down.”

Bazan says it is working with the Israel Electric Company to resume electric supply to the facility.

The facility, home to a distinctive cooling tower that looms over the densely populated Haifa Bay, has for years been threatened with attack by Israel’s adversaries, including Iranian proxy Hezbollah. It has never been known to have suffered a direct hit in the past.

Residents, environmental activists and others have long lobbied for the Bazan facility to be shuttered and moved elsewhere, due to both the heavy pollution it causes to the area and fears of disastrous consequences should it be struck.

In 2022, the government voted to relocate the facility by 2030. Work on the removal of an array of large oil tanks adjacent to the site was set to begin this year.

PM: Israel hit Iran’s state broadcaster because it’s a propaganda tool of a totalitarian regime, hiding the truth from the people

As the Israeli Air Force bombs the offices of Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran on June 16, 2025, the anchor is seen fleeing the studio. (Image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran's IRINN news; IRINN / AFP)

Asked at his press conference about the lack of support from Israel’s allies in thwarting Iran’s missile attacks, Netanyahu says, “There is good readiness” to help.

He also says there is support behind the scenes from other allies. He says there is widespread US public support, too, and while there is “a movement” that stresses “America First,” the fact is that the Iranian regime’s prime goal is “Death to America.”

He says, “I can understand ‘America First,’ but [the Iranians] want ‘America Dead.’

“The regime has tried twice to assassinate Trump, “and tried to assassinate me once and apparently a second time,” he says, and “blows up US embassies and has killed and wounded thousands of US troops in Iraq, in Afghanistan… in Beirut… and tried to blow up a restaurant in Washington.”

“It is developing ballistic and intercontinental missiles with the goal of “destroying America’s cities,” he says. It aims to bring New York into range, he says. “The problem is not only [faced by] Tel Aviv. The problem is [faced by] all the cities of Europe. The problem is also [faced by] the United States. Believe me, the leaders well understand this.”

He says that the Iranians intended to give nuclear weapons “to the Houthis and their other proxies, nuclear terror on steroids,” constituting a threat to the entire world.

He says he won’t let the ayatollahs destroy 3,500 years of Jewish history.

“What will be destroyed is their story.” Israel is today setting an example for all of humanity, he says.

He says Israel is waiting for Hamas’s response to Israel’s current stance on the hostages, saying he has given a “wider mandate” to Israel’s negotiators.

“Obviously, if Iran falls, or at least this threat falls, I think it changes the world, but it certainly changes the situation with the [Iranian] proxies in our neighborhood.”

He notes that Trump “shares the goal that Iran will not have nuclear weapons, will not have an enrichment capacity — because if there’s an enrichment capacity, there’s a nuclear capacity — and this goal will be achieved.”

Asked about the justification for hitting Iran’s state broadcasting building earlier today, and whether that exposes Israeli media to potential retaliation, he says Israel is “acting against regime targets…. It’s not a broadcast channel. It’s not a news channel. It’s a tool of a totalitarian regime that hides the true reality from the citizens of Tehran and Iran.”

It’s constructive to block this propaganda channel and to enable Iranians to get true information, he says.

The Iranian leadership underestimates Israel’s resilience, and it tries to hide how weak it is from the Iranian public. “They’re very scared of us, but you know what they’re more scared of? The Iranian people.”

‘We will do what is necessary,’ says PM, dodging a question on whether Khamenei is a target

A demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while gathering with others during a rally in solidarity with the government against Israel's attacks on Iran at Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran on June 14, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Answering more questions at his press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the US “is helping us,” that he speaks to President Donald Trump almost every day, and that Trump “will decide on what is good for America… We will accept any assistance.”

Asked whether Israel can destroy the Iranian nuclear program without attacking the Fordo facility and without the US, he repeats that Israel is “committed to removing” the Iranian nuclear threat, which he describes as “an existential” danger. “We are doing it and we won’t give up on it.”

“We won’t give up on our hostages in Gaza,” he adds. “We will bring them all back,” he says, and notes that this goal is bolstered by the tackling of the Iran-led axis.

Asked about whether Israel intends to kill Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei, he says, “I won’t go into all our war plans… We will do what is necessary. We are on the way to victory.”

IAEA chief: Likely all machines at Iran’s main enrichment plant ‘severely damaged’

Centrifuges line a hall at the Uranium Enrichment Facility in Natanz, Iran, in a still image from a video aired by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting company on April 17, 2021, six days after the hall had been damaged in a mysterious attack. (IRIB via AP)

It is very likely all the roughly 15,000 centrifuges operating at Iran’s biggest uranium enrichment plant at Natanz were badly damaged or destroyed because of a power cut caused by an Israeli strike, the UN nuclear watchdog chief told the BBC on Monday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General Rafael Grossi had previously said the centrifuges at the underground enrichment plant at Natanz may have been damaged as a result of an airstrike on its power supply, even though the hall housing the plant itself did not seem to have been hit.

“Our assessment is that with this sudden loss of external power, in great probability the centrifuges have been severely damaged if not destroyed altogether,” Grossi said in an interview with the BBC.

“I think there has been damage inside,” he said, going further than in an update to an exceptional meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors hours earlier.

Power cuts pose a threat to the fragile, finely balanced machines that spin at extremely high speeds.

Israel’s airstrikes have put at least two of Iran’s three operating uranium enrichment plants out of action. The above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz was destroyed, Grossi repeated in his update to the board.

IDF downs several Iranian drones over Golan Heights

Several drones that were launched at Israel, apparently from Iran, have been shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the Golan Heights a short while ago, the military says.

Sirens had sounded in Ramat Magshimim and Hispin.

Earlier today, the IDF reported shooting down five other drones over northern Israel.

Netanyahu: Iran’s nuclear program is like a cancer. You have to cut it out

This combination of pictures created on June 14, 2025, shows a handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies and taken on June 14, 2025, of a closeup view the Natanz nuclear facilities near Ahmadabad in Iran, before an Israeli strike (top) and another closeup view taken on June 14, 2025, after an Israeli strike. (AFP Photo/ Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies)

Answering questions at his Hebrew-language press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he’s “not surprised” that Iran is now calling for talks to end Israel’s attacks, because, he says, “they want to go back to producing their [nuclear and ballistic missile] weapons of death.”

One way or another, Iran’s nuclear and ballistic weapons programs will be destroyed, and they are welcome to do so themselves, he says.
But even as the Iranians were negotiating with the US, he notes, Iran’s “dictatorial” Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “was tweeting that Israel will be destroyed.” Israel, he says bitterly, will not be fooled about Iran’s intentions.

What matters are “results,” says Netanyahu.

Netanyahu specifies that Israel insists on “three central results: the destruction of the nuclear program, the destruction of the production capacity of ballistic missiles, and the destruction of the axis of terror. And we will do what is necessary to achieve those goals. And we are coordinated with the United States.”

He says the regime could fall as a consequence of those results, noting that it is weak and that Israel is changing the face of the Middle East. “There could well be vast changes in Iran,” he says.

He says millions of Iranians have watched the clips he has issued speaking directly to them, and “today they are full of hope.”

He notes that nobody foresaw the fall of the Soviet Union, and only a few foresaw the fall of the Assad regime in Syria days before it fell. He “can’t predict the result” of Israel’s “historic operation,” but the fall of the regime “could certainly be the result of it.”

Asked how far Israel has set back the Iranian nuclear program at this stage, he answers by repeating that the goal is that “it must be destroyed” and describing it as “like a cancer. You know, when you have a cancer that threatens to kill you, you cut it out. You also do other treatments and it could be that it returns one day. But I estimate that we are setting them back a great deal of time… and we’re not stopping… We are truly carrying out root canal treatment.”

He adds the situation “is at 12 o’clock. There is no 13 o’clock,” and says Israel is doing “what a people that seeks to live has to do.”

Iran issues evacuation warning for Israeli news channels after broadcaster attack: state TV

An Illustration of channel 14 in Jerusalem on June 2, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Iran has issued evacuation warnings for Israeli news channels after Israel attacked the building of Iran’s state broadcaster, Iranian state TV reports.

“Iran has issued an evacuation warning for the N12 and N14 channels of Israel. This order comes in response to the hostile attack of the Zionist enemy against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s broadcasting service,” state TV says.

Netanyahu lays out key Israeli achievements in taking out Iranian leadership, scientists, nuclear sites and missiles

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference on June 16, 2025. (Screencapture/GPO)

Speaking at a prerecorded online press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lays out the achievements thus far in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

“So far, we’ve killed 10” senior nuclear scientists, he says. “Our arm is still outstretched. There are a few; we will get to them.”

Israel delivered “an extremely severe strike” to the Natanz uranium enrichment site, he says. “We destroyed factories for creating centrifuges.”

“We are continuing to destroy nuclear targets systematically,” he says.

Netanyahu then moves to Iran’s ballistic missiles, reading from a list in his hand. “We struck and continue to strike production factories, one after the next,” he says, adding that Israel has taken out “hundreds of ballistic missiles.”

He adds that Israel is destroying missile launchers “one by one.”

“We eliminated Iran’s security leadership, including three chiefs of staff,” Netanyahu continues.

“We are eliminating them one by one,” he says.

“Israel controls Tehran’s skies… We paved an air highway to Tehran,” says Netanyahu.

Israel “simply eliminated” the air defense network in western Iran and other places in the country, boasts Netanyahu.

Half of Iran’s UAVs were also destroyed by Israel, according to the prime minister, and Israel struck their key radar systems.

Israel hit regime sites, headquarters, the government TV network, “and other sites that you will hear about soon,” he says.

“We are evacuating the population,” he continues, “and the population is leaving.”

“We are on the way to victory,” he promises, adding that “Iran understands this as well.”

IDF reservist killed in southern Gaza

Cpt. Tal Movshovitz. (Israel Defense Forces)

An IDF reservist was killed by an explosive device during operations in the southern Gaza Strip today, the military announces.

The slain soldier is named as Cpt. (res.) Tal Movshovitz, 28, a deputy company commander in the 7086th Combat Engineering Battalion, from Re’ut.

According to an initial IDF probe, Movshovitz was killed by an explosive planted inside a building.

Cyber Authority warns against fake messages urging Israelis to avoid going into shelters

Israel’s Cyber Authority warns that fake messages are being sent to Israelis urging them to avoid going into shelters, saying that there are alerts of terror attacks in shelters.

The messages purport to come from “orefalert.” Oref is the Hebrew word for home front.

The authority says that this is an attempt to “sow panic” among the public and reiterates that alerts are only sent through the official Home Front Command app.

⚠️ מסרוני פייק בשם orefalert
מופצים כעת מסרונים מזויפים הקוראים לא להיכנס למקלטים ומזהירים מהפסקת דלק.

❗️זהו ניסיון לזרוע בהלה.
הודעות רשמיות נשלחות רק דרך אפליקציית ואתר פיקוד העורף, מוקד 104 וערוצי התקשורת.

📱 ההודעה לא פוגעת בטלפון.
חסמו את השולח – ואל תעבירו הלאה. pic.twitter.com/tGCfgPcdcN

— Cyber Israel – מערך הסייבר הלאומי (@Israel_Cyber) June 16, 2025

US House Speaker Johnson postpones visit to Israel amid Iran tensions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R) speak to the press at the US Capitol following their closed-door meeting in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Oliver Contreras/AFP)

US House Speaker Mike Johnson announces that he will be postponing next week’s Israel visit to address the Knesset amid the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

“Due to the complex situation currently unfolding in Iran and Israel, [Knesset] Speaker [Amir] Ohana and I have made the decision to postpone the special session of the Knesset,” Johnson says in a statement.

“We look forward to rescheduling the address in the near future and send our prayers to the people of Israel and the Middle East,” he adds.

IDF says it’s attacking missile launchers in western Iran

Iranian ballistic missile launchers are targeted in Israeli airstrikes, in footage released by the IDF on June 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The Israeli Air Force is carrying out strikes on Iranian ballistic missile launchers in western Iran, the IDF announces.

The IDF has previously said it is working to “hunt down” Iran’s missile launchers to prevent attacks on Israel. It reported this morning that a third of the launchers, around 120, have been destroyed.

Meanwhile, Iran’s state media reports that air defense has been activated at the Isfahan nuclear facilities.

The IDF confirmed on Friday that it had hit the nuclear facility, along with another one in Natanz.

There was no immediate confirmation of an additional strike.

Israeli shekel jumps as investors sketch post-Iran conflict landscape

Illustrative: New Israeli shekel bills, September 24, 2023. (Hadar Youavian/Flash90)

Israel’s shekel jumps sharply and stocks and bonds gain today as investors began to look beyond the escalating conflict with Iran and shape a more favorable long-term risk assessment for the country’s assets.

The shekel traded at 3.50 to the dollar by 1642 GMT, 3.6% stronger on the day and scoring its best performance since October 9, 2023, when the central bank heavily intervened to shore up the currency following the October 7, 2023 Hamas asault.

The Israeli currency had rallied as much as 4.6% earlier in the session, snapping a four-day losing streak and clawing back hefty losses suffered last week when rumors of an Israeli attack on Iran intensified. Israel launched its biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy early on Friday.

The main Israeli share indices also gained, with the broad Tel Aviv 125 index TA125 closing 2.6% higher and extending Sunday’s gains of some 0.5%. The rise followed a weekend of punishing Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders, which were met with retaliatory Iranian strikes against Israel.

“The reaction of the local markets … perhaps reflects the assessment that in certain scenarios this war may be a catalyst for a new status quo in the region,” says Bank Hapoalim chief economist Victor Bahar.

Home Front Command lifts order to remain close to shelters

Israelis sit in bomb shelter in Tel Aviv on June 16, 2025 (Times of Israel)

The IDF Home Front Command says civilians in central and northern Israel no longer need to remain close to bomb shelters, after instructing them to do so 40 minutes ago.

Normally, the instruction is given when the IDF identifies that Iran is preparing to launch an attack on Israel.

No missiles were fired since the instruction was given.

The IDF says it has been working to destroy Iranian ballistic missile launchers to disrupt its attacks.

Iran tells UN strikes on Israel are self-defense

Israeli security and rescue forces at the scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran impacted and caused damage in Tel Aviv, June 16, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Iran’s strikes on Israel are self-defense and are “proportionate defensive operations directed exclusively at military objectives and associated infrastructure,” Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani tells the United Nations Security Council.

He writes in a letter that any cooperation by third countries with Israel’s strikes on Iran “makes them complicit in the legal responsibility and consequences of this crisis.”

Under Article 51 of the founding United Nations Charter, the 15-member Security Council must immediately be informed of any action that states take in self-defense against armed attack.

Iran’s missiles have killed 24 civilians and wounded hundreds more with attacks on an array of Israeli towns and cities.

UK asks citizens in Israel to register their presence, advises against all travel to Israel

The British Embassy in Israel asks its citizens in Israel and the Palestinian territories to register their presence with the Foreign Office.

The UK advises its citizens against all travel to Israel.

Iran claims it shot down Israeli F-35; IDF unaware of any losses

Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jets depart for strikes in Iran, June 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Iran shot down an Israeli F-35 stealth fighter near Tabriz, Iran’s state-run Nour news claims.

The IDF says it has no knowledge of such an incident.

Israel has rejected previous claims by Iran to have shot down Israeli aircraft as “fake news.”

Netanyahu giving online press conference, 1st since start of war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is giving an online press conference.

This will be his first since the attacks on Iran began late last week.

https://www.youtube.com/live/1Hd8DqyaXOo

Leonard Lauder, philanthropist who globalized family cosmetic business, dies at age 92

Leonard Lauder attends a gala launch party in New York, April 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin, File)

Leonard Lauder, a renowned philanthropist who expanded the family cosmetics business into a worldwide empire, has died at the age of 92.

Estee Lauders Cos. announced the news in a press release on Sunday and said he died on Saturday surrounded by family.

Lauder, the oldest son of Estee and Joseph H. Lauder, who founded the company in 1946, formally joined the New York business in 1958. Over more than six decades, Lauder played a key role in transforming the business from a handful of products sold under a single brand in US stores to a multi-brand global giant. He had held the title of chairman emeritus at the time of his death.

IDF destroyed two Iranian F-14 fighter jets in attack on Tehran airport

Iranian soldiers take a picture with a Winnie the Pooh character next to a F-14 fighter jet in an exhibition of achievements and equipment of Iran's air force in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

An Israeli Air Force drone struck and destroyed two Iranian F-14 fighter jets at an airport in Tehran, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin reveals in a press conference.

The US-made F-14 Tomcats were supplied to Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and are believed to be the last ones still in operation.

The IDF publishes footage of the strike.

Additionally, the IDF airs footage of a strike on Iranian soldiers who were preparing to launch drones at Israel. Another video shows a strike on containers where drones were stored.

The military also publishes a video of the strike on Iran’s state broadcaster building in Tehran earlier.

Footage published by the IDF on June 16, 2025, shows airstrikes on Iranian F-14 fighter jets at an airport in Tehran, Iranian soldiers preparing to launch drones, drone storage containers, and Iran’s state broadcaster building. (Israel Defense Forces)

Public in central, northern Israel told to stay near shelters ahead of anticipated Iran strike

The IDF Home Front Command instructs civilians in central and northern Israel to remain close to bomb shelters until further notice, as Israel anticipates a ballistic missile attack from Iran.

Iran said preparing for ‘largest and most intense missile attack’ against Israel

A Ghadr-H missile, center, a solid-fuel surface-to-surface Sejjil missile, and a portrait of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are displayed at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, for the annual Defense Week which marks the 37th anniversary of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian state media reports that Iran is preparing for the “largest and most intense missile attack” yet against Israel.

Netanyahu says Israel won’t rule out killing Khamenei: It would ‘end the conflict’

This photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, shows Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a televised speech, under a portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, Friday, June 13, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wouldn’t rule out targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in an interview with ABC News.

“Look, we’re doing what we need to do,” says Netanyahu.

“I’m not going to get into the details, but we’ve targeted their top nuclear scientists,” says the prime minister. “It’s basically Hitler’s nuclear team.”

“It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” says Netanyahu about plans to take out the Iranian leader.

Netanyahu indicates that he does not take seriously Iranian messages that it is looking to end the fighting and get back to nuclear talks.

“They want to continue to have these fake talks in which they lie, they cheat, they string the US along,” he says. “And, you know, we have very solid intel on that.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to ABC news on June 16, 2025 (Screenshot)

Asked about the isolationist, “America First” wing of Trump’s coalition, “We’re not just fighting our enemy. We’re fighting your enemy. For God’s sake, they chant, ‘death to Israel, death to America.’ We’re simply on their way. And this could reach America soon.”

“It’s a threat to Israel,” he continues, “as I said — to our Arab neighbors; to Europe; to America. They chant ‘Death to America.’ It’s though — ‘This is not your business’? This is not myopia. This is utter blindness.”

Israeli Air Force hits arms convoy between Tehran and Qom

The Israeli Air Force bombed a truck ferrying weapons on a highway between Tehran and Qom a short while ago, the military says, attaching footage of the strike.

According to the IDF, the truck was carrying a surface-to-air missile launcher. A few minutes after it was identified, it was struck, the military says.

The IDF also publishes footage of strikes on other Iranian trucks with weapons earlier today.

בכביש הראשי בין טהראן לקום: חיל האוויר השמיד משאית נוספת שנשאה משגר טילי קרקע-אוויר

לפני זמן קצר זוהתה בכביש הראשי בין טהראן לקום משאית איראנית הנשאה משגר טק"א.

תוך דקות בודדות, חיל האוויר תקף את המשאית והשמיד את המשגר והטילים pic.twitter.com/c7wpmBX1eP

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2025

Home Front Command says northern Israel residents can come out of shelters

The IDF Home Front Command says civilians in northern Israel can leave bomb shelters after Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

Medics say no reports of injuries in latest Iran salvo; IDF says only a few missiles fired

There are no reports of impacts or injuries in the latest Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel, Magen David Adom says.

According to initial IDF assessments, a small number of missiles were launched in the attack.

GHF says it’s opened 4 aid centers in Gaza, distributing record number of meals

Palestinians carry bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed organization, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The US- and Israeli-backed Gaza aid initiative continues to expand, opening four sites and reaching the highest daily number of meals distributed to date.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it has distributed over 3.1 million meals in 55,000 boxes.

The Khan Younis site in the southern Gaza Strip provided the most meals today.

Three American contractors working with the GHF suffered concussions during Iranian strikes on Israel last night, says the organization.

Sirens sounding in Haifa area; IDF working to intercept incoming missiles

Sirens are sounding in the Haifa area and across northern Israel after Iran launched ballistic missiles at the country.

The military says it is working to shoot down the projectiles. Civilians in areas where sirens are sounding are instructed to remain in bomb shelters until further notice.

IDF confirms hitting Iran state broadcaster, says building used by armed forces

The IDF, in a statement, confirms it bombed Iran’s state broadcaster building in Tehran a short while ago, saying it was used by Iran’s armed forces.

“This center was used by the armed forces to advance military operations under civilian cover, using its own means and assets,” the IDF claims.

Before the strike, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for a large section of Tehran where the broadcaster building is located, and made phone calls to people in the area, it says.

“The strike was also carried out in a targeted manner to minimize harm to uninvolved [civilians] as much as possible,” the IDF adds.

IDF says Iran fires barrage of missiles, sirens expected in northern Israel

The IDF says it has detected a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran at Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in northern Israel in the coming minutes, as air defenses work to shoot down the threats.

Civilians in areas in the north are instructed to enter bomb shelters and remain in them until further notice.

Germany to evacuate citizens from Israel via Jordan

Germany will start evacuating its citizens from Israel via Jordan’s capital, Amman, with a charter flight planned for Wednesday, a foreign ministry spokesperson says.

“Germans in Israel who are registered on the Elefand crisis preparedness list have been informed about this option and the details,” the spokesperson says.

Iran state TV resumes broadcasting after Israeli strike, vows not to be silenced

As the Israeli Air Force bombs the offices of Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran on June 16, 2025, the anchor is seen fleeing the studio. (X screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the copyright law)

Iran state TV resumes live coverage after Israel’s attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building.

“The Zionist regime, the enemy of the Iranian nation, minutes ago conducted a military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran news network,” part of IRIB, says a senior official at the broadcasting service, Hassan Abedini.

“The regime [Israel] was unaware of the fact that the voice of the Islamic revolution and the great Iran will not be silenced with a military operation.”

Katz says strike on Iran broadcaster part of effort to ‘strike the Iranian dictator everywhere’

After the Israeli Air Force bombed Iran’s state broadcaster building in Tehran, Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel will “strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.”

He says that “the Iranian regime’s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was struck by the IDF following a wide-scale evacuation of local residents.”

Iran hints at US role in ending fighting with Israel, says ‘one call’ could shift course

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, appears to make a veiled outreach for the US to step in and negotiate an end to days-long hostilities between Israel and Iran.

In a post on X, Araghchi writes that if Trump is “genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential.”

“It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu,” Iran’s top diplomat continues. “That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”

The message to Washington comes as the most recent round of talks between the US and Iran was canceled over the weekend after Israel targeted key military and political officials in Tehran on Thursday.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a wanted war criminal. He is also a con man who has duped successive U.S. Presidents into fighting his own wars for almost three decades.

By all indications, the purpose of Netanyahu's criminal attack on Iran—killing hundreds of innocent civilians,… pic.twitter.com/d1p6ZmSEEg

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 16, 2025

Trump says Iran wants to talk about de-escalating, is ‘not winning this war,’ should talk ‘before it’s too late’

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada on June 16, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

Iran wants to talk about de-escalating hostilities with Israel, and should do so immediately “before it’s too late,” US President Donald Trump says.

Asked whether he has heard that Iran wants to de-escalate the conflict, Trump says “yes… They’d like to talk. But they should have done that before. I had 60 days, and they had 60 days. On the 61st day, I said, We don’t have a deal.

“They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Trump tells reporters at the start of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel on Monday after reports that Iran is seeking an end to hostilities with Israel, raising the possibility of a truce and easing fears of a disruption to crude supplies from the region.

Air Force shoots down drone over Golan Heights

Another suspected drone “from the east” was shot down by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, over the Golan Heights, the IDF says.

Sirens had sounded in several towns in the area.

It is at least the fifth drone shot down by the IAF today.

Gantz tells Iranian opposition media that Israel’s war is not with the Iranian people

In a direct message to the Iranian people, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz insists that Israel’s war is against “the regime that seeks to destroy us, not against the Iranian people.”

Interviewed by Iran International, a London-based opposition outlet, Gantz says, “The Iranian people are a people of rich history and a distinct culture, and I hope the day will come when the Jewish people & the Iranian people can live side by side in friendship and prosperity.”

“We must ensure the regime never obtains military nuclear capabilities or the ability to deploy its proxies against the State of Israel. Only when that happens will Israel be able to say it has achieved its objectives. Israel and the United States are completely coordinated when it comes to ensuring the Ayatollah regime never obtains nuclear weapons. It’s not only an Israeli interest but a critical regional and global one, and our American partners understand that,” says Gantz, an Israeli opposition leader.

“The decision to preemptively act against Iran was justified and necessary, and on that matter, the Israeli opposition stands fully united with the coalition. The people of Israel stand completely united in achieving our objectives, and any disagreements we may have will have to wait for other times,” he says.

Footage shows Iran’s state broadcaster building on fire after Israeli strike

Footage shows the aftermath of the Israeli airstrike on Iran’s state broadcaster building in Tehran. The building is on fire and smoke billows out.

A person speaking in the video appears to have been wounded in the strike, with blood visible on his hands.

Iranian Radio and Television building on fire following Israeli strikes. pic.twitter.com/5ZoaahZrLt

— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) June 16, 2025

Gantz visits northern city of Tamra after four residents killed in missile strike

Benny Gantz and National Union MKs visit the city of Tamra on June 16, 2025 after it was hit in a Iranian missile strike. (Courtesy National Unity)

Accompanied by Tamra’s Mayor Musa Abu Rumi, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz, along with MKs Matan Kahana and Michael Biton, visit the northern Arab city of Tamra on Monday morning to pay condolences to the families of those killed in the Iranian missile barrage over the weekend.

“It was important for me to come to Tamra today, both to share in the pain of the personal loss and to clearly say that there is no place for inflammatory and partisan calls like those heard by individuals who do not represent society,” Gantz states.

“This is true in everyday life and even more so in an emergency. The missiles from Iran do not distinguish between Petah Tikva, Tel Aviv or Tamra. My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones, condolences from me and from all the people of Israel.”

On Saturday, a missile struck a two-story home in Tamra, killing four women and injuring some 10 people.

The women were named as Manar Khatib and her two daughters, Hala, 20, and Shada, 13, as well as another relative, also named Manar Khatib. The latter, Manar Khatib, was married to the brother of the father of the family.

Gantz’s party on Sunday condemned a video circulating on social media that showed a Jewish family cheering as Iranian ballistic missiles fell in Tamra.

“On the village, on the village!” a man could be heard shouting in the clip.

He and others then broke into singing the anti-Arab phrase “May your village burn,” clapping their hands as missiles rain down on the neighboring city.

After visiting Tamra, Gantz, Biton and MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen visited Haifa to meet Mayor Yona Yahav and tour the site of another missile strike.

Israeli jets bomb building of Iran state broadcaster in Tehran; anchor flees studio in mid-broadcast

As the Israeli Air Force bombs the offices of Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran on June 16, 2025, the anchor is seen fleeing the studio. (X screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the copyright law)

The Israeli Air Force bombed the offices of Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran a short while ago.

Footage shows the moment of the attack.

The Israeli strike interrupts the state TV broadcast, with the anchor seen fleeing the studio.

The screen fills with debris and smoke, and a voice is heard calling, “Allahu Akbar.”

Earlier, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for the area in Tehran where IRIB’s headquarters are based, while Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “The Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappear.”

BREAKING: The moment of the attack on IRIB (Iran State Broadcaster) pic.twitter.com/CVU26HHFub

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) June 16, 2025

US tells citizens not to travel to Israel amid Iran conflict

View of the U.S. Embassy Branch Office in Tel Aviv after a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit and caused damage in Tel Aviv, June 16, 2025. (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

The US is telling its citizens not to travel to Israel, raising its advisory amid the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

The decision comes two days after the US authorized the voluntary departure of non-emergency government employees and the family members of all government employees.

The travel advisory applies to the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well.

France defends decision to block Israeli display of offensive weapons at Paris Air Show

An attendee walks past the closed Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Israeli Pavillon during the 55th edition of the International Paris Air Show at the Paris Le Bourget Airport, on June 16, 2025. France on June 16, 2025, blocked access to the stands of five Israeli arms manufacturers at the Paris Air show for displaying "offensive weapons", according to a French government source. (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)

After French authorities blocked off partition walls around Israeli company exhibits displaying offensive weapons systems at the Paris Air Show overnight Sunday, France’s Foreign Ministry says it gave clear instructions to the companies ahead of time.

“From the beginning, we gave clear instructions that were conveyed to the Israelis, namely: a ban on the display of offensive weapons at the Bourget exhibition,” says the Quai d’Orsay.

Israel’s embassy agreed to the terms, says France.

An Israeli diplomatic source told The Times of Israel there were discussions, but Israel never agreed to the terms.

A source in the French presidency says that four Israeli companies followed the guidelines – Odysight.ai, Ashot Ashkelon, Beit Shemesh Engines, and the Defense Ministry.

Five did not — Elbit, IAI, Rafael, Uvision, and Aeronautics.

US bolsters Mideast military options for Trump with refueling aircraft and aircraft carrier

The US military has moved a large number of refueling aircraft to Europe to provide options to President Donald Trump as Middle East tensions soar, two US officials tell Reuters.

The officials also say the US aircraft carrier Nimitz is heading to the Middle East, although one official says the movement was pre-planned.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards call on Tel Aviv residents to evacuate

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards call on the residents of Tel Aviv to evacuate as soon as possible, Iranian state media reports, shortly after Israel issues an evacuation warning for a designated area in Tehran.

Three people killed in overnight strike on Haifa were at Bazan oil refinery

Smoke billows from a site, which was hit during the Iranian missile strikes, in the city of Haifa early on June 16, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

An Iranian ballistic missile that killed three people in Haifa overnight hit the Bazan oil refinery complex in the northern city, which is permitted for publication.

Rescuers had attempted for hours to reach the three missing people, who were buried under rubble during the attack on the northern city. A fire also broke out at the location, complicating rescue operations.

An Iranian missile attack a night earlier on Haifa caused “localized damage” at the oil facility.

Next month’s Maccabiah Games postponed by a year due to Iran conflict

South African Keegan David Cohen lifts a barbell during the clean-and-jerk segment of the Maccabiah's weightlifting competition in Jerusalem on July 19, 2022. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

The Maccabiah Games, the international Jewish sporting event slated for next month, is pushed off by a year due to the ongoing fighting between Israel and Iran.

The Maccabiah announces that instead of kicking off on July 8 in Jerusalem as planned, the games will take place in the summer of 2026.

“We’ll see you next year — stronger and united more than ever — for the most meaningful Maccabiah yet,” the organizers say in a statement.

The event was expected to draw around 10,000 athletes from around the world to Israel for two weeks of sporting events. Like the Olympics, the games are slated to run on a four-year schedule, although the 2021 event was pushed to 2022 due to the COVID pandemic.

Immigration minister makes his way home to Israel from Azerbaijan via two flights and a boat

Aliyah and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer and director general of the ministry Avichai Kahana greet immigrants from France in 2024. (Sivan Shahar/GPO)

Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer was forced to return to Israel via a roundabout route via Greece and Cyprus following Friday morning’s Israeli attack on Iran, returning only on Sunday evening.

According to Channel 12, Sofer was in Azerbaijan, north of Iran, for a conference on Thursday. There were no direct flights, so he had to fly to Athens and then to the Cypriot city of Limassol before boarding a boat to Israel.

Following the opening of hostilities with Iran, Israel closed its airspace, and over 100,000 citizens are currently stuck abroad.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev on Monday said that Israel is working on an operation to safely return them home, but it will take time.

Petah Tikva home of Likud MK Milwidsky damaged in early morning Iran missile strike

A man inspects damaged car following a strike by an Iranian missile in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Likud lawmaker Hanoch Milwidsky’s home in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva was damaged during Monday morning’s Iranian missile barrage, which killed eight and wounded hundreds.

Four of the victims were killed in Petah Tikva, where an Iranian missile hit a 20-story building in the city, badly damaging its fourth and fifth floors.

Addressing a pared-down Knesset session on Monday, Milwidsky said, “Knesset workers and MKs from almost all factions called to ask how I was today.”

“Two Arab MKs also called and these people who were here before do not represent the Arab public and all the Arab MKs,” he added, only minutes after the defeat of a no-confidence motion against the government brought by the Arab Hadash-Ta’al faction.

In addition to Milwidsky, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s son’s home was also damaged on Monday. In a video shot in his granddaughter’s bedroom, Lapid urged the public to obey Home Front Command directives regarding taking shelter.

“Glass fell on the spot where her head usually is,” he said while holding up a large shard. “I am telling everyone, be careful and listen to the instructions of the Home Front Command. Be in your protected spaces. Don’t take any risks.”

בחדר השינה של הנכדה שלי בתל אביב, זכוכיות נפלו על המקום שבו נמצא הראש שלה. בזמן אזעקות – תהיו בממ"דים ואל תיקחו סיכונים. זה מציל חיים pic.twitter.com/HeMeTSpyuy

— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) June 16, 2025

Report: Iran urgently signaling to Israel and US that it wants talks, end to hostilities

A poster of slain Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Gholam Ali Rashid, killed following Israeli strikes on targets in Iran, is set up at a Tehran square on June 16, 2025. . (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran has been urgently signaling that it seeks an end to hostilities and resumption of talks over its nuclear programs, sending messages to Israel and the United States via Arab intermediaries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing officials.

The report quotes officials as saying that Tehran has told Arab officials they would be open to returning to the negotiating table as long as the US doesn’t join the hostilities.

They also sent messages to Israel saying it is in the interest of both sides to keep the violence contained.

Iran has reportedly told Arab officials it could accelerate its nuclear program and expand the scope of the war if there are no prospects of resuming talks with the US.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

Mano Maritime deploying two cruise ships to bring back stranded Israelis from Cyprus

The Crown Iris cruise ship. (Courtesy of Mano Maritime)

Mano Maritime will operate two cruise voyages to help bring back stranded Israelis by sea from Cyprus to Israel in coordination with Israel’s Transportation Ministry.

Mano says in a statement that Israelis will be transferred on the luxury ship Crown Iris, which can carry 2,000 passengers, and will sail from Limassol in Cyprus to Israel.

The first cruise is expected to leave on Wednesday, subject to the security situation and relevant approvals of the defense establishment and other authorities. After arriving in Israel, the ship will return to Limassol for the second voyage.

The ship, operating a 5-star “floating hotel,” will dock in Limassol for a few hours to pick up passengers and then set off for Israel on a voyage that will take about 15 hours. Prices will range from €399 per person to €650. Reservations for the cruise are made through the company’s website only.

The prices take into account the national situation and do not reflect the real cost of the cruise, including the need for special arrangements in Cyprus for passport and security checks and additional costs, Mano says.

Justice minister extends emergency footing of courts until June 22

The entrance to the Central District Court in Lod (CC BY-SA Yarin50/Wikipedia)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin extends the state of emergency for the court system until June 22.

Levin put Israel’s courts into emergency footing for two days on Saturday night, meaning all courts around the country deal only with urgent cases.

On emergency footing, courts can hold criminal detention and release hearings; urgent proceedings for civil cases; cases dealing with criminal offenses related to the emergency footing; and urgent appeals to the Supreme Court.

The labor courts are also able to hold hearings on some urgent matters.

Arkia says it’s creating flight schedule for Israelis stranded overseas

An Arkia plane lands at Ben Gurion International Airport, on November 3, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90/File)

Local airline Arkia announces that it is putting together a special repatriation flight schedule from several nearby destinations as well as European cities and New York, to help bring stranded Israelis home.

At this stage, Arkia is working on a schedule of flights from nearby destinations, including: Athens, Larnaca, Rome, Paris and New York. The flights will begin as soon as the security establishment okays them, and will fly seven days a week​​including Shabbat.

The flights will be go on sale via Arkia’s website only. Passengers who hold a voucher following a flight cancellation will be able to redeem it when making the reservation. Prices for the flights have not yet been determined.

IDF issues unprecedented evacuation warning for parts of Tehran ahead of strikes

A few pedestrians walk along the historic Grand Bazaar as shops remain shuttered, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The IDF issues an unprecedented evacuation warning for a large section of Iran’s capital, Tehran, ahead of Israeli strikes.

“Dear citizens, for your safety, we ask you to immediately leave the mentioned area in District 3 of Tehran,” says the IDF Persian-language spokesman, Master Sgt. (res.) Kamal Penhasi.

“In the coming hours, the Israeli army will operate in this area, as it has in recent days throughout Tehran, to strike the Iranian regime’s military infrastructure,” the warning adds.

🔴 هشدار فوری به کلیه أفراد حاضر در ناحیه مشخص شده نقشه ضمیمه در منطقه ۳ تهران.

⭕️ شهروندان گرامی، بمنظور امنیت شما خواهشمندیم از ناحیه مذکور در منطقه ۳ تهران فورا خارج گردید.

⭕️ طی ساعات آینده ارتش اسرائیل در این ناحیه همچنان که طی روزهای اخیر در محدوده تهران عمل نموده است،… pic.twitter.com/8WkxfGQnKN

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) June 16, 2025

In a vague warning after the military issued the evacuation warning, Defense Minister Israel Katz says, “The Iranian propaganda and incitement mouthpiece is on its way to disappearing.”

“Evacuation of nearby residents has begun,” he adds.

Official says Israel believes Iran strikes could help bring about hostage deal with Hamas

A poster in support of the hostages held in Gaza is damaged in an Iranian missile strike on Rehovot, June 15, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Israel believes that its strikes against Iran will help in talks with Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

“The backing for Hamas will not be as strong,” says the official. “Hamas will feel compelled to move forward with an agreement.”

Israel proposed a deal in which Hamas would release 10 living hostages on the first day of a 60-day ceasefire, and two more a month later, according to the official.

Knesset committee approves extending state of emergency until end of month

A woman hols a baby evacuates after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Following a confidential briefing on the state of the war with Iran, lawmakers in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee vote unanimously to approve the nationwide state of emergency declared by Defense Minister Israel Katz and extended until the end of the month by the cabinet on Sunday.

Members of the committee were briefed by representatives of the National Security Council, Military Intelligence and the IDF Operations Directorate. On Tuesday, the committee will hold another confidential session with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Official says Israel’s operation in Iran expected to last 2-3 weeks, end goal is tight nuclear agreement

People walk past closed shops in Tehran's Grand Bazaar as fighting between Israel and Iran entered a fourth day on June 16, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Israel operation against Iran could take 2-3 weeks, but the timeframe depends on decisions made by the political echelon on the scope of the campaign, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

“There’s a bank of military targets that we can complete pretty quickly,” says the official. “If they decide to expand it to more like government symbols, economical targets, all that, then it will take longer.”

A tighter nuclear agreement between Iran and Western powers is the goal, says the official.

Israel is aiming to “cause enough damage [to the nuclear program] to revert to diplomacy and get a good agreement.”

The Iranians have been sending messages through intermediaries to Israel that “if Israel stops attacking, they will stop and they’re ready to go back to the negotiations,” says the official. “But Israel has to stop first.”

Israel is still conducting battlefield damage assessments to see how much damage the attacks have done, but it is too early to know at this stage. It believes that the underground facility at Natanz has been damaged in addition to the aboveground infrastructure, but that is still being examined.

It is less optimistic about Israel’s ability to seriously damage the Fordo nuclear facility on its own.

Do your job: Gantz slams Regev for telling stranded Israelis to enjoy themselves

Transportation Minister Miri Regev attends the official Jerusalem Day ceremony at the capital's Ammunition Hill, June 5, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

National Unity chairman Benny Gantz slams Transportation Minister Miri Regev (Likud), after she tells citizens stuck abroad due to the closure of Israeli airspace to “enjoy their stay abroad as much as they can.”

“Minister Regev, an elderly woman waiting for surgery; a young woman whose husband died in the war traveled for a few days and left a 4-year-old child in Israel; these are just two cases out of thousands of stories of people who need to return home,” Gantz tweets.

“Your job and that of the government is not to tell them what to do but to get them home safely.”

Earlier on Monday, Regev announced that Israel was working on an operation to safely return the more than 100,000 Israelis stuck abroad, but it will take time.

Regev asked Israelis stranded outside the country’s borders not to “panic and enjoy their stay abroad as much as they can.”

Knesset allows rabbinical courts to reduce activity during conflict

The building of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerualem. (Flash90)

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approves regulations to allow the rabbinical courts to reduce the scale of their activity during the current state of emergency.

“The regulations allow the religious services minister to declare a state of emergency in the rabbinical courts, similar to the authority granted to the justice minister in the regulations regarding the courts, according to which only urgent and not routine hearings are currently held,” the committee says in a statement.

According to Rabbi Seth Farber, whose Itim nonprofit helps Israelis deal with religious bureaucracy, urgent matters could include divorce and remarriage cases in which there is time pressure or the need to prove a person’s Jewish status ahead of a pending wedding. Cases of agunot, women whose husbands refuse to grant them religious divorces, would also be considered urgent.

Farber said his organization is currently helping a woman in the middle of a divorce who needs a divorce document before she flies abroad, once Israel’s airspace reopens. He says Itim’s assistance center “has turned into an emergency center, dealing with areas of divorce, mikvah etc.”

On Saturday evening, Justice Minister Yariv Levin instructed the courts to operate on an emergency footing, meaning all courts around the country will only deal with urgent cases.

The courts will remain on emergency footing through today, according to Levin’s order.

Under the emergency situation, courts can hold criminal detention and release hearings; urgent proceedings for civil cases; cases dealing with criminal offenses related to the emergency footing; and urgent appeals to the Supreme Court.

The labor courts are also able to hold hearings on some urgent matters.

El Al opens registration for return flights for its passengers who were stranded abroad

A row of evacuated aircrafts belonging to Israeli airlines El Al sit parked along the apron of Cyprus' main airport in Larnaca, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

El Al announces that is opening registration for repatriation flights for its customers whose flights have been canceled and who are stranded abroad since the closure of Israeli airspace.

“At this time, El Al is formulating the list of destinations and the scope of flights that will be allowed to operate under this plan,” El Al says in a statement. “The purpose of the registration is to map the location of our customers in the world, and accordingly build a flight schedule.”

“We emphasize that the order of registration on the site is not important since customers’ priority will be determined by their original flight date,” the airline says.

El Al notes that priority will also be given to “exceptional humanitarian cases, subject to the presentation of appropriate certificates and approval by a medical team on behalf of El Al, and for political and security needs – subject to approvals from relevant state authorities.”

“The rescue flights will be operated in a phased manner, and therefore patience will be required from El Al customers staying abroad,” the airline says. “We recommend that passengers prepare and make accommodation and lodging arrangements.”

Customers for reservations made directly with El Al or through agents need to register in advance via this link.

After registration, an email confirming receipt of the form will be sent within three hours.

“It should be emphasized that this is not an email confirming flight placement,” El Al says. “After registration we will be in touch with our customers with updates via email/SMS, including instructions and flight placements, subject to approval of flight operations from the state.”

Meir Vaknin, father of three, identified as victim of Bat Yam missile strike

Meir Vaknin, 56, is named as one of nine people killed in a missile strike on a Bat Yam residential high-rise early Sunday.

According to Hebrew media, Vaknin was a father of three and a resident of Bat Yam.

פורסם שם נוסף של הרוג מפגיעת הטיל בבת ים: מאיר (מירו) ווקנין ז"ל, תושב העיר בן 56@eli_zil pic.twitter.com/ltoDiyBzE7

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) June 16, 2025

Lapid posts video from son’s missile-damaged home

After his son’s home was damaged in recent missile attack, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid posts a video showing his year-old granddaughter’s glass-strewn bedroom and appeals to the public to obey Home Front Command directives regarding taking shelter.

“Glass fell on the spot where her head usually is,” he says from the room, holding up a large shard. “I am telling everyone, be careful and listen to the instructions of the Home Front Command. Be in your protected spaces. Don’t take any risks.”

Oppiosition Leader @yairlapid shows where glass fragments fell into his granddaughter's bed and urges Israelis to obey Homefront Command instructions regarding staying in protected spaces during attacks pic.twitter.com/TdM5E5np2L

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) June 16, 2025

Netanyahu says Israel ‘on way’ to destroying Iran’s nuke, missile threats

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Tel Nof airbase on June 16, 2025. (Avi Ohayon/GPO)

Israel “controls the skies over Tehran,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, echoing statements by the IDF spokesman earlier in the day.

“This is a change in the entire campaign,” he continues during a visit to the Tel Nof Airbase in central Israel, joined by Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.

Netanyahu says Israel is “on the way” to achieving its goals of destroying the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threats.

“When we control the skies over Tehran, we are hitting these targets, the targets of the regime, unlike the criminal regime of Iran that targets our citizens and comes to kill children and women,” he says.

Israel, in contrast, is telling Tehran’s residents to “get out” while the IAF strikes targets in the capital, says Netanyahu.

As masses appear to flee Tehran, police blame traffic on clunkers breaking down on the road

Amid reports of masses of Tehran residents fleeing the city and seeking safety from Israeli strikes, Iranian officials claim heavy traffic along arteries leading out of the city is not due to a mass exodus but poor auto maintenance.

State-run news agency IRNA claims that traffic jams last night and this morning are caused by cars breaking down and overheating due to drivers bringing defective vehicles onto the roadway.

“Despite repeated warnings and information from the traffic police, some drivers have entered the roads with vehicles with technical defects, leading to traffic jams and long delays, especially on the northern routes,” a top police official is quoted saying.

The traffic jams continue for hours now in Tehran.. Not sure why these tweets are stagnant, but it is noteworthy re: the Regime that so many Iranians are fleeing their capital as Israeli jets operate freely overhead in broad daylight. https://t.co/Rr8O8jKLjQ pic.twitter.com/zNmdsB7d5b

— Ron M. (@Jewtastic) June 15, 2025

Police claim other routes are running smoothly.

According to the outlet, the main highway out of Tehran leading northward now allows only one-way traffic.

IDF launches fresh wave of strikes in central Iran

The Israeli Air Force has begun a new wave of airstrikes in central Iran, a military official says.

The IDF is expected to provide details on the strikes later.

At site of deadly missile attack, Herzog urges G7 to act against Iran, help free hostages

At the site of a Petah Tikva apartment building struck by an Iranian ballistic missile overnight, resulting in four fatalities, President Isaac Herzog says the Iranian regime will not “wear down” Israel.

The destruction is “pure evil… aimed at innocent civilians all over Israel,” Herzog tells media at the scene. He notes that Petah Tikva was among the first settlements established by Zionists some 150 years ago.

“But I have news for the Iranian regime,” he continues. “You think you’ll exhaust us, undermine our self-confidence — but you are entirely mistaken… I think you’re feeling it out there in Iran, and I think the Iranian people are fed up, and they want change. And so, of course, does the entire region. We deserve change.”

“Nothing will shake the Israelis,” he says.

Herzog reiterates his call for the leaders at today’s G7 summit in Canada to “stand up with us, and make clear two things: Iran must not have any capability of nuclear weapons, and secondly, bring back our hostages as soon as possible, till the last one of them, immediately.”

He adds that Israel must “not forget for even a moment our brothers and sisters held hostage in Gaza,” and says he believes the campaign against Iran “is also part of the effort to bring them back.”

IDF says it hit trucks carrying missile launchers to Tehran

The IDF releases footage showing airstrikes on trucks it says were ferrying weapons to Tehran.

Since this morning, the Israeli Air Force identified several trucks, carrying surface-to-air missile launchers and other weapons, moving from western Iran toward Tehran “in an attempt to escape IDF strikes,” the military says.

תיעוד: חיל האוויר מאתר ומשמיד משאיות המבריחות טילים בדרכן לטהראן

החל משעות הבוקר, חיל האוויר זיהה מספר משאיות המכילות אמצעי לחימה, ביניהן משאיות הנושאות משגרי טילי קרקע-אוויר, הנעות ממערב איראן לכיוון טהראן בניסיון להימלט מתקיפות צה"ל.

בסגירת מעגל מהירה, חיל האוויר תקף את… pic.twitter.com/j65l8nkjev

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2025

Strikes were then carried out on the trucks.

Shaken but okay, Israelis pick up pieces at site of Tel Aviv missile strike

The scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit and caused damage in Tel Aviv, June 16, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

Buildings three blocks away from the site of an Iranian missile impact in Tel Aviv show signs of damage, including cracked windows. Closer to the impact site, businesses and apartments are largely bombed out. A 15-story high-rise overlooking the impact site over a parking lot is left entirely windowless.

Despite the paucity of safe rooms in the area, only four people were hurt in the attack and treated for light to moderate injuries, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital reports.

Two buildings were completely destroyed by the blast. Emergency services were still working to clear the rubble early Monday afternoon as officers, soldiers and a large group of curious civilians milled about.

Nearby, a mobile municipality command center is coordinating affected residents’ evacuation to hotels.

As anguished-looking residents wait on the sidewalk with bags and suitcases, one resident with a large black suitcase asks to retrieve valuables from his apartment within the cordoned-off zone, just across from buildings being razed. A security guard tells him that’s impossible until the demolition is over.

“It could take 20 minutes, it could take three hours,” says the guard.

Dorit and Ofer, who live about five buildings down from the fall site, recall hearing a huge boom as they sheltered in the packed community safe room during the attack. Their own apartment escaped relatively okay, they say.

“Some windows broke, walls cracked,” says Dorit. “But it’s not like that,” she adds, pointing across the street to a newly windowless apartment building.

Business owners in the area sweep up glass, taking stock of what remains.

A sex shop, a liquor store and a Russian restaurant are among those that were practically destroyed.

The scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit and caused damage in Tel Aviv, June 16, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

“Are you an appraiser?” asks Tzipi, hopefully, as she catches the eye of a Times of Israel reporter.

Tzipi sells cute porcelain pieces about 100 meters (yards) uphill from the impact site. Some of the statuettes broke, and the front window of the shop has shattered. She appears skeptical that insurance will do much good.

“It’s nothing. The important thing is that we’re healthy,” she says.

Pared-down Knesset convenes in conference room for wartime session

The Knesset plenum on June 16, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)

In its first session since opening of hostilities with Iran, the Knesset convenes in a sunken conference room in the Parliament building in Jerusalem rather than in its usual chambers. Lawmakers debate a scaled-back legislative agenda in a sparsely attended meeting in a largely empty room.

Opening the session, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana praises Israelis for their “extraordinary national resilience” in working to ensure their country’s existence “for generations to come.”

While other opposition motions of no-confidence were dropped from the agenda following Friday’s attack on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory missile strikes, the Arab Hadash-Ta’al faction submitted a motion “in light of the wars in Iran and Gaza, and the heavy loss among civilians.”

Faction chairman MK Ayman Odeh called for an end to the fighting, arguing that “not only has this criminal government failed, the opposition is also being dragged along with it time and time again, in quiet and shameful surrender.”

After the motion is voted down, Ohana says lawmakers “sent a strong message to our enemy: We are one people, and in such fateful moments we all stand together.”

Israel working to get over 100,000 stuck abroad home, but safety first, minister says

Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, June 13, 2025. (Roy Alima/Flash90)

Transportation Minister Miri Regev says Israel is working on an operation to safely return the more than 100,000 Israelis stuck abroad, but it will take time.

“We are readying rescue flights to bring Israelis back home,” she says. “We will be doing this in a very organized manner in coordination with the Defense Ministry.”

Israel’s airspace has been closed since the Israel Defense Forces began attacking Iran early Friday, leaving those abroad with no way to get back and those here with few options to leave.

Regev expresses worries that planes flying Israelis back home could be targeted by Iran while on the tarmac.

“I am aware of the distress, but we will not take the risk that we will bring a plane and, God forbid, there will be a ground incident with more than 300 deaths,” Regev adds.

Israelis trying to get back will eventually need to make their way to as yet unannounced cities where they will be able to catch flights home.

“Once Israeli airlines get slots from the authorities, they will be updating their customers from where and when flights will leave,” she says.

She adds that talks are taking place with cruise provider Mano Maritime to organize ships from Cyprus that could bring Israelis back.

At the same time, foreign nationals “who do not need to be here” will be sent abroad so they can return home, she says.

Regev asks Israelis stranded outside the country’s borders not to “panic and enjoy their stay abroad as much as they can.”

Putin, Erdogan condemn Israeli actions against Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel’s “act of force” against Iran and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities when they spoke by phone on Monday, the Kremlin says.

“Both sides expressed the most serious concern about the ongoing escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, which has already led to a large number of casualties and is fraught with serious long-term consequences for the entire region,” a Kremlin statement says.

“The leaders spoke in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities and the settlement of contentious issues, including those related to the Iranian nuclear program, exclusively by political and diplomatic means,” it adds.

The two sides agreed to remain in close cooperation, the statement notes.

Defense officials reportedly deny fresh strikes in Iran’s Mashhad

No fresh Israeli strikes took place in Iran’s northeastern city of Mashhad, Army Radio reports, citing two defense officials, after unverified reports claimed new attacks in the area.

The IDF carried out a strike in Mashhad yesterday, but has not struck there since, according to the Army Radio report.

IDF says some troops pulled out of Gaza, redeployed along Egypt and Jordan borders

The IDF has drawn down forces from the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict with Iran, and has instead bolstered the borders with Egypt and Jordan.

According to the military, four IDF divisions are currently operating in Gaza, after the 98th Division, an elite formation of paratroopers and commando units, was taken out of Khan Younis and sent elsewhere as the Iran conflict began. Still, tens of thousands of troops are operating in the Strip.

The IDF says that during the conflict in Iran, it has continued to eliminate Hamas operatives in Gaza, destroy terror infrastructure, including tunnels, and boost its defenses along the border with the Strip.

Meanwhile, the IDF say, it has triple the usual number of forces on the Jordanian border. The IDF in recent days deployed the newly formed 96th “Gilad” Division to the northern portion of the Jordan border, while the 80th “Edom” Divison has bolstered the southern section.

The 80th Division has also bolstered troops along the border with Egypt.

In northern Israel, the IDF says it continues to defend against potential threats from Lebanon and Syria.

Ben Gvir says police hunting down anyone filming missile strike locations, celebrating Iran

Speaking from the scene of this morning’s Iranian missile strike in Petah Tikva, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir pledges to crack down on both foreign media and “expressions of joy” at Iranian attacks.

Ben Gvir says that foreign networks put lives at risk by broadcasting the locations of missile impacts, allowing those who launch the projectiles to better triangulate their fire. He says he turned to the Shin Bet regarding the matter and ultimately decided that the police would also take part in efforts to crack down on the activity.

“Broadcasts that show exactly where the missiles land on the State of Israel are a danger to the security of the state and I expect that anyone who does this will be treated as someone who harms the security of the state,” he says.

Earlier, Ben Gvir’s office announced that police and Communications Ministry officials had gone into the field to track down the source of what was thought was an Al Jazeera broadcast in the Haifa area, where missile barrages have targeted sensitive facilities.

“The photographers and reporters on the spot were checked, and it was found that they were not Al Jazeera or Al Mayadeen reporters, but rather other foreign broadcasting channels, for which there is no blanket prohibition on filming – as long as they did not violate censorship regulations,” Ben Gvir’s office said.

Following the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, the Knesset banned both Al Jazeera and the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen networks on national security grounds.

Ben Gvir also announces “zero tolerance” for celebrations in support of the Iranian attacks, saying that “police have arrested quite a few people” and prison guards have cracked down among inmates expressing joy over the strikes.

“Zero patience for those who support Iran,” he says. “Supporting Iran is supporting terrorism, and those who support terrorism should be in custody.”

Father of four named as third victim in Bat Yam strike

Michael Nahum, 61, is named as one of nine people killed in a missile strike on a Bat Yam residential high-rise early Sunday.

Nahum was a father of four, according to the Ynet news site.

אחד ההרוגים מהנפילה בבת ים: מיכאל (מיקי) נחום, בן 61 תושב העיר@hadasgrinberg pic.twitter.com/qcA2YAIRTM

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 16, 2025

Two others, Efrat Saranga, 44, and Belina Ashkenazi, 94, have also been named as victims so far.

Efforts at the site are continuing as one person remains missing following the early morning strike.

‘Total war:’ Ex-defense chief Liberman calls for attacks on Iranian civilian infrastructure

Israel must strike “all Iranian power plants, every oil well, gas field, fuel storage facility, and seaports and airports,” Yisrael Beytenu party chief Avigdor Liberman says during a visit to Rehovot, where Iranian missiles caused damage to the campus of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

“We are paying a very heavy price. The Iranians are attacking population centers and civilian infrastructure. This is a total war,” the hawkish former defense minister says, arguing that Israel “must not stop halfway.”

Defense Ministry says 46 trucks of aid sent into Gaza Sunday

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announces that 46 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip yesterday.

Israel resumed aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause since March 2. Since then, 1,561 trucks have entered the Strip, according to official figures.

Some of the truckloads have been taken to aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The contents of many of the trucks that entered Gaza in recent weeks are still awaiting collection on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israel says.

The aid underwent an inspection by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the crossing.

Czech Republic, Taiwan help nationals leave Israel; Iran spirits foreign diplomats out via Turkmenistan

The Czech Republic is sending a plane for Czechs who want to leave Israel amid the conflict with Iran, the Czech Foreign Ministry says. Other Czechs will use another plane sent by the government of Slovakia headed to Jordan to return home.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it helped 14 Taiwanese leave Israel by bus for Jordan on Sunday and will help them travel onward.

The ministry is in touch with another nine Taiwanese currently in Iran and will assist them if they need help departing, the ministry said in a statement Monday.

The German embassy says its nationals in Israel must sit tight until the situation stabilizes. “As long as the airspace is closed and the land gateway is not secure enough, we unfortunately have no possibility to support you with your departure,” it says.

In Iran, some 120 people, including diplomats and their families, were evacuated via Turkmenistan, the country’s Foreign Ministry says. Many of those evacuated were from fellow Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, officials say.

Iran Jewish community in Isfahan condemns Israeli attack, state-run outlet says

An Iranian Jewish man walks past a banner during a gathering of Iran's Jewish community outside a UN office in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

The Jewish community in Isfahan, Iran, has condemned Israel’s preemptive attacks against the country’s nuclear facilities, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reports.

“The Zionists’ brutality, which is far from any human morality and has caused the martyrdom of a number of our beloved compatriots, including innocent children, has hurt all of our hearts,” the community says in a statement shared with IRNA.

“We are confident that the Islamic Republic of Iran, proud and honorable, will give a crushing and regretful response to the Zionist regime and will make it regret its shameful actions,” it adds.

Iran’s Jewish community occasionally issues anti-Israel statements that match the regime’s agenda. It is not necessarily believed that such statements actually reflect the community’s sentiments.

According to IRNA, about 3,000 Jews live in Iran, with the Isfahan province alone home to 1,200 Jews and 16 synagogues.

Outside sources have estimated that some 8,500 Jews live in the country, primarily in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz. Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were some 100,000 Jews in the country.

Housing Ministry set to go to Haim Katz as caretaker after Goldknopf exit

Tourism minister Haim Katz arrives for a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on December 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The government is scheduled to officially announce former housing minister Yitzchak Goldknopf’s exit from the government and his temporary replacement by Tourism Minister Haim Katz this afternoon in the Knesset.

According to Monday’s Knesset agenda, Katz will replace Goldknopf as housing minister for an interim period of three months.

Goldknopf, the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet on Thursday afternoon as part of an ongoing fight over the military conscription of yeshiva students. His resignation went into effect on Sunday.

Earlier this year, Katz temporarily took on the duties of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, and Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf when their far-right Otzma Yehudit party temporarily left the government.

IAEA chief says no further damage to Iranian nuclear sites since Friday

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says there is no sign of further damage at the Natanz or Fordo enrichment sites after Israel launched attacks aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear program.

Grossi and the International Atomic Energy Agency he heads had previously reported that the smallest of Iran’s three enrichment plants, an aboveground pilot plant at the sprawling Natanz nuclear complex, had been destroyed.

While there was no sign of a physical attack on the bigger underground enrichment plant at Natanz, its power supply was destroyed, which may have damaged the uranium-enriching centrifuges there. No damage was seen at the Fordo plant dug into a mountain.

“There has been no additional damage at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant site since the Friday attack, which destroyed the above-ground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant,” Grossi says in a statement to an exceptional meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.

He also details four buildings at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site that were hit on Friday.

“The central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion plant, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and the UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) to EU metal processing facility, which was under construction,” he says.

“The agency is and will remain present in Iran. Safeguards inspections in Iran will continue as soon as safety conditions allow, as is required under Iran’s [Non-Proliferation Treaty] safeguards obligations,” he adds.

Fourth drone shot down over Golan

A suspected drone “from the east” was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the Golan Heights a short while ago, the IDF says.

Sirens had sounded in the area of Alonei Habashan, marking the fourth suspected infiltration, the third in the Golan, in under two hours.

Israel reported to renew attacks deep inside Iran

Reports out of Iran indicate that Israel has renewed strikes on the country.

Video online purports to show heavy plumes of black smoke billowing over Mashhad following an Israeli attack on the city in northeast Iran that would beamong the deepest attacks inside Iran since fighting began Friday.

# فوری

⭕️ ⭕️ 🚨 Mashhad Air Force was targeted minutes ago pic.twitter.com/yRaFyKuCyS

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexkennedyIran) June 16, 2025

The Tasnim news agency also claims Israel bombed a fire department building in Musiyan in the western province of Ilam, publishing a video of smoke rising from the site.

The semi-official news outlet, which is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, says a separate strike has taken place in Kermanshah. It claims a hospital was damaged in the attack, carrying a video showing shattered glass, collapsed ceilings, and extensive damage in patient rooms.

Israel scrambles to help tens of thousands of foreigners stuck in country

The Tourism Ministry estimates that about 40,000 tourists are stranded in Israel after the country’s airspace was closed until further notice amid Iranian missile strikes.

The ministry says it has launched a 24/7 virtual office offering information services to tourists in Israel via digital channels, available in both Hebrew and English.

The ministry says it is in touch with tourism industry stakeholders, including hotels and other accommodation providers, to help tourists with accommodation and other needs.

“We are also trying to help tourists, presenting them with currently available options for foreign passport holders to leave Israel via land border crossings via Jordan and Egypt, which have remained open,” a Tourism Ministry spokesperson says.

Katz says Israel won’t target Tehran’s civilians, but they will suffer by being displaced

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel does not seek to harm Iranian civilians in Tehran beyond displacing them, as the IDF prepares to conduct additional strikes in Iran’s capital.

Katz earlier warned that Tehran’s residents would “pay the price” for Iranian missiles that have targeted civilians areas in Israel, killing two dozen people.

“I wish to clarify the obvious: There is no intention to physically harm the residents of Tehran, as the murderous dictator does to the citizens of Israel,” Katz says in a statement.

“The residents of Tehran will be forced to bear the cost of the dictatorship and evacuate their homes from areas where it will be necessary to strike regime targets and security infrastructure in Tehran,” he says.

Third drone shot down by air force, fourth shows up

A suspected drone from the east was shot down by the Israeli Air Force over the Golan Heights a short while ago, the IDF says. The projectile was the third suspected drone to infiltrate Israel within an hour.

A fourth drone alert sounds a short time later, this time in Alonei Habashan, another Golan Heights community.

Smotrich huddles with union chief, industry captain on keeping wartime economy running

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich consults with labor and business leaders to discuss steps to keep the economy going during the war with Iran.

In a statement, Smotrich’s office says that he has met with Dubi Amitai, the chair of the Business Sector Presidium, and Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David to discuss “the state of the Israeli economy during the war and the steps” all three will take “to support the economy and workers and to maximize the functional continuity of the economy during the war.”

The three agree to a series of follow-up meetings, Smotrich’s office announces.

“The Israeli people are demonstrating extraordinary national resilience, which is critical to victory in the necessary existential war that we have embarked on in the face of Iranian threats of annihilation,” he says.

During the war in Gaza “continuous, good, and beneficial dialogue was created between the government, workers, and employers, and we know how to work together well to provide the best response to the economy and the public… The people of Israel are in good and experienced hands.”

Many businesses have been temporarily closed since Israel attacked Iran on Friday morning, sparking a wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks. The conflict has also shut down Israeli airspace, putting a crimp on imports and exports. However, the stock market has remained open, closing in the green on Sunday in the first day of trading since the hostilities commenced.

Israel has full control of Tehran’s airspace, over 100 missile launchers destroyed, IDF says

The Israeli Air Force has established “full aerial superiority” over Iranian capital Tehran, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says in a press conference.

He adds that the IAF has destroyed a third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers and is managing to disrupt “extensive parts” of its attacks on Israel.

According to Defrin, 65 ballistic missiles and dozens of drones were launched at Israel in two barrages Sunday night and Monday morning, most of which were intercepted, though three impacts killed eight people.

However, Iran wanted to launch at least twice as many missiles at Israel overnight, he says.

Overnight, 20 ballistic missiles were simultaneously targeted by the Israeli Air Force in Iran before they could be launched, he says.

The IDF says that some 50 fighter jets and drones also identified and struck missile storage sites, and command centers where Iranian soldiers were gathered to launch the missiles.

Iranian ballistic missile launchers are targeted in Israeli airstrikes, in a video released by the IDF on June 16, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Since the start of the conflict, the IDF says, it has destroyed over 120 Iranian ballistic missile launchers, which it says is a third of what Iran had.

Additionally, the military says the IAF conducted waves of strikes in Isfahan overnight, hitting over 100 military targets.

Iran says its parliament is preparing a bill to leave Non-Proliferation Treaty

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says the Iranian parliament is preparing a bill to leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

He adds that Tehran remains opposed to developing weapons of mass destruction.

Israel confirms taking out IRGC spy chief

Four Iranian intelligence officials, including the chief of the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were killed in an Israeli Air Force strike in Tehran yesterday, the IDF confirms.

The IDF says the strike carried out by fighter jets hit a building in the Iranian capital where several Iranian intelligence officials were gathered.

The strike killed IRGC intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Mohammad Kazemi, his deputy Hassan Mohaqiq, and the intelligence chief of the IRGC Quds Force and his deputy, the military says.

Last night, Iran confirmed the deaths of Kazemi, Mohaqiq, and another intelligence official.

“These senior officials played a central role in formulating the situation assessment in Iran and in planning terror activities against Israel, the West, and countries in the region,” the IDF says.

Last three activists from Gaza-bound boat leave Israel via crossing to Jordan

Activists on the Madleen Gaza-bound aid boat being given sandwiches after the vessel was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters. (Screenshot/Israeli Foreign Ministry via AFP)

The last three activists remaining in Israel from the Madleen boat, which tried to break Israel’s blockade against Gaza last week, have left the country through the Allenby Crossing to Jordan, the Foreign Ministry says.

They were forced to transit by land via the West Bank due to the ongoing closure of Ben Gurion Airport resulting from the current conflict with Iran.

The three activists are Marco van Rennes of The Netherlands, Pascal Maurieras of France, and Yanis Mhamdi also of France. They had been in custody at Givon Prison in Ramle since Tuesday.

Golan drone shot down, as another appears to fly in

A suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace “from the east” was shot down over the Golan Heights by the Israeli Air Force, the military says.

Sirens had sounded in an area moshav.

Moments later, drone sirens sound in another Golan Heights community, Ramat Magshimim, apparently due to a fresh infiltration, the third within an hour.

Army says safe rooms still best against Iranian missiles after two killed while sheltering

Responders inspect a damaged building following a strike by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva on June 16, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The Home Front Command confirms that two people were killed by a ballistic missile while sheltering in a protected space in their home, but stresses that remaining in a bomb safe room is still the safest place to be amid Iran’s attacks.

According to the Home Front Command, one of the ballistic missiles fired overnight, carrying a warhead of hundreds of kilograms, directly hit a safe room on the fourth floor of a high-rise apartment block in Petah Tikva.

The direct missile impact “breached” the bomb safe room, which is designed to sustain the shockwave of such missiles as well as shrapnel, though not a direct strike from a large explosive warhead.

Two people in the safe room were killed; however, those in the shelters on the floors above and below were unharmed, the Home Front Command says.

The two other fatalities in Petah Tikva were outside of protective spaces when the missile struck. One person was on the floor above where a missile hit, but not in their safe room, and the other was in a neighboring building hit by the shockwave, according to the Home Front Command.

The Home Front Command says bomb safe rooms are the safest place to be amid ballistic missile attacks, especially in new buildings, and even outperform public bomb shelters, though the older underground shelters are still sufficient. The reinforced rooms have saved countless lives in the missile barrages from Iran thus far, it says.

Some 350 Iranian missiles launched at Israel so far, IDF says

Israeli air defense systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025. ( Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Iran has launched some 350 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, the vast majority of which were intercepted, according to fresh IDF statistics.

Some 40 missiles were fired in the latest barrage at around 4 a.m., which struck central Israel and the Haifa area.

There were three major impact sites in the overnight attack, killing eight people and wounding 95. Four were killed in Petah Tikva, three were killed in Haifa, and one was killed in Bnei Brak.

In all, 24 people have been killed in Iran’s ballistic missile attacks since Friday.

Iran’s barrages have consisted of some 30-60 missiles each, according to the IDF. Military officials say that Iran has sought to fire more, hundreds at a time, but Israeli Air Force strikes on ballistic missile launchers in Iran are disrupting their attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed its latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel’s multi-layered defense systems to target each other, but Israel has long acknowledged that its air defense array is not hermetic, with between 5-10% of the missiles “leaking” and impacting Israel, officials say

The total includes missiles that the IDF says it did not try to shoot down “according to protocol,” allowing them to strike open areas without causing damage to any critical infrastructure, as well as missiles it failed to intercept that hit urban areas and caused casualties and damage.

The military has urged Israelis to heed Home Front Command instructions to take shelter in safe rooms and bomb shelters when incoming missile warnings are received.

Most of Iran’s ballistic missile fire has been aimed at Tel Aviv and Haifa — which are densely populated — and to a lesser degree, the Beersheba area. This means that the few missiles that are not intercepted are likely to cause harm.

Reuters contributed to this post.

Drone that traversed country is shot down, IDF says

A suspected drone launched at Israel “from the east,” which set off sirens across northern Israel, was shot down by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the IDF says.

Drone alerts were first activated in the Beit She’an area near the border with Jordan and over the following 19 minutes the drone gradually moved west to the coastal city of Caesarea some 64 kilometers (40 miles) away.

The military says the sirens were activated “according to protocol.”

New drone alert rings in Golan

A fresh drone alert is sounding in the Golan Heights community of Yonatan, seemingly warning of a second aircraft entering Israeli airspace from the east.

There is no immediate comment from the military.

Air Force says it’s tracking drone across entire country

The Israeli Air Force is tracking a “suspicious aerial target” that was identified in Israeli airspace a short while ago, setting off drone alerts in northern Israel, the military says.

“The target is being tracked by the air force and the event is still ongoing,” the IDF says.

The drone alerts were first activated in the Beit She’an area on the border with Jordan, before the drone traveled west and reached the coastal city of Caesarea some 64 kilometers (40 miles) away.

Drone moves west toward coastal region, setting off string of alerts

Drone alerts are continuing to sound in communities as the threat appears to move westward just north of the West Bank, reaching the Arab triangle and the towns of Kafr Kara and Harish, as it nears the Caesarea area.

Residents of a rapidly expanding list of communities are being told to take shelter.

כתב"מ סורי, כתב"מ 'עקשן' pic.twitter.com/rmvb9RmD5h

— נוּר בּיִנוּר (@nur_binur) June 16, 2025

Israeli arms makers black-walled at Paris Air Show

A black wall blocks an Elbit display at the Paris air show in France on June 16, 2025. (Defense Ministry)

The Defense Ministry condemns a last-minute decision by organizers of the Paris Air Show, acting on behalf of the French government, to bar Israeli companies from displaying offensive weapons systems just one day before the exhibition opened at Le Bourget Airport.

According to the ministry, the move breaks with standard global practices and was carried out overnight after Israeli defense officials had already completed setting up their booths.

After the Defense Ministry refused to comply, organizers erected black walls isolating the Israeli pavilions from the rest of the exhibition — including those of Turkey, China, and others.

Calling the decision “outrageous and unprecedented,” the ministry accuses the French side of hiding behind “political considerations” to sideline Israeli technologies that compete with French defense industries — particularly as Israel is waging what it called a “necessary and just war” against regional threats.

Drone alert issued for Beit She’an area

An enemy drone alert is issued by the Home Front Command for Beit She’an and surrounding areas south of the Sea of Galilee.

94-year-old woman named as one of 9 Bat Yam attack victims

Belina Ashkenazi, 94, is named as one of the nine people killed in an Iranian ballistic missile impact on a Bat Yam apartment building overnight Saturday-Sunday.

She is the second victim of the deadly strike to be identified. Yesterday evening, 44-year-old Efrat Saranga was named as another victim in the attack.

Ashkenazi’s husband and son were also hospitalized as a result of the attack, according to Ynet.

The missile impact also killed an 8-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy. Nearly 200 were wounded, rescue services said.

According to Ukraine, five of its nationals were killed in the attack, including three children.

Rescuers say one person buried under the rubble remains missing.

Israir says it will only start bringing stranded Israelis home at end of week or later

Illustrative photo of an Israir plane on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport, August 3, 2013 (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Israeli airline Israir cancels all flights from and to Tel Aviv through June 30 as the country’s airspace remains closed until further notice, but announces preparations to start operating flights for Israelis stranded abroad to come home.

Israair CEO Uri Sirkis says security issues remain a concern as the carrier looks to start flying again later this week.

“The operation to return Israeli citizens residing abroad may begin toward the end of the week, and perhaps not until the beginning of next week,” says Israir CEO Uri Sirkis. “We are still studying the enemy, the patterns, to understand the ritual of the threats.”

Israir notes that once flights are approved by authorities and defense officials, Israelis will be able to book seats through the company’s website. Tickets for the one-way flights back to Israel will be set at a fixed price depending on where they take off from, which has not yet been determined.

Sirkis adds, “The flights will only be operated for returning Israelis and Israelis [or any other passengers] will not be allowed to leave the country at this stage.”

The plan, says Sirkis, “will allow for only two flights per hour, during all hours of the day, subject to the security situation.” He notes that the proposed pace is “optimistic.”

Houthi missile targeting south falls short of Israel’s borders

A ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen fell short outside the country’s borders, the military says.

Sirens had sounded in a wide area across southern Israel, including Beersheba and Dimona.

Houthi missile triggers sirens in Beersheba, northern Negev

Sirens are sounding in Beersheba and the surrounding area following the launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen.

The IDF says it is working to shoot down the projectile.

Missile attack caused minor damage to US embassy in Tel Aviv, envoy says

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says the US embassy branch in Tel Aviv suffered damage from a volley of Iranian missiles that targeted the area early Monday.

“Some minor damage from concussions of Iranian missile hits near Embassy Branch in @TelAviv but no injuries to US personnel,” he writes on X.

He says the American embassies and consulates remain closed, with a shelter in place order still in effect.

In first, eight drones knocked down by new seaborne air defense system — IDF

Eight drones launched at Israel from Iran were intercepted by Israeli Navy missile boats overnight, the IDF says, adding that it used a new air defense system for the first time.

According to the military, it intercepted some of the drones using LRAD interceptor missiles, part of the BARAK MX air defense system, which were deployed to the Navy’s Sa’ar 6-class corvettes.

Since the start of the conflict on Friday, the IDF says the Navy has intercepted some 25 drones heading to Israel, mostly from Iran.

הלילה יורטו שמונה כלי טיס בלתי מאויישים מאיראן על ידי ספינות הטילים של חיל הים; לראשונה בוצע יירוט באמצעות מערכת ההגנה האווירית ׳ברק מגן׳

לראשונה, נעשה שימוש מבצעי במערכת ההגנה האווירית 'ברק מגן' והמיירט ארוך הטווח 'LRAD'.
המיירט, אשר מותקן על-גבי ספינות הטילים ׳סער 6׳, בעל… pic.twitter.com/XeOP7zfsLa

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2025

Ballistic missile launched from Yemen at southern Israel

A ballistic missile has been launched from Yemen at Israel, the military says.

Sirens are expected to sound in southern Israel in the coming minutes.

Haifa mayor says three killed in missile attack

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav confirms that three people in the city were killed in an Iranian missile attack overnight.

Yahav tells Channel 12 news the three were working at a facility “that’s very important to us in the area, which we would be happy if it closed and left.”

He expresses regret over the deaths, which bring the toll in overnight attacks to eight.

Rescuers had apparently attempted for hours to reach the three missing people, who were buried under rubble during the attack on the northern city Sunday night.

Yahav says several homes and other buildings on the city suffered extensive damage, but only four people were hospitalized with light injuries.

IDF footage shows strikes on Iranians at missile launch site

The IDF releases a video it says shows airstrikes on Iranian soldiers who were heading to a surface-to-air missile launch site south of Tehran.

The launcher itself was also bombed, according to the IDF.

צה״ל חושף יכולות הגנה וסיכול סמוך לטהראן

בסגירת מעגל מהירה חיל האוויר זיהה וחיסל פעילי שיגור טילי קרקע-אוויר שניות לפני הגעתם למשגר דרומית לטהראן. הפעילים חוסלו והמשגר הושמד.

חיל האוויר ממשיך לפעול להשגת העליונות האווירית ברחבי איראן pic.twitter.com/gEqbSTe2hp

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2025

Nearly 300 hospitalized overnight, ministry says

The Health Ministry says 287 people were hospitalized nationwide overnight as a result of missile attacks from Iran on the north and center of the country.

One person is listed in serious condition and 14 are moderately injured, including two at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petah Tikvah. Most of the rest are lightly injured or suffered acute shock.

The ministry does not list the condition of 15 people taken to Maayanei Hayeshua hospital in Bnei Brak. The town east of Tel Aviv was hit by a missile overnight, killing one person.

Report claims two Petah Tikva victims were in protected room that took direct hit

The scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit a building in Petah Tikva, June 16, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Two of the four people killed in Petah Tikva were sheltering in a protected space in their home, Army Radio reports, citing an initial investigation.

According to the report, the missile, carrying a large explosive payload, impacted a wall right between two reinforced rooms, which were unable to withstand the intensity of the blast.

Israeli authorities say reinforced rooms located inside apartments are suitable protective spaces in case of attack, though they are largely designed to protect against shrapnel, and unlike underground bunkers used for public shelters, cannot necessarily stand up to a direct impact of heavy explosives.

According to officials, reinforced rooms have saved countless lives in the missile barrages from Iran thus far.

The two other fatalities were reportedly outside of protective spaces when the missile struck. One person was on the floor above where the missile hit and the other was in a neighboring building hit by the blast wave, Army Radio reports.

There is no confirmation of the report.

Tehran residents will pay price for Iranian attacks on civilians, Katz threatens

Responders are seen next to a damaged building following a strike by an Iranian missile in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025 (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens that Tehran’s residents will suffer in retaliation for Iranian missile strikes that have caused widespread damage to Israeli residential areas, killing at least 21 people and wounding hundreds more since Friday.

“The arrogant dictator of Tehran has become a scared murderer who fires at Israel’s civilian home front in order to deter the IDF from continuing to carry out attacks that are destroying his capabilities,” Katz says in a statement, apparently referring to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“The residents of Tehran will pay the price, and soon,” he vows, in what appears to be a threat to target Iranian civilians in kind.

Iranian missile barrages have repeatedly targeted the densely populated Tel Aviv metro area and surrounding cities since fighting began on Friday, as well as the Haifa area.

Iran executes man accused of spying for Mossad

Iran has executed a man who was found guilty of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, the semi-official Fars news agency reports, identifying the man as Esmail Fekri.

The execution is the third in recent weeks related to the conducting of espionage on behalf of Israel.

Death toll in overnight strikes on central Israel rises to five

People look at a damaged building following a strike by an Iranian missile in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva on June 16, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The death toll in an overnight missile barrage that struck central Israel has risen to five, the Magen David Adom rescue service says.

According to reports, the latest victim was found in searches of rubble of a residential high-rise in Petah Tikva that was damaged in the attack.

Three others were killed at the same site, and one man was killed in Bnei Brak, where a missile caused widespread damage in a residential area.

The emergency service says 92 people have been hospitalized, most of them with minor injuries.

Searches are ongoing at two of four impact sites.

Reports also indicate that rescuers are attempting to reach three people trapped at a Haifa site hit by a missile.

Images from space appear to show limited damage at Fordo nuclear site

New satellite imagery released by US geospatial intelligence firm Planet Labs appears to show some damage outside the Fordo nuclear site.

Before and after pictures of the site appear to show the collapse of what may have been a retaining wall on the side of the mountain alongside a road ringing the edge of the secret nuclear site, which is buried deep under a mountain.

PlanetScope imagery of Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, captured June 11 (Planet Labs PBC)

PlanetScope imagery of Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, captured June 13, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC)

Iran had previously reported minor damage from Israeli strikes to the facility, which is thought to be largely beyond the reach of Israel’s munitions.

Top Netanyahu aide says Iran still has ‘thousands’ of ballistic missiles

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi arrives for a court hearing in the trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Jerusalem District Court, March 5, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi tells Army Radio that Iran still has “thousands of ballistic missiles” at its disposal, indicating a higher figure than previously estimated.

“This is not a battle that over the long term will be able to bring an end to the Iranian threat,” Hanegbi says.

Military analysts have until now reported that Iran is thought to have some 1,500 to 2,000 missiles, though it has already fired hundreds of those, and Israel is thought to have struck and destroyed some as well.

Body of elderly man pulled from rubble in Bnei Brak

The body of a man in his 80s was pulled out of a building in Bnei Brak that was damaged by an Iranian ballistic missile overnight, authorities say.

So far, four people are known to have been killed in Iran’s overnight strikes, bringing the death toll in the Israel-Iran conflict to 20. The three others killed overnight, two women and a man in their 70s, were located by paramedics earlier this morning in central Israel.

The Magen David Adom emergency service says it has taken 87 people wounded in the strikes to hospitals, including a woman with severe injuries to her face and five people who were moderately injured. The remaining 81 sustained mild injuries.

Paramedics are still searching two of the four areas where ballistic missiles impacted, MDA says.

IDF says it hit Quds Force command centers in Tehran

The Israel Defense Forces says air force jets have attacked Quds Force command centers in Tehran, relying on precise intelligence.

The Quds Force is a powerful branch within the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that sends fighters abroad and directs and funds foreign terror groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The IDF says the centers it struck were used by the Quds Force “to plan terror attacks against Israel via the Iranian regimes proxies in the Middle East.”

An illustrative graphic published by the army indicates it hit 10 sites.

חיל האוויר תקף מפקדות של כוח קדס בטהראן

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מפקדות של כוח קדס במשמרות המהפכה וצבא איראן, בהכוונה מודיעינית ומדויקת של אגף המודיעין.
במפקדות אלה תכננו פעילי קדס פעולות טרור נגד ישראל באמצעות שלוחותיו של המשטר האיראני במזרח התיכון pic.twitter.com/pR03DBbzMK

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2025

Victims from Iran missile barrage identified as three people in their 70s

Rescuers sift through the debris of a damaged building in central Israel after a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 16, 2025. (Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP)

The three people killed by Iranian ballistic missile impacts in central Israel overnight include two women and a man, all in their 70s, Magen David Adom says.

Paramedics have taken 74 people to hospitals from four impact sites in the region, including a woman around 30 years old with serious injuries to her face, five people in moderate condition and 68 in mild condition.

In Bnei Brak alone, 21 people have been taken to hospitals, including two with moderate injuries, says Dan Region police commander Gilad Klein in a separate statement.

US appears to be deploying large number of aerial refueling tankers across the Atlantic

The US Air Force appears to be in the midst of an unprecedented mass deployment of aerial refueling tankers across the Atlantic Ocean from bases in the US, amid the ongoing Israel-Iran war.

The number of KC-135 and KC-46 tankers continued to rise, with at least 30 moved east in the late hours of Sunday, according to flight tracking data.

Such tankers are required to refuel aircraft participating in strikes far away from their home country, such as the Israeli jets hitting Iran.

26 now.

Note the swing due east at the edge of the Atlantic.

Wouldn't likely do that if you were going to Finland. https://t.co/OFvwhIdi92 pic.twitter.com/r1jCf9t7Lr

— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 16, 2025

Police scanning Petah Tikva missile impact site for potential trapped victims, but yet to spot anyone

Central District police commander Yair Hetzroni at the scene of an Iranian missile impact in Petah Tikva on June 15, 2025. (Israel Police)

Speaking to reporters from the site of a direct Iranian missile strike in Petah Tikva, Central District police commander Yair Hetzroni says officers are scanning the area for victims trapped under rubble, but have so far found none.

He adds that “the situation could change in the near future” as first responders continue searching the area.

Hetzroni speaks after completing a situational assessment with the Home Front Command, Magen David Adom and the Fire and Rescue Service, and Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg.

Home Front Command official Udi Elbaz tells the press that the Iranian missile hit a 20-story building in Petah Tikva, badly damaging its fourth and fifth floors.

He says that no one is known to be trapped in the damaged building, but that first responders are still conducting searches to rule out the possibility.

“It is important for me to emphasize that in additional buildings we scanned, most of the people who were in a protected space were not injured,” he tells reporters.

Earlier this morning, the MDA emergency service reported that at least three people were killed by four ballistic missile impacts in central Israel. Another 67 were taken to hospitals as a result of the strikes.

Police catch suspected killer of Minnesota lawmaker

Law enforcement in Minnesota have caught the suspected killer of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband, US media reports late Sunday, ending a nearly two-day manhunt.

The suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, was captured alive in a rural area where a large contingent of local, state and federal agents had been searching throughout the day, the New York Times and CBS News report, citing unnamed officials.

The state’s governor was expected to give a press briefing at 11:30 p.m. (0330 GMT Monday).

67 people hospitalized after 4 Iranian missiles impact in central Israel

Magen David Adom says it has taken 67 people to hospitals from four ballistic missile impact sites in central Israel.

They include a woman in her 30s in serious condition, six moderately wounded, and 60 lightly hurt or suffering acute anxiety, MDA says.

At least three people were also killed by the missile impacts.

3 killed after Iranian missiles strike central Israel buildings — MDA

Three people were killed in Iranian ballistic missile impacts in central Israel, Magen David Adom says.

Missiles struck at least two buildings in different areas of central Israel. Some 30 people have also been wounded, and heavy damage was caused.

EU chief says Netanyahu promised to boost aid into Gaza

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised in a telephone call Sunday to do more to bring aid into war-ravaged Gaza.

“I insisted and urged that humanitarian aid that is not reaching Gaza has to go into Gaza. He promised that this is the case and that this will be the case,” she tells reporters at a Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Canada.

Von der Leyen says she would follow up on the promise after the three-day summit.

She says she will seek to find out on humanitarian aid “how it reaches Gaza, whether it gets into Gaza, what we can do to make sure that humanitarian aid reaches its peak in Gaza.”

Israel, after pounding most of Gaza into rubble following Hamas’s attack of October 7, 2023, cut off all food and other vital supplies to the besieged territory for more than two months starting in March.

Amid a deepening humanitarian crisis, the United Nations warned last month that “100 percent of the population (are) at risk of famine.”

Israel eventually let in some aid but through a controversial US-backed initiative that has coordinated with the Israeli military — a setup that the UN and major aid groups says violates basic humanitarian principles.

Police blocking foreign journalists from broadcasting missile impacts in Haifa area

Police say officers have set out to clear international media journalists who have been broadcasting live missile impacts in the Haifa area.

“Coastal District police vehicles set out to conduct a search and handle the incident,” a spokesperson says.

Haifa is home to an oil refinery, a major port and a naval base.

אל-ג'זירה שידרה "בלייב" מיקום נפילה מדויק, המשטרה יצאה לבצע סריקות. צילום: חדשות מהרגע pic.twitter.com/eXLGhwFhgo

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) June 16, 2025

29 hospitalized after latest missile barrage from Iran, medics say

The scene in central Israel after an Iranian ballistic missile attack, June 16, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

Magen David Adom says 29 people have been taken to hospitals from missile impact sites in central Israel.

They include three in moderate condition and 26 lightly hurt, MDA says.

MDA said earlier it was treating a young boy in serious condition. It adds that efforts continue to search for additional injuries.

10-year-old seriously wounded in central Israel missile impact — MDA

A 10-year-old boy is seriously wounded in one of the ballistic missile impacts in central Israel, Magen David Adom says.

Earlier, MDA said it treated 12 people, including 2 in moderate condition, at several ballistic missile impact sites in central Israel.

2 moderately injured, 10 lightly wounded after Iran missiles hit 2 apartment buildings in central Israel

Two people are moderately wounded and ten others are in light condition as a result of Iranian ballistic missile impacts in central Israel, medics say.

Magen David Adom says it continues to scan the scenes for additional injuries.

The missile impacts caused damage to at least two residential buildings in central Israel, first responders say.

Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center reports that four people arrived at the hospital after the latest barrage of ballistic missiles from Iran. They are in mild to moderate condition.

Several people lightly injured from Iranian missile impacts in central Israel — MDA

The scene in central Israel after an Iranian ballistic missile attack, June 16, 2025. (Magen David Adom)

Several people are lightly injured in Iranian ballistic missile impacts in central Israel, Magen David Adom says.

MDA says it continues to scan the scenes for additional injuries.

The Fire and Rescue Service says it is responding to reports of blazes sparked by the impacts in central Israel.

Additionally, missile impacts are reported in the Haifa area, but without any immediate reports of injuries.

IDF says civilians can leave shelters after latest Iran missile attack

The IDF Home Front Command says civilians nationwide no longer need to remain in bomb shelters, following Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack.

Medics responding to reports of missile impacts in several areas of central Israel

Medics say they are responding to reports of ballistic missiles impacts in several areas of central Israel.

Magen David Adom says its medics are heading to several scenes.

Meanwhile, sirens continue to sound in the Tel Aviv area.

Iran ballistic missiles trigger sirens across Israel for third night in a row

For the third night in a row, sirens have been triggerd across Israel amid an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

The IDF says civilians should remain in shelters until further notice.

IDF says it detected barrage from Iran heading toward Israel; sirens to sound shortly

The IDF says it has detected a barrage of ballistic missiles launched from Iran at Israel.

Sirens are expected to sound in the coming minutes, as air defenses work to shoot down the threats.

Civilians are instructed to enter bomb shelters and remain in them until further notice.

IDF orders civilians to stay close to shelters, reissuing directive from four hours ago

The IDF Home Front Command instructs civilians nationwide to continue to remain close to bomb shelters until further notice, as Israel anticipates a ballistic missile attack from Iran.

The alert marks an extension of the same order that was issued nearly four hours ago, after midnight.

“Movement in public areas should be minimized, and public gatherings must be avoided. Upon receiving an alert, enter a protected space and remain there until an official update is issued,” the IDF says in its latest statement.

Israeli official to WSJ: Underground Natanz nuclear facility might have imploded

This image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran's IRINN news on June 13, 2025 shows what the television described as smoke billowing from explosions in Natanz after Israel announced it had carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites (IRINN / AFP)

Iran’s underground Natanz uranium enrichment facility may have imploded due to Israeli strikes, an Israeli official tells The Wall Street Journal.

The official adds that further assessments were required.

Loud explosions reported near Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility

Loud explosions are witnessed near Iran’s Fordo nuclear site, indicating Israeli strikes at the facility, Iran International reports.

The uranium enrichment facility is considered a crucial component of Iran’s nuclear program, but may be outside of Israel’s capabilities to completely destroy.

Witness reports suggest several loud explosions near the Fordow nuclear site, with noticeable ground tremors.

This video appears to show the blasts around 20 kilometers from the city of Qom.pic.twitter.com/k6DTY1kh8j

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) June 15, 2025

Two more bodies found in rubble of Bat Yam apartment building hit by Iranian missile

Two more bodies are found in the rubble of a Bat Yam apartment building hit by an Iranian ballistic missile last night, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.

Drone aimed at US consulate in Erbil downed — report

A drone aimed at the US consulate in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil has been intercepted, an unnamed security source tells the Saudi Al Hadath network report.

Footage on social media apparently shows the unmanned vehicle crashing.

במקביל לעבודה העברית הלילה ברחבי איראן, דיווחים בעיראק על פיצוצים שנשמעו בשעה האחרונה בעיר ארביל, בירת החבל הכורדי. ערוץ אל-חדת' הסעודי מדווח מגורם ביטחוני על יירוט של כטב"ם ששוגר לעבר הקונסוליה האמריקנית בעיר. ההערכה שמדובר בכטב"מ איראני https://t.co/v4j16keN5B

— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) June 15, 2025

Trump says he hopes for Israel-Iran ceasefire, but they may need to ‘fight it out’

US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists as he makes his way to board Marine One before departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 15, 2025. (Mandel NGAN / AFP)

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says that he hopes Israel and Iran can reach a ceasefire, but “sometimes they have to fight it out.”

Talking to reporters as he left for the G7 summit in Canada, Trump says he thinks “there’s a good chance” of a deal.

In response to a question, he declines to say whether he has asked Israel to pause strikes on Iran. Asked if the US will continue to support Israel in its defense, he says, “We do.”

Regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump says:  “We get along very well and I think we have great respect for each other.”

Trump on Iran and Israel: "I think there's a good chance there will be a deal."

“Sometimes they have to fight it out” pic.twitter.com/FFkh5alM8R

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 15, 2025

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Iranian media says Israeli drone factory raided inside Iran

Iranian security forces located a three-story Israeli drone factory inside Iran, the semi-official IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency reports.

According to the report, Tehran believes other sites are present in the country, and security forces are operating against them.

In Israel’s initial strikes on Friday, it used explosive-carrying quadcopter drones, rockets, and other sophisticated equipment located inside Iran for precision attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists, military leaders, anti-aircraft batteries, and surface-to-surface missiles.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that they were smuggled into the country, and not manufactured there.

Iranian security forces raid what they allege is an Israeli drone manufacturing site in Iran, in footage published June 16, 2025. (Tasnim News Agency)

Israeli strikes reported in Parchin, where nuke research site was said to be destroyed in October

Israel appears to be striking Parchin, according to Iranian media.

The Mehr News Agency posts a video showing air defense systems activating in the area in response to strikes.

واکنش سریع پدافند ارتش و خنثی‌سازی حمله رژیم صهیونیستی در پارچین

📎 https://t.co/G74rv4zX2P pic.twitter.com/LBn3drSYBK

— خبرگزاری مهر (@mehrnews_ir) June 15, 2025

In October, Israel’s airstrikes reportedly destroyed an active nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, after Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier that month.

IDF says it is striking surface-to-surface missile sites in Iran

The IDF says it is striking surface-to-surface missile launch sites in central Iran.

A few minutes ago, the IDF Home Front Command told Israelis to remain close to shelters, ahead of an expected missile barrage. That instruction remains in force.

TV stations in Israel speculate that the air force is seeking to prevent the anticipated Iranian missile attack.

IDF Home Front Command tells Israelis to remain close to bomb shelters

The IDF Home Front Command tells Israelis to remain close to bomb shelters, ahead of possible Iranian missile fire.

The alert doesn’t mean missiles from Iran have been fired, but that a barrage may be launched soon.