June 19: White House says Iran able to produce nuclear bomb in ‘a couple of weeks’

Iran summons German envoy after Berlin’s backing of Israeli strikes

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summons Germany’s envoy following what it called “unwise and irresponsible” statements by the German chancellor supporting Israeli actions that it says violate international law, state-run IRNA news agency reports.

IRNA reports that the country’s foreign ministry conveyed Tehran’s “strong protest” to Markus Potzel over the German chancellor’s remarks, which he described as an “implicit endorsement of lawbreaking and the use of force against a peaceful country and government.”

In the meeting today, Iran underscored Germany’s international commitment, as a signatory to the United Nations Charter, to oppose aggressive acts that breach international law. It asserted that Israel’s armed attack on Iran “explicitly violates Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the UN Charter and is a clear instance of an aggressive act that must be condemned by all UN member states.”

Explosion at Norway ambassador’s residence in Herzliya; no injuries

An explosion occurred at the residence of the Norwegian ambassador to Israel this evening in Herzliya, the Norwegian foreign ministry says.

“We have been in contact with the embassy tonight. No staff with the embassy was injured during the incident,” the foreign ministry says in an emailed statement. It did not say what caused the explosion.

According to Hebrew media reports, a grenade was thrown at the residence, causing damage to the building.

United Airlines, American Airlines halt flights to Dubai, Doha amid tensions

Illustrative: A United Airlines plane taxis at Newark International Airport, in Newark, New Jersey, on January 11 2023. (Ket Betancur/AFP)

American Airlines and United Airlines have halted flights to the Middle East amid an exchange of fire between Israel and Iran that has upended air travel in the region.

United says in a statement that it is pausing its daily flights between Newark and Dubai due to the rising tensions, and will resume “when it’s safe.”

American says it is pausing its Philadelphia-Doha route until June 22 due to the “situation with safety and security.”

United and Delta both stopped their flights to Israel with the start of Israel’s attack on Friday. Both had only recently returned to flying to Tel Aviv.

Arak heavy water reactor was damaged by Israeli strike, says IAEA

This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies on June 19, 2025 and taken on June 18, 2025, shows a view of the Iranian nuclear facility at Arak in central Iran. (Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies / AFP)

Israeli military strikes hit Iran’s Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, a project under construction that had not begun operating, and damaged the nearby plant that makes heavy water, the UN nuclear watchdog says.

Israel has struck several nuclear facilities in Iran. The heavy water reactor, as originally designed, would have been able to easily produce plutonium that could eventually have been used in a nuclear weapon, though Iran denies seeking such weapons.

Under a 2015 deal with major powers, however, the plant was redesigned to reduce the proliferation risk, and its core was removed and filled with concrete. Iran had informed the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency that the reactor would start operation in 2026.

“IAEA has information that the Khondab [former Arak] heavy water research reactor, under construction, was hit. It was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects,” the IAEA says in a post on X.

“While damage to the nearby Heavy Water Production Plant was initially not visible, it is now assessed that key buildings at the facility were damaged, including the distillation unit,” the IAEA statement says.

Hezbollah chief says group will ‘act as we see fit’ in Iran-Israel war

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem says the terrorist group will “act as we see fit” in response to the ongoing war between its main backer, Iran, and Israel.

In a statement, Qassem says Hezbollah is “not neutral” in the conflict between the two regional superpowers, saying that the group would “act as we see fit in the face of this brutal Israeli-American aggression.”

This comes after the US special envoy for Syria warned Hezbollah against getting involved in the war.

Iran asks UN Security Council to condemn Israel’s strikes

This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies on June 19, 2025 and taken on June 18, 2025, shows a view of the Iranian nuclear facility at Arak in central Iran. (Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies / AFP)

Iran’s mission to the UN demands that the international body condemn the recent Israeli strikes on Iran’s various facilities, including its Arak heavy water reactor earlier in the day.

“The international community, in particular, the Security Council must not remain silent as crimes of aggression are committed in broad daylight, as international humanitarian law is widespread and systematically violated, and as peaceful nuclear sites and facilities operating under IAEA safeguards come under direct attack,” Amir Saeid Iravani, the Islamic Republic’s permanent representative to the UN, says in a letter to the Security Council.

White House says Iran able to produce nuclear bomb in ‘a couple of weeks’

Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in the space of a “couple of weeks,” the White House says, as US President Donald Trump debates whether to take military action against the Islamic Republic.

“Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that, and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tells reporters.

74 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, says Israel; GHF: 49,000 boxes distributed

A Palestinian boy carries a pot with food collected at a charity kitchen providing hot meals in Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City on June 18, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Yesterday, 74 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announces.

Israel resumed aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a pause since March 2. Since then, 1,784 trucks have entered the Strip.

The aid underwent an inspection by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says that it distributed over 2.8 million meals in 49,000 boxes today.

The US- and Israeli-backed organization says that it opened three sites — Tel Sultan and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and Wadi Gaza in the central Strip.

The organization claims there is a “growing pattern of false information” that seems to come from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, is then reported by Al Jazeera, and is subsequently picked up by the UN.

“Our GHF news monitoring continues to reveal inaccurate news coverage by the international media outlets linking GHF sites to violent incidents that did not occur near our sites but occurred at United Nations’ convoy sites,” says the GHF.

Netanyahu says Iran war aids hostage return, as ‘Hamas relies on Iran’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the war with Iran helps advance the return of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, in a Hebrew-language interview with the Kan public broadcaster.

The “only real thing” preventing an end to the concurrent war in Gaza is the hostages, says the premier, adding that the operation against Iran helps return the captives, as “Hamas relies on Iran.”

On the Iran campaign, Netanyahu says the IDF is “systematically” targeting Iran’s full range of weapons systems, including any non-conventional arms.

He further says that Israel is targeting the Basij paramilitary militia of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known for suppressing dissent in Iran.

“We are doing everything necessary — and there will still be much more,” says Netanyahu, adding that “We’re also striking the Basij… this kind of internal police force of a million people. We’ve inflicted heavy damage, and we will continue to strike their targets.”

The Basij consists mostly of volunteers and is used for internal security, regime enforcement and suppression of dissent. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei deployed the IRGC and the Basij militia to quell national protests in 1999, 2009 and 2022.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday that Israeli Air Force fighter jets “destroyed the headquarters of the Iranian regime’s internal security, the main arm of the Iranian dictator’s oppression,” but Iranian media said that ordinary Iranian police, not the Basij, were targeted in the attack.

UN chief: Tomorrow’s meeting between European diplomats and Iran is positive

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly said that “diplomacy is the only and best way forward” to end the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric tells reporters.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany are scheduled to meet in Geneva tomorrow with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

“The message from the secretary-general is clear,” Dujarric said. “Stop the military action, too many people have been killed. Return to diplomacy, and avoid at any cost the further internationalization of this conflict.”

Iran ‘deliberately and maliciously’ struck Soroka, says IDF spokesman

Smoke rises from where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, June 19, 2025. (Dudu Greenspan/Flash90)

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says Iran intentionally targeted Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba in its missile attack this morning.

“Let there be no doubt, the Iranian regime deliberately and maliciously fired at the hospital and population center with the intent to harm civilians. This is state-sponsored terrorism and a blatant violation of international law,” Defrin says.

He also notes Iran’s cluster bomb attack on central Israel, “which spreads in order to widen the harm.”

“The terror regime seeks to harm civilians,” Defrin adds.

White House: Trump will decide whether to join war on Iran ‘within the next two weeks’

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 18, 2025. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US President Donald Trump will decide whether or not to directly join the war against Iran alongside Israel within the next two weeks, the White House announces.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reads out a statement during a press briefing that she says comes directly from Trump.

“Based on the fact that there is a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future — I will make my decision on whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” according to the Trump statement read aloud by Leavitt.

BREAKING — President Donald Trump will make a decision on whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict in the next two weeks. pic.twitter.com/tgufTEnaK4

— Hümeyra Pamuk (@humeyra_pamuk) June 19, 2025

Canada says it will help its citizens get home from Israel and Iran

The Canadian government says it will help its citizens in Israel and Iran to fly home once they reach neighboring countries.

Ottawa has stationed consular officials on the other side of certain crossings on the Israeli and Iranian borders to help those fleeing either country to get home.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand says the government is extremely concerned about the quickly evolving conflict and they are planning commercial options for Canadians in Israel, the West Bank, and Iran to leave the region via certain neighboring countries.

Israel has shot down 480 drones from Iran since Friday, says IDF

An Iranian drone, apparently en route to Israel, is seen over Iraq on June 13, 2025 (Screen grab used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says the military has shot down over 480 drones launched at Israel from Iran since Friday.

He says “several” breached Israeli airspace. There have been no reports of drone impacts in Israel in populated areas.

The military says that more than 95% of Iranian drones that “posed a threat and approached Israel” were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force and Navy since the beginning of the conflict in Iran.

The IDF said yesterday that Iran had fired around 1,000 drones at Israel, but only around 200 actually reached Israel’s borders. The rest of the drones likely fell short before reaching Israel or were shot down by other countries, such as Jordan.

More than 95% of Iranian drones that "posed a threat and approached Israel" were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force and Navy since the beginning of the conflict in Iran, the military says.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a press conference that over 480 drones… pic.twitter.com/4BijrUNRhJ

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 19, 2025

Netanyahu: Israel is capable of hitting all Iran’s nuclear facilities, including Fordo

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on January 24, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Israel can hit all nuclear facilities in Iran, including the underground nuclear site in Fordo, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Hebrew-language interview with the Kan public broadcaster.

Asked whether Israel has the ability to destroy Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear facility without assistance from the United States, Netanyahu says, “We will achieve all our objectives and hit all of their nuclear facilities. We have the capability to do that.”

Whether US President Donald Trump “wants to join or not — that’s entirely his decision,” Netanyahu adds.

“He’ll do what’s good for the United States, and I’ll do what’s good for the State of Israel,” says the premier, before adding that “as the saying goes — every contribution is welcome.”

Fordo is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs.

Earlier today, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Israel expects the US will decide on whether or not to join the offensive against Iran within the next 24-48 hours.

El Al to operate special ‘medical emergency flights’ on Shabbat to return Israelis home

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

El Al says it will operate medical emergency repatriation flights this coming Shabbat to bring back Israelis after receiving necessary approvals from Israel’s chief rabbis.

“In light of numerous cases of pikuah nefesh, or life and death medical life-saving cases that require immediate arrival of passengers to Israel, El Al has decided to operate special flights during this upcoming Shabbat,” the airline says in a statement. “These flights will be defined as pikuah nefesh or medical emergency flights.”

Following the approval by Israel’s chief rabbis, El Al plans to operate three flights on Saturday, departing for Israel from Larnaca, Cyprus, and Athens, Greece.

The passenger list includes El Al customers and those of other airlines who urgently need to arrive in Israel and were approved by a senior professor who ran leading medical centers in Israel, and who defined the cases as life and death medical cases.

Jewish law allows breaking Shabbat in matters of pikuah nefesh, a concept that is at times interpreted broadly.

Netanyahu says Israel has destroyed over half of Iran’s missile launchers

Smoke lingers in the sky above Tehran following an Israeli strike on June 18, 2025. (AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has destroyed over half of Iran’s missile launchers, in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster this evening.

Asked where Israel’s defense capabilities against Iran’s missile attacks stand, Netanyahu responds, “We’re striking [Iran’] launchers. It doesn’t matter so much how many rockets they have. What matters is how many launchers they have — and we’re already getting there. I think we’ve already passed the halfway mark of the launchers they have.”

Yesterday, the IDF said in an assessment that Israel had destroyed about 40% of the launchers.

Outgoing flights to enable people to leave Israel will start Monday, says Regev

View of the almost empty Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, after all flights were canceled following Israel's opening attack on Iran, June 13, 2025. (Roy Alima/Flash90)

Transportation Minister Miri Regev says Israel is preparing to operate outgoing departure flights starting Monday to help tourists, diplomats and Israelis leave the country — subject to approval by a government-led exceptions committee.

Regev says that initially the exceptions committee will give high priority to tourists, diplomats, youth and sports groups, and those with urgent humanitarian and medical needs, who have been stranded in the country since the Iran conflict started on Friday, with few options to leave.

“At the bottom line of the priority list will be Israelis who want to leave the country because they want to go on holidays, as our focus is first to bring back the 100,000 Israelis who are abroad,” says Regev. “The exceptions committee will also examine approvals subject to urgent humanitarian and medical needs of passengers.”

Until now, the government-led airlift mission launched on Wednesday has focused on bringing Israelis back home in a phased and limited manner. Israel has not allowed foreigners or Israeli passengers to leave the country via air travel to avoid overcrowding and minimize the time planes spend on the ground at Ben Gurion Airport due to security reasons and Home Front Command guidelines. The international airport has been a frequent target of missile attacks.

IDF chief says Israel is ‘changing the face of the Middle East’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir speaks with officers at the Military Intelligence Directorate's Research Division headquarters, June 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, during a visit to an intelligence command center, says Iran’s “sword they built over the years to harm us” is now being turned against them.

“The Military Intelligence Directorate has demonstrated extraordinary, thrilling capabilities. Every citizen of the country, the entire world, is looking at you with amazement and admiration. Everyone wants to learn how this happened,” Zamir says during a visit to the directorate’s Research Division yesterday, in remarks published by the IDF.

“What we are doing here is history, we are changing the face of the Middle East. The ring of fire, the sword they built over the years to harm us, we are now turning it back on them, into their land,” he says.

Netanyahu says Israel is ‘ahead of schedule’ in its operation against Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video message on June 18, 2025. (Screenshot/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is “ahead of schedule” in its operation against Iran, during an interview with the Kan public broadcaster aired this evening.

“We are ahead of the schedule we set — both in terms of timing and results,” the premier says on the seventh day of the campaign.

“The work has been outstanding,” Netanyahu says, explaining that he decided on the operation after Israel weakened Iran’s strongest proxy, Hezbollah, at the end of last year, when it was clear that Iran “was racing toward a nuclear capability.”

“The elimination of [former Hezbollah head Hassan] Nasrallah broke the Iranian axis. What does [Iran] have left?… This operation has been in planning for many months,” he says.

Cargo planes carrying military equipment land in Israel

Military equipment arriving in Israel on June 19, 2025. (Defense Ministry)

Several cargo planes carrying armaments and military equipment for the IDF landed in Israel today, the Defense Ministry says.

The ministry says the delivery is “part of efforts to strengthen operational continuity and support all the IDF’s needs, both for achieving the goals of the war and for improving readiness and stockpiles.”

Since the start of Israel’s operation against Iran, 14 cargo planes with equipment for the IDF have landed in Israel, the ministry says, joining 800 others that have arrived since the beginning of the war.

The vast majority of the planes have come from the US.

Diplomacy only way to counter Iran’s nuclear program, says French official

France does not believe there is a military solution to Iran’s nuclear program, says a French official.

“Iran’s nuclear program constitutes an extremely serious threat to the stability of the Middle East and to French interests,” says the official. “France has always stressed the seriousness of the threat posed by the program to its national and regional interests.”

“However, the military solution is not capable of eliminating the Iranian nuclear program.”

Even a strike on the Fordo nuclear facility will only delay a program, says the official.

“The crisis is serious, but only de-escalation and negotiations will lead to a solution,” the official continues, adding that France has no sympathy for the “repressive and destabilizing Iranian regime.”

“A diplomatic solution must lead to an agreement that will be accompanied by the strictest supervision on three levels,” the official concludes. “The technical level — enrichment capacity; It will be unlimited in time; it will have international backing and be verifiable.”

Authorities identify body found in Bat Yam rubble as mother of slain Ukrainian girl

30-year-old Maria Peshkurova (Courtesy)

A body discovered this afternoon in the rubble of a building hit by an Iranian missile in Bat Yam early Sunday morning has reportedly been identified as that of Maria Peshkurova.

Peshkurova, 30, was a Ukrainian national and the mother of 7-year-old Nastia Borik, who came to Israel for cancer treatment and was killed along with her grandmother and two cousins.

Maria had been missing since the missile strike and was presumed dead along with her four other family members.

Israel expecting US decision on joining Iran strikes in 24-48 hours, says official

US President Donald Trump meets with members of the Juventus soccer club in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, June 18, 2025. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Israel still expects that US President Donald Trump will join the strikes against Iran’s nuclear program, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.

“The expectation is that they join, but no one is pushing them,” says the official. “They have to make their own decision.”

“We’ll know in the next 24-48 hours,” the official estimates.

Defense Minister Israel Katz is fully coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his threats to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, says the official: “Katz always makes his statements according to what Netanyahu asks him to do. He’s not doing it on his own.”

16 Israelis rescued from yacht near Lebanon while trying to return home

Sixteen Israelis who were trying to return home to Israel after being stuck abroad due to the closure of Israel’s airspace had to be rescued earlier today, the Transportation Ministry says.

The ministry says the boat got stranded about 25 miles west of the port of Sidon, Lebanon, due to an engine failure. The Israelis on board were rescued by the ministry’s Rescue Coordination Center in conjunction with the Israeli Navy.

The boat, which originated in Cyprus, was carrying 16 Israelis and two Cypriot crew members.

A number of Israelis stranded abroad have sought out naval routes to return home due to the lack of flights.

9 European nations demand EU draft proposal to end trade with Israeli settlements

(L-R) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Romania's Interim President Ilie Bolojan, European Council President Antonio Costa and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau begin a plenary meeting at a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on March 2, 2025. (JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL / AFP)

Nine European Union countries have called on the European Commission to come up with proposals on how to discontinue EU trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, addressed to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, was signed by foreign ministers from Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner, accounting for about a third of its total goods trade. Two-way goods trade between the bloc and Israel stood at 42.6 billion euros ($48.91 billion) last year, though it was unclear how much of that trade involved settlements.

The ministers pointed to a July 2024 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, which said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal. It said states should take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that help maintain the situation.

“We have not seen a proposal to initiate discussions on how to effectively discontinue trade of goods and services with the illegal settlements,” the ministers write.

“We need the European Commission to develop proposals for concrete measures to ensure compliance by the Union with the obligations identified by the Court,” they add.

Israel’s diplomatic mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Report: Witkoff, Araghchi held several direct phone calls this week on ending Israel-Iran conflict

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, pictured in Tehran, Feb. 25, 2025; Steve Witkoff, right, White House special envoy, pictured in Washington, March 19, 2025. (AP Photos Stringer, Mark Schiefelbein)

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

According to the diplomats, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, Araghchi said Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attacks, which began on June 13.

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

US and Iranian officials did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the matter.

A regional diplomat close to Tehran says Araghchi told Witkoff that Tehran “could show flexibility in the nuclear issue” if Washington pressured Israel to end the war.

IDF kills Hezbollah operative in south Lebanon drone strike

A Hezbollah operative was killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier today, the IDF says, marking the third in less than a day.

According to the IDF, the operative was involved in efforts to restore Hezbollah infrastructure in the Houla area.

IDF’s intelligence chief says Israel must ‘hunt down’ Iran’s fleeing military commanders

Military Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder (unblurred) speaks with soldiers at a command center, June 19, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder, says the IDF must “hunt down” Iran’s military commanders, “wherever they flee.”

Speaking to soldiers at one of the directorate’s command centers, Binder describes the elimination of Maj. Gen. Ali Shadmani, Iran’s most senior military commander, earlier this week.

“Two days ago, we managed to strike one of their secret headquarters in the mountains. Some of the commanders managed to escape to another location. Twelve hours later, we struck the chief of staff of Khatam al-Anbiya, who had fled to another mountainous area near Tehran,” Binder says.

“We have to hunt them down wherever they flee. And you’re succeeding in turning Iran from some distant place, 1,500 kilometers away, into a military we know how to deal with as if it were in our first circle. You’ve turned the third circle into the first circle,” he says.

Binder says that in the IDF’s opening strikes early Friday, 30 Iranian commanders were killed. The IDF named eight top generals killed that morning, and said that the strikes killed dozens of commanders and at least nine nuclear scientists.

Tourism Ministry calls on PM’s office to allow stranded visitors to exit Israel

A nearly empty Ben Gurion Airport is seen after all flights were canceled following the start of Israeli strikes in Iran, on June 13, 2025. (Roy Alima/Flash90)

The Tourism Ministry is calling on the Prime Minister’s Office to allow tourists stranded in Israel due to the Iran war to apply for special permission to leave the country via air travel.

In a letter sent to the Prime Minister’s Office acting director-general Drorit Steinmetz, Tourism Minister director-general Dani Shahar urges the government to allow tourists to leave the country, subject to approval by an exceptions committee appointed by the Transportation Ministry. The exceptions committee is designated to review and prioritize requests from Israeli citizens with exceptional humanitarian and medical needs seeking to return to the country on repatriation flights.

“Tourists find themselves in a state of uncertainty and distress in light of a fierce war. Some stay here beyond their planned stay, sometimes in difficult financial and personal conditions, and report a sense of abandonment and loss of trust in state institutions,” Shahar writes in the letter. “We request that return [repatriation] flights to Israel also be used for outbound flights to transfer tourists from Israel to their countries of origin, as is the case with cruise ships and land border crossings that are overwhelmed.”

“Prioritization is not only a humanitarian and necessary act, but also has great political and image value: those tourists will become ambassadors of goodwill for the State of Israel, or the opposite, if they are perceived as having been abandoned by the country they chose to visit,” the letter reads.

On Tuesday, the Tourism Ministry launched a digital registration form for tourists stuck in Israel due to the war to facilitate their departure from the country once permitted. About 22,000 tourists have so far registered on the form and are seeking to get on repatriation departure flights to leave Israel, the ministry says.

Hostages’ family members remind public ‘the hostages have no shelters’

Collage of hostage family members holding signs that read 'No Shelter for the Hostages,' on May 19, 2025. (Courtesy Shift 101)

Hostages’ family members hold up signs in photos reading “The hostages have no shelters,” as the country’s focus is dragged from the war in Gaza to the conflict with Iran.

The collage was created by Shift 101, a women-run protest group, which is looking for ways to keep the remaining 53 hostages in the public mind while gatherings are forbidden by the Home Front Command due to the Iranian ballistic missile attacks.

In the center of the collage is Ofri Bibas, sister of released hostage Yarden Bibas, sister-in-law of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, killed in Hamas captivity. Surrounding her, clockwise from the upper left corner are May Meyer, cousin to hostages and twin brothers Ziv and Gali Berman; Ruti Strum, mother of released hostage Iair Horn and hostage Eitan Horn; Maccabit Meyer, aunt of Ziv and Gali Berman; Galit Kalfon, mother of hostage Segev Kalfon; Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel; Carmit Palti Katzir, the daughter of Rami Katzir, killed on October 7 and of Hanna Katzir, a released hostage who died following her return home, and sister of Elad Katzir, killed on October 7 and his body taken hostage and later brought home by IDF forces; Shay Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat, killed in Hamas captivity and her body later brought home by the IDF; Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen; and Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest.

The organizers ask the public to print the sign, take a photo, post it on social media and hang the sign on the entrance to their reinforced room or bomb shelter.

IDF postponing draft dates for combat support roles amid Iran conflict

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks to new conscripts at the Tel Hashomer base in central Israel, August 15, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The military is postponing draft dates for combat support roles next week, amid the conflict with Iran, the IDF announces.

The soldiers who were supposed to be drafted next week will be drafted the following week, in accordance with a fresh assessment of the situation, the army says.

Medics claim 72 Palestinians killed today in Gaza Strip

A column of fire and smoke erupts following Israeli strikes of areas east of the Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City on June 18, 2025. (Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Gaza’s civil defense agency claims that Israeli fire killed at least 72 people in the Strip, including 21 who had gathered near an aid distribution site in central Gaza.

Updating an earlier figure, the Hamas-linked civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal tells AFP the death toll had risen to 72, “due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today — 21 of them were waiting for aid.”

The claim could not be independently verified.

The IDF told AFP that troops had fired warning shots at suspects approaching them in the Netzarim area where the civil defense agency said 15 people were killed waiting for aid, but that it was “not aware of any injured individuals.”

Hackers say they wiped out $90 million from Iran cryptocurrency exchange

An advertisement for Bitcoin cryptocurrency is displayed on a street in Hong Kong, on Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Hackers with possible links to Israel have drained more than $90 million from Nobitex, Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to blockchain analytics firms.

The group that claimed responsibility for the hack leaks today what it said was the company’s full source code. “ASSETS LEFT IN NOBITEX ARE NOW ENTIRELY OUT IN THE OPEN,” the group writes on its Telegram account.

The stolen funds were transferred to addresses bearing messages that criticized Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic writes in a blog post. It says the attack likely was not financially motivated as the wallets the hackers had poured the money into “effectively burned the funds in order to send Nobitex a political message.”

The hackers group, Gonjeshke Darande — “Predatory Sparrow” in Farsi — accused Nobitex of having helped Iran’s government to evade Western sanctions over the country’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and transfer money to militants, in a post on X claiming the attack.

Nobitex appears to have confirmed the attack. Its app and website were down as it assessed “unauthorized access” to its systems, it says in a post on X.

Germany’s Merz urges moderation in call with Netanyahu, source says

Friedrich Merz delivers his first speech as German chancellor in the parliament in Berlin, Germany, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which Merz called for moderation in Israel’s campaign against Iran, a German government source tells Reuters.

Merz voiced Germany’s support in principle for Israeli military attacks on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure during the call yesterday evening but stressed the importance of seeking diplomatic solutions to the conflict, the source says.

At site of hospital strike, Sa’ar condemns Iran’s ‘unacceptable war crimes,’ says war will go on

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar at the site of an Iranian missile strike on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, June 19, 2025. (Shlomi Amsallem/GPO)

Speaking to the press at the site of this morning’s ballistic missile attack by Iran on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says Israel’s operation against the Islamic Republic will continue “until the mission is complete.”

“This is clearly a war crime,” says Sa’ar, pointing to the site of the missile impact behind him, saying the strike “reflects the Iranian regime’s consistent strategy. They are deliberately targeting civilian population, civilian targets, civilians, children, elderly people. It is unacceptable.”

“Over the past few hours, I have received numerous calls from foreign ministers around the world condemning this attack. But this is just one example — they’ve done this again and again in recent days,” he says.

“We will continue our operation in Iran. We have a highly detailed plan, we know exactly what we are doing, and we will keep striking nuclear targets and ballistic missile infrastructure. We will not stop for even a single minute until the mission is complete,” the foreign minister says.

Earlier today, Sa’ar instructed the Foreign Ministry to open a foreign press operations center at the hospital, in an effort to spread media awareness of Iran’s attacks on Israeli civilians.

Hospitals should minimize number of patients for now, says Health Ministry official

Doctors wheel a patient to safety after a building at Soroka Hospital was struck by an Iranian missile in Beersheba in southern Israel on June 19, 2025. (JOHN WESSELS / AFP)

Dr. Sefi Mendelovich, the deputy director of the Health Ministry, calls on hospitals to implement measures to decrease inpatient populations, according to the Ynet news outlet.

Hospitals have been instructed to discharge women 12 hours after childbirth, compared to the current standard of 36 hours for vaginal births and 48 hours for cesarean sections.

The ministry has told hospitals to refresh their internal mass-casualty event protocols, including “emergency evacuation” procedures for wards hit by missiles.

Preparations must also include readiness for hazardous materials scenarios, requiring updates to toxicological emergency plans and the activation of outdoor decontamination systems.

No reports of injuries after Iran fires at least 10 missiles at northern Israel

There are no immediate reports of impacts in populated areas or injuries in Iran’s ballistic missile attack, Magen David Adom says.

At least 10 missiles were fired from Iran in the attack, according to initial IDF assessments.

Sirens had sounded across northern Israel.

Video circulating on social media showed a vehicle burning after apparently being hit by shrapnel in Shfaram. Nobody was reported wounded.

A vehicle burning after apparently being hit by shrapnel in Shfaram in an Iranian missile attack, June 19, 2025. (Used in accordance with clause 27a)

After Iran strike on Soroka, Red Cross says ‘hospitals must be respected’

The International Committee of the Red Cross says that “hospitals must be respected” after Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba was hit by an Iranian ballistic missile on day seven of the war.

“Under international humanitarian law, the wounded and sick, medical personnel and hospitals must be respected and protected,” the ICRC writes on X.

Sirens sound in Haifa, across northern Israel due to Iranian missile attack

Sirens are sounding in Haifa and across northern Israel amid an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

Civilians in areas where sirens are sounding are instructed to enter bomb shelters and remain in them until further notice.

Incoming Iranian missile attack detected, says IDF

The IDF says it has detected the launch of ballistic missiles from Iran.

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

Civilians in areas where sirens sound are instructed to enter bomb shelters and remain in them until further notice.

‘Mistake’ to say that Israel struck Bushehr nuclear site, says IDF official

A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, Oct. 26, 2010. (Majid Asgaripour/Mehr News Agency via AP)

An Israeli military official says “it was a mistake” for IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin to have said today that Israel had struck the Bushehr nuclear site in Iran.

Defrin said in response to a question at a press conference, “The Air Force continues to strike and intensify its attacks on all components, as defined in our war objectives. We have struck nuclear sites in Bushehr, Isfahan and Natanz, and we will continue to target additional facilities.”

The official would only confirm that Israel had hit the Natanz, Isfahan and Arak nuclear sites in Iran.

Pressed further on Bushehr, the official said he could neither confirm nor deny that Israel had struck the location, where Iran has a reactor.

IAF drones struck Iranian soldiers who were repairing ballistic missile launch sites, says IDF

Smoke rises after an Israeli attack, in Tehran, Iran, June 18, 2025. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli Air Force drones struck Iranian engineering equipment and killed dozens of soldiers who were attempting to restore ballistic missile launch sites in Iran, the military says.

The IDF says that in recent days, it identified several attempts by the Iranian military to restore ballistic missile launch and storage sites that had been previously targeted.

“Aircraft struck and destroyed the engineering equipment and eliminated dozens of soldiers of the Iranian military operating in the area,” the military says.

צה״ל תקף מספר אתרי שיגור במערב איראן לאחר שזוהו ניסיונות של המשטר האיראני לשקמם

בימים האחרונים, כלי טיס של חיל האוויר זיהו מספר ניסיונות של כוחות הביטחון של המשטר האיראני לשקם אתרי שיגור ואחסנה לאחר שהותקפו על-ידי צה״ל.

כלי הטיס תקפו והשמידו את כלי ההנדסה וחיסלו עשרות חיילים… pic.twitter.com/uzxgd0mOI7

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 19, 2025

Transport Ministry opening hotline to help Israelis stranded abroad return home

El Al repatriation flight lands at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, June 18, 2025. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The Transportation Ministry is opening a hotline in conjunction with the IDF Home Front Command to help Israelis stranded abroad return home.

The phone hotline (077-7703003), available to the general public, is designated to provide information and assistance for Israelis who are seeking to return home and who meet certain criteria. The hotline will operate 24 hours a day during the week, on Friday until 1 p.m., and on Shabbat in “emergency mode.”

In the initial phase, service will be provided in Hebrew only.

An exceptions committee has been set up to review and prioritize exceptional and humanitarian requests by Israelis stranded abroad and help them fly back to Israel. The committee includes representatives from the Transportation Ministry, Foreign Ministry, the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Authority. Israelis will need to fill in this form to be considered by the committee.

Among the criteria are medical emergencies, highly pregnant women, a single parent with small children under the age of 12 in Israel, and minors without a parent.

Yair Golan laments ‘huge gaps’ in protective infrastructure between Arabs and Jews

The Democrats party chair Yair Golan (center) during a meeting in Shibli, June 19, 2025. (Courtesy)

There is a significant gap in defensive preparations between Arab and Jewish Israelis, Democrats party chairman Yair Golan declares, following a tour of the Arab municipalities of Shefa-Amr, Nazareth and Shibli in northern Israel.

“Iranian missiles do not distinguish between Jews and Arabs, between the center and the periphery,” he says.

While authorities’ preparations for war were “impressive,” he says, there are “still huge gaps in defense for Arab society.”

“As commander of the Home Front Command, I recommended 15 years ago a simple but dramatic move: to allocate a billion shekels a year ($290 million) to protect civilians. A tiny amount in terms of the state budget, which would significantly reduce the gaps in protection,” he continues.

“With a billion shekels a year, we would add about 10,000 additional protected spaces each year. Over 15 years, we would end up with about 150,000 additional protected housing units, especially in the periphery and in disadvantaged areas. This neglect must stop.”

Israel has been criticized for not building as many shelters in Arab cities. In the northern city of Tamra, where four residents were killed in a missile barrage Saturday night, there are no public shelters available, and only 40% of residents have access to private shelters, Hadash-Ta’al party chairman Ayman Odeh said Sunday.

A 2024 report by the Israel Democracy Institute found that Israel was not meeting its responsibilities to provide adequate protective structures in Arab cities, citing a 2018 State Comptroller report that said only 11 out of 71 Arab local authorities examined had public shelters.

Netanyahu briefs Gantz, Liberman on security situation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) provides opposition figures Benny Gantz (left) and Avigdor Liberman with a security update, June 19, 2025. (Haim Zach / GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met this morning with National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman for a security briefing, announces the Prime Minister’s Office.

The meeting with the two former political allies, now prominent opposition figures, follows Netanyahu’s security briefings earlier this week with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and President Isaac Herzog.

271 people treated in hospitals this morning due to Iranian missile attack, says Health Ministry

Israeli security and rescue forces at the scene where a ballistic missile fired from Iran hit and caused damage in Ramat Gan, June 19, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Health Ministry reports that 271 people arrived at hospitals after the Iranian ballistic missile attack this morning — four in serious condition, 16 in moderate condition, 220 in good condition, 24 suffering from acute anxiety, and seven undergoing medical evaluation whose condition has not yet been determined.

Of those at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, which was directly struck by a missile, 71 people were lightly injured and one person suffered from anxiety.

Most of the lightly injured were hurt on their way to a protected area or were suffering from anxiety.

Since the beginning of Operation Rising Lion, 2,345 injured people have arrived at hospitals: 21 in serious condition, 87 in moderate condition, 2,105 in good condition, and 99 suffering from anxiety, the ministry says.

So far, most of the injured have been released. Currently, 106 people are being treated in hospitals, and another 149 are being treated in the emergency room.

The ministry asks people living near elderly citizens to assist them as much as possible in choosing the closest and safest protected space, and practicing getting there and arriving as early as possible, even before the alarm sounds, to prevent accidents caused by falls on the way.

The ministry has also instructed health maintenance organizations and resilience centers to strengthen mental health support services by allowing victims of anxiety to receive telephone support without having to go to hospitals. The phone number for the National Resilience Therapeutic Center is *5486 and operates around the clock.

Netanyahu at Soroka, asked about killing Khamenei, says no one in Iran is immune: ‘Let actions speak for themselves’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the scene of an Iranian missile strike on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, June 19, 2025. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL/Flash90)

Touring Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba after it was hit by an Iranian missile earlier today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicates he has not ruled out a strike on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Asked whether Khamenei is a dead man walking, he replies: “I gave instructions that no one is immune. I prefer not to deal with [making] headlines and to let actions speak for themselves.”

“During a war,” says Netanyahu, “words have to be chosen with care, and actions with precision.”

He adds that he expects this “from my ministers as well.” This is an implied criticism of Defense Minister Israel Katz, who has been publicly threatening Khamenei.

“All the options are open,” Netanyahu adds. “It’s best not to speak about this in the press,” he stresses.

Netanyahu says that US involvement in the war “is a decision for President Trump.”

“He will do what is good for America, and I will do what’s good for Israel,” says Netanyahu, adding that the US president “knows the game.”

He stresses that Israel has the ability to carry out the entire mission by itself if needed: “At the end of this operation, there will be no nuclear threat on Israel, and there won’t be a ballistic threat.”

In a statement sure to be criticized by political opponents, Netanyahu says that “all of us are paying a personal price” in the war, “and that hasn’t missed my family as well — my son canceled a wedding.”

IDF says drone intercepted over Jordan Valley

A drone launched at Israel, apparently from Iran, was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force a short while ago, the IDF says.

Sirens had sounded in the Jordan Valley.

One person reported killed in Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon

Lebanese media outlets report that an Israeli drone struck a car in the vicinity of the village of Houla in southern Lebanon.

According to the reports, one person who was driving the vehicle was killed in the attack.

The IDF has yet to comment on the incident.

مسيرة اسرائيلية استهدفت سيارة في بلدة حولا pic.twitter.com/uqVSI81qFu

— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) June 19, 2025

Gantz: Iran campaign close to a decision, ‘we must not stop’

National Unity Party Leader MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 26, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Israel’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear program is close to a decision and “we must not stop,” Benny Gantz, the chairman of the opposition National Unity party, states following a security briefing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a video message, Gantz says Israelis are “all united behind the political and military echelons in this mission that guarantees Israel’s security for decades to come.

“These are complex days for us as a society, but also days of opportunity” to both return the hostages and to reverse the “stranglehold that Iran tried to build around us” into one that strangles Tehran, he says. “We must not miss the opportunity. We must continue to act.”

IDF confirms Iran launched missile carrying fragmenting cluster warhead

A Home Front Command image shows a munition from an Iranian cluster bomb missile, warning the public to stay away, June 19, 2025 (IDF)

The IDF’s Home Front Command confirms that Iran launched at least one ballistic missile carrying a cluster bomb warhead at central Israel today.

The missile’s warhead splits while descending, at an altitude of around 7 kilometers, spreading around 20 smaller munitions at a radius of around 8 kilometers. The munitions do not have their own propulsion, and simply fly away randomly to the ground.

One of the small munitions struck a home in the central town of Azor, causing some damage, equivalent to a small rocket.

An Israeli military official says such a missile poses a threat to a much wider area than Iran’s other ballistic missile warheads, but the explosion from each of the cluster bombs is far smaller.

The army warns the public not to approach any missile remains they may find on the ground, which are hazardous and may explode, and to alert authorities immediately if one is spotted.

There is no change to the Home Front Command’s guidelines for civilians when it comes to cluster bomb attacks.

Iran launched some 20 ballistic missiles at Israel this morning, with four direct impacts, including the home in Azor.

Missiles carrying large warheads hit Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and buildings in Ramat Gan and Holon, causing extensive damage and wounding dozens.

IDF estimates it has hit two-thirds of Iran’s missile launchers — official

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

An Israeli military official tells Reuters the army estimates it has struck two-thirds of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers.

Iran is still believed to have more than 100 missile launchers, the official says.

Officials have said the launchers are a prime target, as they are the bottleneck for Tehran’s ability to launch its thousands of missiles at Israel.

Air Force strikes ballistic missiles and soldiers in western Iran

The Israeli Air Force carried out a wave of strikes in western Iran a short while ago, targeting Iranian ballistic missile infrastructure and Iranian soldiers, the IDF says.

Some 20 IAF fighter jets were involved in the strikes.

Additionally, an IAF drone hit trucks carrying ballistic missiles as they arrived at a launch site, the military adds.

בנוסף, כלי-טיס של חיל-האוויר זיהה תנועה של משאיות המכילות מארזי טילי קרקע-קרקע, והן הותקפו בעת הגעתם לנקודות השיגור. pic.twitter.com/rfK41anu2d

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 19, 2025

US envoy says Hezbollah involvement in Iran-Israel war would be ‘very bad decision’

US negotiator Thomas Barrack speaks to reporters after his meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker in Beirut on June 19, 2025 (AFP)

The US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack warns Lebanon’s Hezbollah against getting involved in the war between its main backer Iran and Israel.

Barrack, who is also the US ambassador to Turkey, is on his first visit to Beirut, where he met top Lebanese officials, including parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah.

“I can say on behalf of President Trump… that would be a very, very, very bad decision,” Barrack says after his meeting with Berri, responding to a question on what the US position would be on any involvement by Hezbollah in the war.

The group condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran when the conflict erupted on Friday, but did not announce an intention to intervene in support of Tehran.

Hezbollah suffered devastating losses in its war against Israel last year, which ended with a ceasefire agreement in November. The war heavily weakened the group, which was once seen as the most powerful and influential component the so-called Iran-led “axis of resistance.”

Reacting to the Iran-Israel war, the Lebanese foreign ministry said last week that it was “continuing its contacts” to spare the country from being dragged into any conflict.

IDF suspects at least one missile launched by Iran this morning carried multiple warheads or cluster bomb

Missile trails are seen in the sky above the coastal city of Netanya amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 19, 2025 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

The IDF suspects that at least one of the missiles launched by Iran this morning was carrying multiple munitions, or a type of cluster bomb.

Iran has claimed to possess Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRV) ballistic missiles, as well as other projectiles with submunitions, which allow a single missile to hit several targets.

During scans in central Israel, several small munitions were located, indicating that such a missile may have been used.

The military is investigating the incident further.

Iranian missiles today directly hit Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital, causing injuries and widespread damage, and caused dozens of injuries and heavily damaged dozens of buildings in Ramat Gan and Holon.

Antiquities Authority: No known damage to archaeological sites in Israel

No archaeological site or artifacts in Israel have so far been damaged by Iranian strikes, a spokesperson for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) tells The Times of Israel in a statement.

“To the best of our knowledge, no damage has been caused thus far to archaeological artifacts under the responsibility of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and no reports have been received regarding damage to exhibits in museums,” the statement reads.

As a precautionary measure, the IAA has transferred hundreds of crates containing highly sensitive finds — such as glass and other delicate materials — to protected underground storage at the IAA headquarters in the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus in Jerusalem.

The IAA says it is in touch with museums across Israel to assist them when relevant or possible.

“It is important to recognize that there are many museums throughout the country — some of them small — that do not have dedicated protection infrastructure for their exhibits,” the statement further reads. “We will continue to cooperate with cultural and heritage institutions throughout the country and do our utmost to protect the cultural heritage assets of the Land of Israel.”

Iran’s options against foreign aggression include closing Strait of Hormuz, Mehr news reports

Two traditional dhows sail by a large container ship in the Strait of Hormuz Friday, May 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Closing down the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of daily global oil consumption passes, is one of the options Iran could take to respond against its enemies, a member of the Iranian Parliament National Security Committee presidium Behnam Saeedi tells the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Iran has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure, and shipping sources say that commercial ships are avoiding Iran’s waters around the strait.

At site of Soroka Hospital strike, Herzog calls for ‘severe blow’ to Iran

President Isaac Herzog (L) visits the site of an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, alongside the hospital’s director-general, Dr. Shlomi Codish. June 19, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

At the site of the Iranian ballistic missile attack on the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba this morning, President Isaac Herzog says Israel must deliver a “harsh blow” to Iran to ensure a better future for Israel and the region.

“We will rebuild everything. That is a certainty. We will demonstrate resilience, and we will change our destiny — and the destiny of the entire region,” Herzog tells media at the scene.

He highlights that “Jews, Muslims, and people of all faiths work together and receive care side by side” in the hospital, including Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, demonstrating “what the future can be.”

“For the sake of that future, we must fight and we must change reality — and that means delivering a most severe blow to the head of the snake sitting in Tehran. That is the reality,” says Herzog.

He adds that Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity in Gaza had received treatment at the hospital, saying, “We will not for a moment forget the hostages still in captivity. We want to see them home — every last one of them — as soon as possible.”

Xi tells Putin Iran-Israel ceasefire is ‘top priority’

China’s President Xi Jinping said a ceasefire between Iran and Israel is the “top priority” during a phone call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Chinese state media reports.

“Promoting a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities is the top priority. Armed force is not the correct way to resolve international disputes,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.

Soroka patients evacuated to other hospitals following missile strike

Patients are evacuated from Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba after an Iranian missile hit the hospital, June 19, 2025 (Magen David Adom)

The Health Ministry announces it has begun evacuating patients from Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba to other hospitals across the country, after Soroka was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile this morning.

Magen David Adom is transferring patients to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Assuta Beersheba, Assuta Ashdod, Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Hadassah Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, and Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah.

Rehabilitation patients will be transferred to the Adi Negev Center.

The ministry reminds the public to come to hospitals only in cases of medical emergencies and to avoid the Soroka emergency room.

Poll: Clear majority of Jewish Israelis back Iran strikes; most Arabs opposed

Smoke billows in the distance from an oil refinery following an Israeli strike on the Iranian capital Tehran on June 17, 2025. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

A large majority of Jewish Israelis support Israel’s strikes on Iran’s missile arrays and nuclear program, while most Arab citizens oppose it, a new survey by the Israel Democracy Institute has found.

According to the poll of over 700 Hebrew and Arabic speakers conducted on Sunday-Tuesday, 70 percent of Israelis support the ongoing strikes, 10% say they support them but the timing is wrong, and 13.5% are opposed.

Among Jews, 82% support the strikes, including a majority across political camps, and two-thirds of Jewish respondents also support the timing of the operation. Breaking it down by political leaning, only 37% of those on the left support the timing, versus 52.5% in the center and 80% on the right.

Among Arab Israelis, only 11% support the decision to launch an attack on Iran, with another 12.5% in support but opposed to the timing, and 65% opposed to the strikes.

Meanwhile, 91.5% of Jewish respondents characterize the level of public resilience and fortitude during the war with Iran so far as very high or fairly high, versus only 35% among Arabs. However, both 66% of Jews and 89% of Arabs express significant concern for their physical safety and that of their families.

Asked if it was appropriate to launch an attack, assuming that Iran’s nuclear program cannot be fully destroyed without US participation and “without an explicit American intention to participate,” 63% of Israelis say it was.

Among Jews, 69% support launching an attack without a prior American commitment, while only 31.5% of Arabs agree. On the left, only 35.5% agree, versus 67 and 77% on the center and right, respectively.

Sixty percent of Jewish Israelis believe that Israeli security is one of US President Donald Trump’s central considerations, versus 50% among Arabs. Among Jews on the left, this number drops to only 31%, compared to 57% in the center and 67% on the right.

Among Jews, 68% say they believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch the attack was motivated by “objective and security-related” concerns, while only 18.5% of Arabs agree. Only 28% of those on the left agree, versus half of respondents in the center and 83% on the right.

On the left, 49% say Netanyahu’s motivations were “mainly subjective and political,” a view shared by 68% of Arabs, 34% of Jews in the center and 7% on the right.

Around half of Israelis (52% of Jews and 38.5% of Arabs) believe that in light of the security situation, a unity government should be established. This view is supported by 41.5% of Jews on the left, 63.5% in the center and 50% those on the right.

Report: Finance Ministry delaying transfer of funds for more shelters in high-risk towns

The Finance Ministry is dragging its feet on the transfer of funds to build more shelters in communities at high risk of Iranian missile fire, Army Radio reports.

This morning, MKs Naor Shiri (Yesh Atid) and Naama Lazimi (Labor) submitted an inquiry to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding the holdup on an NIS 100 million ($29 million) budget to bolster protective infrastructure.

The plan, undertaken in a joint decision by the Defense Ministry and IDF Home Front Command, would set aside NIS 50 million to construct portable shelters in areas with a shortage of protected spaces.

These shelters will first go up in the Gush Dan area in central Israel. Afterwards, more will be built in the Shfela (Judean foothills) region, then the Krayot, a cluster of suburbs just north of Haifa, Kan reported earlier this week.

Unlike the portable shelters scattered throughout the south to protect communities near the Gaza border, these structures will be better suited for the Iranian missile threat, with closable doors, providing better defense against ballistic missile shrapnel.

חשיפת "כאן חדשות": החלה הצבת מיגוניות "ארבל" במרכזי ערים במרכז הארץ במקומות ללא מספיק ממ"דים ומרחבים מוגנים. תיעוד מעכשיו מרמת השרון pic.twitter.com/G7wMlfsXIC

— איתי בלומנטל ???????? Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) June 18, 2025

The other half of the budget is to go to renovating already-existing shelters, improving their electricity, ventilation and plumbing systems, using Defense Ministry contractors.

The IDF and Defense Ministry submitted the request two days ago to the Finance Ministry, but the latter is apparently demanding to see the full plans before greenlighting the initiative.

Sources familiar with the issue tell Army Radio that dozens of shelters could have already been placed in high-risk areas if not for the days of delay amid ballistic missile fire from Iran.

Despite the holdup, several locales in the Gush Dan area have already received portable shelters from the Home Front Command, including Bnei Brak and Ramat Hasharon.

Both the Defense Ministry and Finance Ministry declined to respond to Army Radio’s requests for comment.

Defense minister: Khamenei is ‘modern Hitler, cannot continue to exist’

Defense Minister Israel Katz at the scene of an Iranian missile strike in Holon, June 19, 2025 (Video screenshot)

Visiting the site of this morning’s missile strike in Holon, Defense Minister Israel Katz says Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “the modern Hitler” and “cannot continue to exist.”

He says that under the IDF’s war goals, “without question this man should not continue to exist.”

“A dictator like Khamenei, who heads a country like Iran and has made the destruction of the State of Israel his declared goal, this horrific goal of destroying Israel, cannot be allowed to continue or materialize,” he tells media.

“I compare it to the scenario in which, during the horrific Holocaust, if the State of Israel had existed and a strong Israel Defense Forces had existed, and we knew we could send the IDF into a bunker to capture the enemy of the Jewish people, Hitler, in order to thwart his plan to annihilate the Jews, we would have done it,” he says.

“We would have sent the IDF, extracted him, and eliminated him. And just like that, correspondingly, I see the current situation — Khamenei is the modern Hitler.”

Katz goes on: “This is a man who has stood at the head of a powerful nation for decades and has great ideological influence. He uses it and openly says he supports the destruction of Israel. He mobilizes all available resources, even at the expense of his own people, for this purpose. And today we see proof that he is personally giving the order to fire on hospitals and residential buildings. These [repeated missiles strikes on civilian targets] are not a statistical deviation that can be explained away — he sees this as part of the mission to destroy the State of Israel.”

Asked then whether eliminating Khamenei falls under the war’s goals, Katz replies: “The objectives of the war are to remove the nuclear threat, eliminate sources of destruction, and neutralize missile threats. Within this framework, the IDF has been instructed and knows that to achieve all the objectives, without question this man should no longer continue to exist.”

US officials said this week that President Donald Trump previously vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”

IDF to Iranians: Claims that Soroka was used as military facility are lies; ‘We are not so despicable’

The IDF says claims circulated by Iranian media that Soroka Hospital was used as a military facility are “lies.”

“The claim of an attack on an intelligence base or the presence of military equipment under the hospital is another lie. We are not so despicable as to endanger civilians,” the IDF says in a Persian-language statement directed at the Iranian population.

“Attacking hospitals is a crime. Fabricating a reason does not justify it,” it adds.

Soroka was hit by an Iranian ballistic missile this morning, causing extensive damage and wounding several people.

❗️ برای توجیه حمله به مرکز درمانی سوروکا، رژیم تروریستی ایران نقشه‌ای منتشر کرده که از اساس جعلی، ساخته‌ی هوش مصنوعی، و پر از غلط است.

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???? و بقیه چیزها هم کلاً تخیلی… pic.twitter.com/7r10cZKY5m

— ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi) June 19, 2025

Ministries to set up team to spearhead urban renewal at missile-hit sites

The ALEH rehabilitative campus in Bnei Brak, devastated by an Iranian missile, June 16, 2025 (Eliezer Feinstein / ALEH)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel have convened a meeting with representatives of the Housing and Justice ministries to discuss the launch of an inter-ministerial team to deal with urban renewal in areas damaged by Iranian missile strikes.

According to Smotrich’s office, the team will be headed by the directors general of the Finance and Housing ministries and will include representatives of the Interior Ministry, Tax Authority and Israel Lands Authority, among others.

Those present at the meeting discussed turning “the destruction into a real opportunity: for optimal and improved reconstruction, one that will provide residents with a higher quality of life and advanced infrastructure, in the shortest possible time frame,” Smotrich’s spokesman says.

“This is the time to prove that the right move in an emergency can give rise to a better reality. We will build a bigger and stronger Israel,” Smotrich states.

Israelis will turn “destruction into rebirth,” says Arbel. “The Interior Ministry will work together with all parties to implement reconstruction and urban renewal processes quickly and responsibly in order to restore security, homes and hope to residents.”

According to the Federation of Local Authorities, nearly 5,000 evacuees due to Iran’s missile strikes are currently in need of aid costing over NIS 15 million ($4.3 million) a day.

IDF video shows strike on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor

The IDF releases footage showing its strike this morning on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor.

The reactor was only partially built, and Iran had informed the IAEA that it planned to begin operating the facility next year.

The military says the strike “targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”

Israeli strikes target the Arak heavy water reactor in Iran, June 19, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

El Al announces plans for next repatriation flights

El Al announces that it expects to operate two repatriation flights from long-haul destinations, one from New York and one from Bangkok, as part of the air mission to bring back Israelis stuck abroad since the start of the conflict with Iran on Friday.

The two flights from New York and from Bangkok are expected to take off tonight (Israel time) to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. Passengers assigned to these flights have been notified, El Al says.

On Friday, 14 El Al repatriation flights will land in Israel from various destinations that have not yet been announced, El Al says.

Starting next week, and subject to authorization from state and aviation authorities, El Al is preparing to operate repatriation flights from major destinations in the US and Europe.

European destinations from which flights are expected to depart include London, Paris, Larnaca, Athens and Rome. From the US, El Al hopes to operate repatriation flights from New York and Los Angeles, and in the Far East, from Bangkok.

El Al says its customers will be asked today to update their requested repatriation location, if they choose to change it, via an email that will be sent to them in the coming hours.

Home Front Command chief: Those who went into shelter at site of direct impact in Holon were unharmed

Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo (left) at the scene of an Iranian ballistic missile impact in Holon, June 19, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo says civilians who entered a shelter at the site of a direct ballistic missile impact on a building in Holon were unharmed.

“This event is an extraordinary example of civilian behavior. The civilians who were in the building heard the warning, the advance directive, went down to a shared private shelter located at the bottom of the building, and this saved their lives,” Milo says.

Police halt broadcast of foreign outlets reporting from missile impact sites

Police halted the broadcast of several foreign news agencies reporting from missile impact sites this morning.

The agencies’ footage — which police say revealed “precise locations” — was apparently being used by the Al Jazeera news network, banned in Israel since last summer.

A spokesman for police says patrol units were dispatched to take action “against news agencies utilized by Al Jazeera to transmit unauthorized and unlawful content.”

In footage of the police action shared by the National Security Ministry, an officer is seen ordering a cameraman to hand over his recording device.

The cameraman resists and can be heard saying to him in Hebrew: “They are seeing you on CNN, seeing you on BBC, seeing you all over the world, so calm down for a second.” The cameraman requests that the officer talk to the police spokesman, and adds that he can’t help it if other channels are using his broadcast.

The decision was made “in accordance with the policy of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and under the directive of Police Commissioner Danny Levy,” says a police spokesman.

Earlier this week, police raided the offices of foreign TV crews after they broadcast missile impacts in the Haifa area, where barrages had targeted sensitive facilities.

Ben Gvir has pledged to crack down on foreign media broadcasting the locations of missile impacts.

“Broadcasts that show exactly where the missiles land on the State of Israel are a danger to state security,” he said from a missile impact site in Petah Tikva on Tuesday. “I expect that anyone who does this be treated as someone who harms state security.”

Israeli authorities have sought to limit information on impact locations they argue can be used by Iran to better calibrate its missiles.

Foreign Ministry to open press center at Soroka Hospital

Smoke rises after an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Dudu Greenspan/Flash90)

Following Iran’s ballistic missile attack on the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba this morning, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar instructs the Foreign Ministry to open a foreign press operations center at the hospital to spread media awareness of Iran’s attacks on civilian centers, the ministry announces.

The operation is being organized with the Government Press Office and “is intended to present to the international media the deliberate attack by the Iranian regime on the hospital and on Israel’s civilian population,” says the Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Egyptian FM pushes European diplomats on ‘de-escalation’ dialogue with Iran

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not pictured, in Tahrir Palace in Cairo, Egypt Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell about the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.

In a statement after the call, Abdelatty says that the E3, an informal foreign and security cooperation arrangement between the UK, Germany and France, is responsible for opening “channels for dialogue and negotiation and utilize all available channels with the Iranian side to reach compromises that contribute to de-escalation.”

Iran’s FM to attend Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meet in Turkey on Saturday, source says

This handout picture provided by the Iranian foreign ministry shows Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meeting with ambassadors of foreign countries in Tehran on June 15, 2025. (Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Saturday, a Turkish foreign ministry source says, as fighting rages between Israel and Iran.

The source says a special session of the 51st OIC Council of Foreign Ministers is expected to focus on Israel’s recent strikes against Iranian nuclear and military sites, including today’s attack on the Khondab nuclear site in Arak.

The Israeli military said it targeted a partially built heavy-water reactor at the site, which experts say could produce weapons-grade plutonium.

Turkey has sharply criticized Israel, called its actions illegal and said Iran was legitimately defending itself.

Opening the two-day summit, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to call on Muslim countries to unite in the face of “destabilizing actions” across the region, the ministry source says. President Tayyip Erdogan will also address the conference.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which includes 57 member states, has long served as a political and diplomatic forum for Muslim countries.

Israel says its assault is targeting Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program in an act of self-defense.

Iran has retaliated by launching over 400 missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and over 500 wounded.

MK Tibi equates Beersheba hospital strike with hospitals hit in Gaza fighting

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Condemning Iran’s missile strike on Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, MK Ahmad Tibi, who leads the Knesset’s Arab Ta’al party, equates the attack with Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.

“Attacking a hospital is a crime that must be condemned, always and everywhere,” the veteran Israeli politician tweets.

“We also condemned the attack on hospitals in Gaza. Our hearts go out to the medical teams in Soroka and the injured. Do not harm civilians. Do not harm medical teams. Enough of the wars.”

The Hamas terror group has routinely employed hospitals in Gaza for military purposes, using them for command centers and to hold hostages, the IDF says.

In April, the military said it targeted a Hamas command center that was housed in Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital that had been “used by terrorists to plan and execute attacks against IDF forces and citizens of the State of Israel.”

The army confirmed last week that Hamas leader Muhammed Sinwar was killed in a May 13 airstrike as he hid in a tunnel under the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

The 8-meter-deep tunnel where he and other Hamas leaders had been hiding was part of a massive subterranean network. The airstrikes hit areas of the tunnel outside the hospital complex, according to the IDF, and the hospital continued to operate after the strikes.

Israeli hostages were likely held in the tunnel at some point as well, an officer said.

Kremlin says US intervention in Iran-Israel conflict would be ‘terrible spiral of escalation’

Any intervention by the United States in the Iran-Israel conflict would mark a “terrible spiral of escalation,” Interfax news agency quotes Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Iran has retaliated by launching over 400 missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded.

Six people in serious condition after missile barrage, hospitals say

Hospitals in central Israel say six people are hospitalized in serious condition following the missile barrage this morning.

Two of them are at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, and the other four are at Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center.

Prison guards sent to help at site of missile strike at Beersheba hospital

Prison Service guards at the site of a direct Iranian missile impact on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center on June 19, 2025. (Israel Prison Service)

Prison guards are being deployed at the site of an Iranian missile impact at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba this morning.

A Prison Service spokesman says the guards are assisting the Fire and Rescue Service in “rescue operations and handling disaster sites.” He notes this is the first time prison guards have been sent to the scene of a missile strike.

The unusual decision was made by National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, after he held a meeting with Prison Service Commissioner Kobi Yaakobi and Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner Eyal Caspi.

The guards deployed belong to the Prison Authority’s Nachshon unit, normally responsible for escorting prisoners from detention facilities to courts and vice versa.

Army confirms apparent malfunction caused alerts on Home Front Command app

The military confirms an apparent malfunction with the Home Front Command app a short while ago.

No new missiles have been launched, the IDF says, after alerts were activated on the app in some areas.

“It may be a malfunction. The incident is being investigated,” the IDF says.

According to a military source, the alert may have been a delayed push notification from this morning’s Iranian ballistic missile attack.

15 killed by Israeli fire near Gaza aid distribution site, say Hamas-run authorities; no comment from IDF

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency says Israeli fire killed 15 people who had gathered near an aid distribution site in central Gaza.

The agency says a further three people were killed by shelling near Gaza City.

There is no comment from the Israel Defense Forces.

It is unclear at what time the reported shooting near the aid site took place. Earlier this month, the IDF warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, describing these roads as closed military zones. However, the GHF has indicated it may be open during those hours.

The GHF has faced heavy scrutiny from other aid bodies, as well as the UN and foreign countries, which say that it does not sufficiently address the humanitarian needs in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

Critics have also accused GHF of putting aid seekers in harm’s way, with operations beset by deadly incidents on a near-daily basis.

Israel says the mechanism is required to keep aid out of the hands of Hamas.

Hezbollah warns assassination of Iran’s supreme leader would have ‘disastrous consequences’

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, June 13, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

Hezbollah has released a statement expressing support for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei following threats by Israeli and US leaders that he could be killed.

The statement declares that “threats to assassinate [Khamenei] are foolish and reckless, and will have disastrous consequences… Merely uttering them is an offense to hundreds of millions of believers and those connected to Islam, and it is utterly reprehensible. Today, we are more determined and united around him.”

Hezbollah has not joined the fighting against Israel since Jerusalem began striking inside Iran on Friday. In a statement following the first Israeli strikes, the Lebanese terror group condemned the attack. But it indicated to the Lebanese government that it would not get involved.

IDF says 2nd Hezbollah commander killed in drone strike overnight

Another Hezbollah commander was killed in a drone strike in southern Lebanon overnight, the IDF announces.

The strike in the Nabatieh area killed Mohammad Ahmad Khreiss, who the IDF says was the commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank unit in the Shebaa area.

“During the war, the terrorist advanced numerous attacks against the State of Israel,” including an anti-tank missile attack on Mount Dov on April 26, 2024, which killed Sharif Sawaed, an IDF civilian contractor.

“In addition, the terrorist continued to advance terror activity in southern Lebanon in a way that violated the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military adds.

Another Hezbollah commander was killed in a separate drone strike announced earlier.

Alerts activated in some areas on Home Front Command app in apparent malfunction

Alerts were activated in some areas on the Home Front Command’s app a short while ago, in what appears to be a malfunction.

The IDF says it is investigating.

Flight bringing stranded Israelis from Cyprus briefly diverted as Iranian missiles rained down, then lands safely

An El Al plane arrives from France at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, August 1, 2024. (Tomer Neuberg / Flash90)

Channel 12 reports that an El Al flight from Cyprus bringing home Israelis who had been stranded abroad since the start of the conflict with Iran was forced to pull away from its planned landing at Ben Gurion Airport earlier this morning amid the Iranian missile barrage.

The flight circled in the air for some 30 minutes until authorities confirmed it was safe to land, then touched down without incident.

Israel’s airspace has been largely closed since Friday amid the war. In recent days Israeli airlines have begun repatriation flights for the many thousands of Israelis stuck abroad.

Iranian official warns US against direct involvement in conflict: ‘All necessary military options on the table’

In this Nov. 21, 2019 file photo Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)

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

“If the US wants to actively intervene in support of Israel, Iran will have no other option but to use its tools to teach aggressors a lesson and defend itself… our military decision-makers have all necessary options on the table,” Kazem Gharibabadi says, according to state media.

“Our recommendation to the US is to at least stand by if they do not wish to stop Israel’s aggression,” he says.

Far-right MK snipes at Gantz, Eisenkot: ‘Not sure if PM would have attacked Iran if they were still in government’

L: MK Gadi Eisenkot attends a National Unity faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 26, 2025. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90); R: National Unity Party Leader MK Benny Gantz leads a faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 5, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Knesset National Security Committee head MK Zvika Fogel, a member of the far right Otzma Yehudit party, launches an attack on the centrist National Unity party, arguing that if they were in the government Israel may not have attacked Iran’s nuclear program.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a “brave decision” to attack Iran, he tells Haredi radio station Kol Barama.

“October 7 was a trigger. We reached a point where there was no choice. There was an opportunity and ability here, with the backing he received from the government. I’m not sure, if Gantz and Eisenkot were in the government, that he would have made this decision,” he says.

National Unity chief MK Benny Gantz and his number two, MK Gadi Eisenkot, both former IDF chiefs of staff, joined the coalition after October 7. They later quit the government over sharp differences with the prime minister regarding the prosecution of the war in Gaza.

Beersheba mayor: This is liable to happen again, we must be vigilant

Following Iran’s direct strike on a Beersheba hospital, Mayor Ruvik Danilovich calls on the public to remain “alert and vigilant.”

“We will get through this, God willing. We are strong, everyone has their role… This is liable to happen again, so we must be alert and vigilant,” he tells Kan news.

“They want to hurt us,” he says, adding that Iran “has declared for years [its intention] to destroy the State of Israel.”

Stressing the importance of sheltering when necessary, Danilovich says there is a “direct line” connecting Israel’s military campaign in Iran and the “disciplined citizens” who enter protected spaces during missile barrages.

“Everyone has their role: the disciplined citizen, security forces, rescue and emergency services — and Soroka Medical Center, which does truly amazing work,” he says.

Sa’ar: Iran deliberately targeting civilians and committing war crimes

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar joins Israeli leaders in condemning Iran’s ballistic missile strike on Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center this morning, accusing Tehran of committing war crimes and operating with “no red lines.”

“The Iranian regime deliberately targets civilians… is committing war crimes,” and “has no red lines,” writes Sa’ar in a post on X, alongside a video showing damage at the hospital.

https://twitter.com/gidonsaar/status/1935580136075579797

Education minister posts photo of kindergarten yard hit in Iranian barrage

Education Minister Yoav Kisch tweets a photograph of what he says is the yard of a shuttered kindergarten hit during this morning’s Iranian barrage and pledges not to end distance learning until classes can be held safely.

“The education system will return to face-to-face learning only when the situation is safe and allows it. I will not compromise on the safety of the children,” Kisch writes.

פגיעת הדף הבוקר בגן ילדים.
חזרת מערכת החינוך ללימודים פנים מול פנים רק כאשר המצב יהיה בטוח ויאפשר זאת.
לא אתפשר על בטחון הילדים. pic.twitter.com/4kdNvjNcSn

— יואב קיש Yoav Kisch (@YoavKisch) June 19, 2025

A spokesman for Kisch tells The Times of Israel that the kindergarten is located in Ramat Gan.

Defense Minister Katz: ‘Cowardly’ Khamenei will be held accountable for his war crimes

Defense Minister Israel Katz at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 24, 2025. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz says Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei will “be held accountable” for his “war crimes” after a ballistic missile struck Soroka Hospital in southern Israel.

“The cowardly Iranian dictator sits deep within a fortified bunker and deliberately launches attacks toward hospitals and residential buildings in Israel,” Katz says.

“These are war crimes of the worst kind, and Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes,” he warns.

Katz says he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have “instructed the IDF to intensify strikes against strategic targets in Iran and government-related targets in Tehran, in order to eliminate threats to the State of Israel and destabilize the ayatollah regime.”

‘Imagine what they’d do with nukes’: Politicians react to missile attacks on hospital, cities

Israeli politicians slam the Iranian government as “Nazis” and an “evil regime,” arguing that this morning’s strikes on Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and other civilian targets demonstrate why Israel needs to take out Tehran’s nuclear program.

“If the Nazis who launch missiles at hospitals, at the elderly and at children had atomic weapons, they would fire them in a heartbeat without even thinking. This is the most just campaign that Israel has ever embarked on in history,” declares National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, adding that Israelis are “all united to remove this threat once and for all.”

Culture Minister Miki Zohar tweets in English alongside a photo of the damage to the hospital: “The evil Iranian regime has crossed every moral line. Only the scum of the earth fires missiles at hospitalized children and elderly people in their sick beds. Let the whole world know: this is a cruel terrorist regime that must be uprooted, for the security of Israel and the entire free world.”

In another English-language post, National Unity chairman Benny Gantz writes that “while Israel targets Iran’s nuclear and missile programs that threaten not only us but the whole world, Iran targets Israeli hospitals and children.”

“There is no moral equivalence, and Israel will not waver in eliminating the capabilities of those who gleefully declare ‘Death to Israel, Death to America,'” he says.

While Israel targets Iran’s nuclear and missile programs that threaten not only us but the whole world – Iran targets Israeli hospitals and children.

While Israel targets with precision military & IRGC personnel – Iran targets Israeli civilians.

There is no moral equivalence,… pic.twitter.com/xU1Itqb528

— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) June 19, 2025

“Imagine what Iran would do with nuclear weapons,” says Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman. “We must continue until the nuclear program is completely eliminated, the Iranian regime is overthrown, and its missile stockpile is destroyed.”

This has been a “difficult morning for the State of Israel,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tweets, noting that “even a just war comes with a heavy price.”

“This is the people of Israel’s finest hour. Our nation is strong. Our people are acting responsibly. Continue to follow Home Front Command instructions. They save lives,” he writes.

Medical association chief: ‘World should look at Beersheba hospital to understand what a war crime really looks like’

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Dudu Greenspan/Flash90)

Israel Medical Association chairman Prof. Zion Hagay condemns the Iranian missile strike on a Beersheba hospital, calling it a war crime.

“The eyes of the whole world should be turned this morning to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba to understand what a war crime really looks like,” Hagay says.

He calls on the international medical community to strongly condemn the Iran strike, saying that “while Israel targets security objectives, the Iranians deliberately shoot at population centers to harm as many civilians as possible.”

“It is only because of the hospital’s preparedness that a much greater disaster was averted,” he says.

Soroka chief: Widespread damage to hospital; all patients and staff were in shelters

Soroka Medical Center Director-General Prof. Shlomi Kodesh speaks to the press about an Iranian missile strike at the hospital, June 19, 2025 (Video screenshot)

Soroka Medical Center’s director general Prof. Shlomi Codish speaks to the press about the missile strike this morning.

“A missile hit the old surgical ward building at Soroka. It’s a relatively old building that had been evacuated in recent days,” he says.

“There is widespread damage to other buildings at the hospital. All patients and all staff were in shelters. The several injured we have are lightly hurt, mostly from the blast shockwave,” he adds.

Kodesh says staff are now working to map out damage and assess which departments can operate and which cannot.

“We call on the public not to come to the hospital” beyond life-saving need, he says, adding that some current patients will be moved to other hospitals.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric warns any targeting of Iran’s leadership could spark ‘widespread chaos’

Senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, March, 13, 2019. (Office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, via AP)

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warns against targeting Iran’s leadership, and says that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos.

Any targeting of Iran’s top leadership might spark “widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of its people and severely harm everyone’s interests.”

Some 30 missiles were fired at Israel; 3 seriously hurt, 2 moderately, dozens lightly

Security and rescue forces at the scene of an Iranian ballistic missile strike in Ramat Gan, June 19, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Iran fired some 30 ballistic missiles at Israel in this morning’s attack, according to IDF assessments.

Missiles struck Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel, and Holon and Ramat Gan in central Israel.

In central Israel, medics report three seriously wounded, two in moderate condition, and dozens of others lightly hurt.

Netanyahu: We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran

Israel will respond forcefully after Iran hit a major hospital with a ballistic missile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatens.

“Iran’s terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the center of the country,” Netanyahu writes on X.

“We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”

Firefighters say they’ve extricated everyone from Holon impact site

Firefighters have extricated everyone who was trapped under the rubble following the direct missile hit in Holon, says the city’s fire station chief Shaul Rachamim.

“Currently there are no more people trapped at the site. Every person we rescued has since been taken to the hospital,” he tells Kan.

“It is reasonable to assume, with the destruction that we’re seeing here, that these buildings will have to be destroyed,” Rachamim says.

He adds that Holon’s firefighters are currently receiving assistance from firefighters from other districts.

Woman at hospital hit in Iranian missile strike: ‘Everything fell apart. Glass, ceilings – everything fell’

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Sara Bushri, a volunteer at Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center, says it is a miracle that nobody was injured in the Iranian ballistic missile strike on the hospital this morning, describing how debris fell onto the beds of the patients.

“We thought the explosion was right inside the ward. Everything fell apart. Glass, ceilings – everything fell. We evacuated everyone and fortunately not a single patient was hurt, even though there was glass on the beds,” she tells the Kan public broadcaster.

“We quickly took all the patients to a lower floor and to protected areas,” she says. “We received a great miracle from heaven.”

Paramedic says Holon wounded have crush and multisystem injuries

Security and rescue forces at the scene of an Iranian ballistic missile strike in Holon, June 19, 2025 (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)

Paramedic Ori Lazerovich who arrived at the missile impact site in Holon tells Channel 12: “I saw one building apparently hit directly, totally destroyed. Around it in a very large radius were buildings also pretty badly damaged.”

He says paramedics helped extract people from homes and shelters.

As for the several people who were seriously wounded at the site, he says injuries included “crush and multisystem injuries.”

Iran’s ballistic missile strike on hospital ‘deliberate’ and ‘criminal,’ says deputy foreign minister

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Israel’s deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel calls Iran’s ballistic missile strike on Beersheba’s Soroka hospital “deliberate” and “criminal.”

“Iran just hit Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva with a ballistic missile. Not a military base. A hospital. This is the main medical center for Israel’s entire Negev region. Deliberate. Criminal. Civilian target. The world must speak out,” Sharren Haskel writes on X.

Soroka Medical Center says significant damage caused, ER treating minor injuries

Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba says the missile strike damaged the hospital in several areas, including significant damage to the old surgical building.

The emergency room is currently treating several minor injuries.

Soldiers of the Home Front Command are now inspecting all buildings.

The hospital is closed for everything except emergencies.

Herzog: Hospital hit by Iranian ballistic missile ‘cares for Israelis of all faiths and our neighbors the Palestinians’

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

President Isaac Herzog describes how the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, hit in this morning’s ballistic missile attack from Iran, is a beacon of coexistence for Israelis and Palestinians.

Herzog says that vulnerable civilians were targeted in the barrage.

“A baby in intensive care. A mother by their bedside. A doctor rushing between beds. An elderly resident in a nursing home. These were some of the targets of Iran’s missile attacks on Israeli civilians this morning,” Herzog writes on social media.

“Soroka Hospital, located in Be’er Sheva, is one of Israel’s finest—serving the entire Negev region, caring for Israelis of all faiths and our neighbors the Palestinians who come especially to be treated there. Its devoted staff—Jews and Arabs—work side by side in extraordinary harmony, united by the mission to heal,” he writes.

“In moments like these, we are reminded of what’s truly at stake, and the values we are defending,” the president concludes.

IDF hits Iran’s Arak reactor, nuclear weapons development site, dozens of other targets

The Israeli Air Force bombed Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor this morning, along with dozens of other military sites overnight, the IDF announces.

According to the IDF, a wave of overnight strikes involved 40 fighter jets dropping 100 munitions on dozens of Iranian military facilities in Tehran and other areas of Iran.

In addition, this morning, the Arak nuclear site was struck, including the reactor’s containment structure, “a key component in plutonium production,” the military says.

Among the targets struck elsewhere in Iran overnight was a facility in Natanz used by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, the IDF says.

“The site houses unique components and equipment used for the development of nuclear weapons, and hosts projects that enable the acceleration of the nuclear weapons program,” the military says.

Fighter jets also bombed “facilities for manufacturing raw materials, components used in assembling ballistic missiles, and sites for producing Iranian air defense systems and missiles,” along with Iranian air defense sites, missile storage sites, and radars, the IDF adds.

תקיפות חיל האוויר הלילה באיראן: 40 מטוסי קרב תקפו עשרות מטרות צבאיות עם יותר מ-100 חימושים

צה״ל תקף כור גרעיני שאינו פעיל במרחב אראכ שבאיראן

40 מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו במהלך הלילה, בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין, עם יותר מ-100 חימושים, עשרות מטרות צבאיות בטהראן… pic.twitter.com/llhYbkFXIF

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 19, 2025

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Iran claims ballistic missile that hit hospital targeted adjacent IDF base; there is no military facility nearby

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Iran claims that the ballistic missile that hit Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital was in fact targeting an adjacent military intelligence facility.

There are no Israeli military facilities in the vicinity of Soroka Hospital. The IDF’s Southern Command base is located over two kilometers away.

Health minister says Iranian missile attack on hospital ‘an act of terror, a war crime’

Health Minister Uriel Buso at the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 10, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

“The missile fired toward Soroka Medical Center is an act of terror and crosses a red line,” Health Minister Uriel Buso says.

“It is a war crime by the Iranian regime, deliberately targeting innocent civilians and medical teams dedicated to saving lives. The Health Ministry was prepared in advance, and thanks to the immediate actions we took, a major disaster was averted,” he says.

“I urge the public: Please continue to follow Home Front Command instructions. It saves lives.”

‘Many lives were saved’: Hospital floor hit by missile was evacuated of patients yesterday

Eli Bin, head of the Magen David Adom ambulance service, says a floor at Soroka Hospital that was hit this morning was evacuated of patients only yesterday amid the war.

“Many lives were saved,” Bin says.

Japan, China and Indonesia say they are preparing to evacuate citizens from Israel, Iran

Japan, China and Indonesia say they are preparing to help evacuate their citizens from Iran and Israel as the conflict between the two countries intensifies.

Japan says it is dispatching two military aircraft to Djibouti ahead of a possible airlifting of Japanese nationals from Iran. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani says he ordered the dispatch of two C-2 transport aircraft, along with 120 servicemembers, to the Horn of African nation where Japan has a military base. About 280 Japanese are based in Iran and 1,000 others are in Israel.

The Chinese Embassy in Israel, meanwhile, says it will organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday.

A notice posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account says Chinese citizens will be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt.

And the Indonesian government says it will evacuate its citizens from Iran. Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono says, “Our citizens are at risk. Over the past two days, Israel’s attacks have grown more intense, not only targeting the military, but also civilians.”

About 386 Indonesians, mostly students, are in Iran, primarily in the city of Qom, he said. His ministry, meanwhile, said earlier that about 194 Indonesians are in Israel, the majority of whom are in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

Some 20 people lightly hurt in missile strike in Ramat Gan

Security and rescue forces at the scene of an Iranian ballistic missile strike in Ramat Gan, June 19, 2025 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Media reports indicate some 20 people were lightly hurt in the missile strike in Ramat Gan.

The injured were taken to local hospitals.

Footage shows moment of missile impact at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba

Footage posted to social media shows the moment of the ballistic missile impact at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.

The hospital says extensive damage was caused and people are injured.

Black smoke continues to rise from the building at the medical center that was hit, more than an hour after the attack.

Footage posted to social media shows the moment of the ballistic missile impact at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. pic.twitter.com/aicK9zLSnx

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 19, 2025

16 reported injured in Holon, 3 of them seriously

Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center reports it is treating three people seriously injured in the missile strike, and 16 wounded in all.

Soroka spokesperson says hospital suffered ‘extensive damage,’ people wounded

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

A spokesperson for Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba says the hospital suffered “extensive damage” in different areas and people had been wounded in the attack.

The hospital has requested people not come for treatment.

One seriously wounded, over 20 others lightly hurt in Holon

The site of an Iranian missile strike in Holon, June 19, 2025 (MDA)

One person is seriously wounded and nearly two dozen others are lightly hurt by a ballistic missile impact in Holon, Magen David Adom says.

Iran TV: Israel hits Arak heavy water reactor after evacuation warning, ‘no radiation danger’

Iran's Arak heavy water reactor (photo credit: Hamid Foroutan/ISNA/AFP)

Israel attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television says.

The report says there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had already been evacuated before the attack.

Israel warned earlier in the morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.

The research reactor was partially built, with Tehran informing the UN nuclear watchdog that it planed to begin operating the facility next year.

Missiles hit Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Holon

Beyond Beersheba, missiles also hit Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Holon, causing extensive damage.

Israelis cleared to leave shelters after barrage

Israelis have been cleared to leave shelters throughout the country following the latest destructive missile barrage.

Photos and footage show damage at Soroka Hospital after missile strike

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba's Soroka Medical Center, June 19, 2025 (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

Photos and footage show the damage and chaos at Soroka Hospital after the missile strike there.

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike on Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center (Emanuel Fabian/Times of Israel)

זה לא אמיתי מה קורה פה
כל סורוקה כל המיון ???????????? pic.twitter.com/1DUXqvOV8P

— חוסל בגלל טעות בזיהוי (@pop2141) June 19, 2025

Beersheba’s Soroka Hospital suffers direct hit in missile attack

A ballistic missile fired from Iran directly struck Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.

The extent of the damage is not yet clear.

Reports of injuries, extensive damage in multiple impact sites following missile attack

Preliminary reports indicate there are people injured and at least four missile impact sites after the latest barrage, in central and southern Israel.

There appears to be extensive damage at the locations.

Reports of impacts in central, southern Israel; salvo larger than recent ones

Medics are responding to reports of ballistic missile impacts in central and southern Israel.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

The latest barrage was larger than recent salvos.

Sirens sound across Israel amid latest Iranian ballistic missile attack

Sirens sound across Israel following the launch of ballistic missiles from Iran.

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

Alerts blare throughout central, northern and southern Israel as well as the Jerusalem area.

Several large explosions are heard over southern Israel.

IDF detects incoming missiles from Iran

The IDF says it has detected the launch of ballistic missiles from Iran.

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

Civilians in areas where sirens sound are instructed to enter bomb shelters and remain in them until further notice.

Suspected drone sets off sirens in northern Israel

People take shelter in a parking lot in Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage of Iranian rockets on June 17, 2025. (Menahem Kahana / AFP)

Suspected drone infiltration sirens are sounding in Nazareth and several surrounding towns.

Earlier, the IDF said it shot down two drones from Iran that triggered sirens in the Jordan Valley area.

IDF says Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon drone strike

A Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike last night in southern Lebanon, the IDF says.

The target of the strike in the town of Barish was Yassin Izz a-Din, commander of Hezbollah’s rocket artillery unit in the Litani River sector, according to the military.

The IDF says he advanced numerous rocket attacks on northern Israel during the war, and was involved in “attempts to restore Hezbollah’s artillery forces.”

The IDF adds that his actions “constituted a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Australia, New Zealand evacuate some citizens, diplomats from Israel, Iran

This picture shows the empty departure hall at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv after Israel closed its airspace to takeoff and landing following strikes on Iran, June 13, 2025. (Jack GUEZ / AFP)

Australia has evacuated a small number of citizens from Israel, and New Zealand embassy staff have left Iran, but the two governments warn that closed airspace limits how they can assist thousands of citizens requesting help to leave the conflict zone.

Around 1,500 Australians in Iran have registered for assistance, with another 1,200 Australians in Israel seeking to leave, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong says.

The Australian government evacuated a small group from Israel through a land border crossing yesterday, and would look for more opportunities today, Wong tells reporters.

“There are real limits, hard limits, on what the government can do. The airspace remains closed,” she says.

Australians in Iran are advised to leave if it is safe to, or shelter in place.

“We’ve been hoping to get the capacity for aircraft to get in and out, but at this stage airports and the airspace are still closed. In Israel, we have additional options, whereas in Iran it is very difficult,” she tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in a radio interview.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand is doing all it can to help its citizens in the face of “very serious practical constraints”, and is providing advice on overland border exits.

New Zealand has temporarily closed its Tehran embassy and evacuated two staff and their family by land to Azerbaijan, he says.

“An opportunity arose overnight to get our embassy staff out of Iran, as part of a convoy alongside government officials from other countries,” he says.

New Zealand’s consular partners are considering evacuation flights when airspace reopens and the government is working closely with Australia, he adds.

Israeli ambassador to US: We did in 3 days what Russia couldn’t do in 3 years

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, highlights Israel’s accomplishments in its strikes against Iran by comparing the war to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We’ve achieved air superiority over the skies of Iran in three days. What Russia did not accomplish over Ukraine in three years, we accomplished in three days,” he says.

He points out that Iran is vastly larger than Israel, in both land area and population, while Russia is much larger than Ukraine.

Leiter applauds Israel’s effective use of American aircraft in the war.

“The Israeli Air Force is showing that pairing Israeli pilots with American F-35s is a winning combination,” he says.

On Day 7 of the war against the Iranian regime, the Israeli Air Force is showing that pairing Israeli pilots with American F-35s is a winning combination. In just three days of this campaign, Israel has accomplished more than Russia has been able to in three years.

When the… pic.twitter.com/erXZefYvAm

— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) June 19, 2025

Monitor group says Iran cut off from the internet for more than 12 hours

NetBlocks, an internet connectivity monitor, says Iran has been cut off from the internet for more than 12 hours.

Earlier today, NetBlocks described the situation as a “near-total national internet blackout.”

The Iranian regime has announced curbs on the internet, accusing Israel of misusing the network for military purposes.

Jewish Congressmen blast NYC mayor candidate Mamdani for defending the term ‘intifada’

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-New York, arrives to speak with reporters in Washington, July 31, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Condemnation piles up after New York City Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a leading contender to become the city’s next mayor, defends the term “globalize the intifada.”

Asked about the term during a podcast yesterday, Mamdani declined to condemn the phrase, and said, “Ultimately, what I hear in so many is a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.”

New York Rep. Dan Goldman, a Jewish Democrat, says, “If Mr. Mamdani is unwilling to heed the request of major Jewish organizations to condemn this unquestionably antisemitic phrase, then he is unfit to lead a city with 1.3 million Jews.”

New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, also Jewish, says, “Mamdani’s pathetic, hateful lies are a blatant slap in the face of the Jewish community. He must apologize immediately.”

New York Rep. Ritchie Torres says Mamdani’s rhetoric is “not only disgraceful. It is disqualifying.”

The UJA-Federation of New York says, “’Globalize the intifada’ is not a call for justice. It is a call for antisemitic violence.”

Asked about the outcry earlier today, Mamdani said, “There’s no room for antisemitism in this city and this country.”

He became emotional and said he has been threatened due to his Muslim identity. He did not apologize or comment on the phrase “intifada.”

This morning, I was asked by a reporter why I haven't had a more visceral reaction to being called an antisemite.

Here was my response. pic.twitter.com/UBcARHGAnv

— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 18, 2025

During yesterday’s podcast, Mamdani defended the term by saying that “the Holocaust museum” uses the term intifada in its Arabic translation of “uprising” in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. He was apparently referring to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, based in Washington, DC.

Intifada literally means “uprising” or “shaking off,” but it is associated with the Second Intifada, a terror onslaught against Jewish Israelis in the early 2000s.

The museum issued a rare public political statement earlier today, saying, “Exploiting the museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize ‘Globalize the Intifada’ is outrageous and especially offensive to survivors.”

Mamdani is a harsh critic of Israel who is polling in second place in the city’s Democratic party mayoral primary, which will likely determine the next mayor of the mostly Democratic city.

Pro-Iran protesters march through New York City

Crowds of pro-Iran protesters march through New York City.

The crowd chants, “Hands off Iran now,” in Times Square, shouts at pro-Israel demonstrators, and marches through Manhattan, video shows.

The NYPD blocks the protesters’ access to the Israeli consulate.

NYC: "HANDS OFF IRAN NOW!" Protesters chant in Times Square, as group of counter protesters faces off with a man shouting pic.twitter.com/2RIZwRLD4W

— Oliya Scootercaster ???? (@ScooterCasterNY) June 19, 2025

The protest is organized by the anti-Israel activist group the Palestinian Youth Movement, and the socialist groups the People’s Forum and ANSWER Coalition.

IDF warns Iranians to evacuate area of Arak heavy water reactor

An Israeli Air Force fighter jets takes off for strikes in Iran, June 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF warns residents of the cities of Arak and Khondab in central Iran to evacuate for their safety. A heavy-water reactor is on the outskirts of Khondab.

The IDF says in a Farsi-language statement that the IDF is operating in the area against Iranian military infrastructure.

???? هشدار فوری به کارکنان و نیز کلیه افرادی که در ناحیه قرمز رنگ نقشه در محدود شهرهای اراک و خنداب قرار دارند

⭕️ ارتش اسرائیل همچنان که در روزهای اخیر در سراسر ایران برای حمله به زیرساخت‌های نظامی رژیم ایران اقدام کرده است، در این ناحیه فعالیت می‌کند.

⭕️ شهروندان گرامی بمنظور… pic.twitter.com/r75zX5HPbc

— ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi) June 19, 2025

Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that can potentially be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.

Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to relieve proliferation concerns.

In 2019, Iran started up the heavy water reactor’s secondary circuit, which at the time did not violate the 2015 nuclear deal.

The UK at the time was helping Iran redesign the Arak reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces, stepping in for the US, which had withdrawn from the project after then-president Donald Trump’s decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the US from the nuclear deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, has been urging Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites. IAEA inspectors reportedly last visited Arak on May 14.

Due to restrictions Iran imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.

US officials preparing for strike on Iran in the coming days — report

Senior officials in the US are getting ready for a possible strike on Iran in the coming days, Bloomberg reports, citing “people familiar with the matter.”

Some of the sources say that a strike over the weekend is a possibility.

The sources say that the situation is in flux and could still change, the report says.

IDF says it’s conducting airstrikes in Tehran

An Israeli Air Force fighter jet prepares to take off for strikes in Iran, June 17, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says the air force is carrying out a series of airstrikes in and around Tehran, and in other locations in Iran.

Iranian media says air defenses have been activated in central Tehran.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people, rights group says

Smoke rises after an Israeli attack, in Tehran, Iran, June 18, 2025. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,329 others, a human rights group says.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists releases the figures, which cover the entirety of Iran. It says of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 154 security force personnel killed.

Human Rights Activists, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, cross-checks local reports in Iran against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not given regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.

US voters split on Israel’s strikes against Iran — poll

An IAF Boeing 707 refueling plane flies alongside F-35 fighter jets over the Middle East, in a handout photo issued on June 18, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

A survey conducted by Fox News finds that US voters are split on Israel’s strikes against Iran.

Close to half — 49% — approve of the attack while 46% disapprove.

Republicans are far more likely to approve of the strikes, with 73% in favor, while 32% of both Democrats and Independents are in favor.

The majority of respondents, 73%, believe Iran poses a threat to the US.

A majority of 59% believe the strikes against Iran will make the world more dangerous, compared to 36% who think the attacks will make the world safer.

EIghty-one percent say that what happens in the Middle East matters for life in the US, and 53% support financial aid for the Israeli military.

The poll surveyed 1,003 registered voters and has a sampling error of three percentage points.

US says foreign students seeking visas must unlock social media accounts

Anti-Israel activists protest outside Columbia University, January 21, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

The US State Department says that it is restarting the process for foreigners to apply for student visas but says all applicants must have their social media accounts set to “public” to allow review by officials.

Consular officers will be looking for activity, posts and messages showing “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States,” the department says.

The announcement is the latest step in the Trump administration’s crackdown on international students. The US says applicants who refuse may have their applications rejected.

Judge says hate crime prosecution in Boulder, Colorado, attack can proceed

Rabbi Fred Greene of Congregation Har Hashem, front, hugs a man outside of the Boulder County, Colorado, courthouse after an attack on hostage protesters, June 2, 2025, in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A US federal judge says that prosecutors can proceed with a hate crime charge against a man accused of hurling Molotov cocktails at a group of people demonstrating in Boulder, Colorado, in support of Israeli hostages.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, appears in federal court in Denver for a preliminary hearing following the June 1 attack in Boulder that injured at least eight people.

Investigators say he planned the attack for a year and was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people.”

Soliman’s defense attorney, David Kraut, urges Magistrate Judge Kathryn Starnella not to allow the case to move forward. Kraut says Soliman’s anti-Zionist statements and his online search for a “Zionist” event to attack shows he targeted the demonstrators because of their perceived political views — their assumed support for the nation of Israel and Zionism. An attack motivated by someone’s political views is not considered a hate crime under federal law.

Assistant US Attorney Melissa Hindman says the government alleged that the attack was a hate crime because Soliman targeted people based on their national origin — their perceived connection to Israel. Prosecutors are not alleging that Soliman targeted demonstrators, who carried Israeli and American flags, because he believed they were Jewish, noting that he has said that not all Jewish people are Zionists.

Hindman says Soliman did not use the term Israel. But she points out that he doesn’t support its existence on what he called “our land,” which he defined as Palestine.

“He is targeting Israel, and he is targeting anyone who supports the existence of Israel on that land,” she says.

Starnella acknowledges that some of the evidence undercut the government’s allegation that the demonstrators were targeted because of their perceived national origin but said other evidence supported it. At this stage, the government gets the benefit of the doubt on questions about evidence, she says.

Investigators say Soliman told them he had intended to kill the roughly 20 participants at the weekly demonstration on Boulder’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall, but he threw just two of his over two dozen Molotov cocktails while yelling “Free Palestine.” Soliman told investigators he tried to buy a gun but was not able to because he was not a “legal citizen.”

Federal authorities say Soliman, an Egyptian national, has been living in the US illegally with his family.

During his Wednesday appearance, Soliman’s lower right arm and hand were wrapped in a thick bandage, with handcuffs around his wrists. Police previously said he was taken to a hospital for unspecified injuries right after the attack. FBI agent Timothy Chan testifies that Soliman burned himself as he threw the second Molotov cocktail.

Soliman wrote “1187” with a marker on the shirt he was wearing during the attack, a reference to the year that Muslims liberated Jerusalem from Christian Crusaders, Chan says. The significance of that year and battle were also discussed in documents found in Soliman’s car, he testifies.

Soliman did not carry out his full plan “because he got scared and had never hurt anyone before,” police wrote in an arrest affidavit.

One of the injured suffered burns over 60% of their body, Chan testifies. An unspecified number of those injured remain in the hospital, he says.

Authorities consider 15 people and a dog as victims of the attack. One is a Holocaust survivor. Some are considered victims because they could have been hurt.

Soliman is charged separately in state court with multiple counts of attempted murder, assault and offenses related to more than a dozen additional Molotov cocktails police say he did not use.

China will assist citizens in Israel to evacuate to Egypt from Friday

China’s embassy in Israel will assist Chinese citizens who want to evacuate to leave in batches beginning on Friday, the embassy says in a notice.

The evacuation operation will bring Chinese nationals to the Taba Border Crossing into Egypt via bus, about 360 km (224 miles) from Tel Aviv. The border crossing is near Eilat, on the border with Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.

“The Israel-Iran conflict continues to intensify, with increasing casualties, the possibility of further deterioration cannot be ruled out,” the embassy warns.

IDF says air force downed another Iranian drone

The IDF says the air force downed an Iranian drone, the second in less than an hour.

The drone was intercepted in the area of the Jordan Valley, the IDF says.

The statement comes shortly after the IDF said it had intercepted another drone from Iran in the area of Beit She’an, near the Jordan Valley.

Since the start of the conflict, the IDF says Iran has launched some 1,000 drones at Israel, though fewer than 200 reached Israeli airspace. None have impacted the country, according to the military.

Netanyahu’s Likud party gains strength since start of war — poll

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a daily update about Gaza hostage talks and the war in Iran, on June 15, 2025. (Screenshot, Omer Miron/ GPO)

A poll released by the Channel 13 news network, the first since the outbreak of war with Iran, finds Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party gaining strength, but the Netanyahu coalition still falling short of a majority in the Knesset.

Respondents are asked which party they would vote for if elections were held today.

Netanyahu’s Likud party climbs from 24 seats to 27 since a poll conducted by the network last week, before the war. Likud regains its place as the largest party.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s newly formed faction, temporarily named Bennett 2026, drops from 27 seats to 24.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party falls from nine seats to six.

Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu and Yair Golan’s Democrats party each receive 11 seats in today’s poll, while the Haredi Shas party gets 10 seats.

Opposition chief Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, Benny Gantz’s National Unity, and the Haredi UTJ each get seven seats.

The Arab-led Hadash-Ta’al faction gets six seats, and the Arab Ra’am party led by Mansour Abbas, four.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party and the Arab Balad fail to clear the electoral threshold of 3.25%.

Netanyahu’s coalition bloc receives 50 seats, far short of a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Opposition parties receive 60 seats, and the Arab-led parties have 10. Arab majority parties have traditionally shunned coalitions, though Islamist Ra’am broke that trend when it joined a Bennett-led coalition in 2021-2022.

The survey says that 75% of the public supports the war with Iran, 17% oppose entering the war, and eight percent don’t know.

A majority of respondents — 64% — say they believe Netanyahu launched the war to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missiles, and 28% say Netanyahu was motivated by domestic politics.

The poll has an error margin of 3.9%. The network does not provide a sample size.

US moves military assets in Middle East vulnerable to Iranian attack, officials say

The US military has moved some aircraft and ships from bases in the Middle East that may be vulnerable to any potential Iranian attack, two US officials tell Reuters.

The officials, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, say the move was part of planning to protect US forces. They decline to say how many aircraft or ships had been moved and where they would be going.

One of the officials says US naval vessels had been moved from a port in Bahrain, where the military’s 5th fleet is located, while aircraft that were not in hardened shelters had been moved from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

“It is not an uncommon practice. Force protection is the priority,” the official says.

Reuters was first to report this week the movement of a large number of tanker aircraft to Europe and other military assets to the Middle East, including the deployment of more fighter jets. An aircraft carrier in the Indo-Pacific is also heading to the Middle East.

It comes as US President Donald Trump keeps the world guessing whether the US will join Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear and missile sites, as residents of Iran’s capital streamed out of the city on the sixth day of the air assault.

Israel downs Iranian drone after sirens sound in northern Israel

The IDF says the air force downed a drone launched from Iran.

Sirens had sounded in the area of Beit She’an in northern Israel due to the drone.

Since the start of the conflict, the IDF says Iran has launched some 1,000 drones at Israel, though fewer than 200 reached Israeli airspace. None have impacted the country, according to the military.

Trump asks advisers if US bombs can destroy Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility — report

In this photo released by US Air National Guard, a US Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber takes off from a Royal Australian Air Force base in Amberley, Australia, September 11, 2024. (Staff Sgt. Whitney Erhart/US Air National Guard via AP)

US President Donald Trump has asked his military advisers if 30,000-pound bombs could destroy Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility, Axios reports.

The bunker-buster bombs, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrators, are in the US arsenal, but Israel does not have the weapons or the bombers needed to deploy the bombs.

Fordo is buried underground at a depth that is believed to be out of reach of Israeli aerial weaponry.

Officials from the Pentagon told Trump they believe the bombs could work against Fordo, although it’s not yet clear if Trump is so sure, Axios reports.

The bombs have never been used in actual combat, only in tests.

The Israelis told the US officials that, even though they could not dismantle Fordo with bombs, they may “do it with humans,” the report says, citing a US official.

European diplomats to hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, official says

Portraits of Iranian military generals and nuclear scientists, killed in Israel's June 13 attack, are displayed above a road, as a plume of heavy smoke rises from an oil refinery in southern Tehran, after it was hit in an overnight Israeli strike, on June 15, 2025. (Atta Kenare/AFP)

A European official says that senior European diplomats will hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday.

The high-ranking officials from Germany, France and the United Kingdom as well as the European Union’s top diplomat will gather for the meeting in Switzerland.

The European official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

It comes as Trump is weighing approval for the US military to join Israel in carrying out strikes on Iran’s nuclear program.

A US official says there no plans for US involvement in the nuclear talks, although that could change.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic communications, also notes that the Europeans have been wanting to play a role in the negotiations for months but have been held back by the US.

That position, the official says, may be changing as the hostilities intensify.

Also, a British official with knowledge of the situation in the Middle East says there “isn’t complete clarity” about the American plan in the region.

The official says they understand the US is still debating what to do but believe that “all options” are on the table.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely on the matter, says Trump wants to put pressure on Iran to do a deal and suggested he does not want to go to war.

The British official says the US is mounting a “very strong defensive response,” which allows a lot of choice “whichever way this goes,” but emphasizes that the US is framing the current operation as “primarily defensive.” That includes protecting US bases and personnel in the Middle East.

Putin says Russia could help broker a deal between Israel and Iran

Russia's President Vladimir Putin meets with service members as part of the "Time of Heroes" program, which aims to integrate veterans into high-ranking public positions, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on June 12, 2025. (Sergei Bulkin / POOL / AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin offers to help mediate an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, suggesting Moscow could help negotiate a settlement that could allow Tehran to pursue a peaceful atomic program while assuaging Israeli security concerns.

Speaking to senior news leaders of international news agencies, Putin notes that “it’s a delicate issue,” but adds that “in my view, a solution could be found.”

Asked how Russia would react if Israel kills Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Putin refuses to answer, saying that “I don’t even want to discuss such a possibility.”

Putin says he shared Moscow’s proposals with Iran, Israel and the US.

“We are not imposing anything on anyone; we are simply talking about how we see a possible way out of the situation. But the decision, of course, is up to the political leadership of all these countries, primarily Iran and Israel,” he says.

Putin notes that Russia helped Iran finish construction of a nuclear power plant and is currently working on building two more reactors.

“The work is underway, and our specialists are on site. That’s over 200 people. And we agreed with the Israeli leadership that security will be ensured,” Putin says.

Putin’s comments follow a mediation offer that he made in a call with U.S. President Donald Trump last weekend.

Trump says that he told Putin to keep focused on finding an endgame to his own conflict with Ukraine.

“I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own,’” Trump says he told Putin. “I said, ‘Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later.’”

The comments represented a shift for Trump, who earlier this week said he was “open” to Putin’s offer to mediate in the Middle East.

Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm relations with Israel even as it has developed strong economic and military ties with Iran, a policy that potentially opens opportunities for Moscow to play power broker to help end the confrontation.

Columbia U antisemitism report finds widespread disaffection among Jewish students

Anti-Israel activists protest outside Columbia University, January 21, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)

Columbia University’s Task Force on Antisemitism releases a report, finding that Jewish students have experienced widespread disaffection on campus since the October 2023 terror attack on Israel and ensuing turmoil on the Ivy League campus.

“I found the results of this survey difficult to read. They put the challenges we face in stark relief,” acting university president Claire Shipman says in a statement. “Antisemitism can and should be addressed as a unique form of hatred.”

“I am confident we can change this painful dynamic,” she adds.

A survey of thousands of students found that 50% reported positive feelings of belonging, but only 34% of Jewish students felt they belonged, and 41% of Muslim students.

A majority of Jewish students also said they did not feel accepted for their religious identities, felt concerned about expressing their beliefs, and said that expressing support for any side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict made them feel unsafe, the report says.

The task force has released two previous reports that produced similar findings.

Iran executed at least 975 people last year, highest total since 2015, UN says

Illustrative: People take part in a protest against the execution of Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani, in front of the Iranian embassy in Mexico City on December 19, 2022. (Pedro PARDO / AFP)

Iran carried out executions at “an alarming rate” last year with at least 975 people killed, the United Nations chief says in a report that also cites other human rights abuses, from barriers to freedom of expression to the use of torture and arbitrary detention.

UN deputy human rights commissioner Nada Al-Nashif, who presented the report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Wednesday, urges Iran to halt all executions as a first step toward a ban.

She also calls for urgent diplomatic negotiations to end the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel.

The 975 people executed in 2024 surpassed the estimated 834 in 2023 and was the highest rate of executions since 2015, says the report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Four of the executions were carried out publicly. Iran carries out executions by hanging.

Of those executed, 52% were for drug-related offenses, 43% for murder, 2% for sexual offenses and 3% for security-related offenses, the report says.

The number of women executed also increased. According to information received by the UN human rights office, at least 31 women were reported to have been executed in 2024, up from at least 22 in 2023. Among those 31 women were 19 reportedly executed for murder, including nine convicted of killing their husbands in cases involving domestic violence, forced marriage or child marriage.

Also among those executed were women and men connected to protests that began in September 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested by Iran’s morality police and accused of not wearing her head covering correctly.

The report also says a disproportionate number of those executed were from Iran’s minorities, with at least 108 Baluch prisoners and 84 Kurdish prisoners among those executed last year.

Citing information received by the human rights office, the report says at least 31 people, including political dissidents, were executed for national security-related offenses such as spying for Israel.

The rights office says it also received reports of torture, arbitrary detention and trials that failed to comply with due process and fair trial standards.

As for the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, the report says information received by the rights office found that at least 125 journalists were prosecuted for their work in 2024. At least 40 female journalists were prosecuted or summoned for their reporting, the report says.

Al-Nashif says Iran has cooperated with the human rights office, but Guterres regrets that the government has denied access to the independent international fact-finding mission on Iran that the Human Rights Council established.

Iran open to ceasefire negotiations with US — report

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart after their meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on June 2, 2025. (AFP)

A senior official in Iran’s Foreign Ministry tells The New York Times that Tehran is willing to hold negotiations with the US.

The official, whose identity is withheld, says Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet with Trump to discuss a ceasefire with Israel, the report says.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has publicly rejected talks with the US.

IDF says public can leave bomb shelters after latest Iran missile salvo

People sit outside pitched tents as they take shelter at an underground parking garage amid fears of an Iranian missile attack, in central Tel Aviv, June 18, 2025. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

The IDF Home Front Command says civilians in areas where sirens sounded amid Iran’s latest ballistic missile attack can leave bomb shelters.

Sirens had sounded across central Israel and the Jerusalem area.

Trump has approved Iran attack plans, but is holding off on giving order — report

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as workers install a large flag pole on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, June 18, 2025. (Brendan Smialowskyi/AFP)

US President Donald Trump told staffers that he has approved plans to strike Iran, but is waiting to see if Iran will give up on its nuclear program before issuing any order to attack, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Trump informed his senior aides yesterday that he had approved the plans, the report says, citing “people familiar with the deliberations.”

No injuries reported in latest Iranian missile salvo

There are no immediate reports of impacts in urban areas or injuries in Iran’s ballistic missile attack, Magen David Adom says.

A small number of missiles were fired from Iran in the attack, according to initial IDF assessments.

All of the missiles were apparently intercepted by air defenses.

Sirens had sounded across central Israel and the Jerusalem area.

Sirens sound in central Israel due to Iranian missiles

People take shelter in an underground parking lot in Tel Aviv due to missile attacks from Iran, June 17, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Sirens are sounding across central Israel amid an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

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

IDF detects new launch of ballistic missiles from Iran; sirens expected to sound shortly

Israeli air defense systems fire to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack, as seen near the border with Lebanon June 18, 2025. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

The IDF says it has detected the launch of ballistic missiles from Iran.

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

Civilians in areas where sirens sound are instructed to enter bomb shelters and remain in them until further notice.