The Times of Israel liveblogged Monday’s events as they unfolded.
Discussions held today exposed disagreements between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right security cabinet ministers over how Israel should respond to US President Donald Trump’s demand that Israel halt its strikes in Iran, and over whether it should prioritize confronting Iran directly or intensifying pressure on Hezbollah in Lebanon, Channel 12 reports.
The exchanges happened during a series of limited security consultations between Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and senior security officials at the Kirya headquarters today, according to the report.
Netanyahu reportedly defended coordination with Washington, arguing that Trump remains aligned with Israel’s broader objectives regarding Iran: “We are on the same page as Trump. He is not releasing Iran’s frozen funds, he is determined to secure the nuclear material, and he is maintaining the pressure. Why should we pick a fight with him?”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly argued that Israel should resist US pressure, saying: “We need to stand our ground against Trump. We need to fight tooth and nail and make it clear that we have red lines.”
Netanyahu reportedly responded by suggesting Ben Gvir’s position was influenced by the approaching election campaign, a charge the minister rejected.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reportedly argued that Israel should continue focusing its military response on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, seeming to suggest this would both weaken Hezbollah and reinforce Israel’s rejection of Iranian demands that Lebanon be included in any ceasefire.
“The right course of action is to stick with the Beirut model… Strike hard in Beirut. That will cause Hezbollah to beg for it to stop, and it could help further separate the [Iranian and Lebanese] fronts… Action in Iran carries diplomatic costs and is complicated. We can flip the equation. We should take advantage of the separation of the fronts and turn the tables,” Smotrich reportedly said.
The report also says that after Trump urged him against further attacks on Iran this afternoon, Netanyahu told senior security officials that Israel will strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut if the terror group attacks northern Israeli communities, even at the risk of triggering another round of confrontation with Iran, the report adds. Katz openly stated as much earlier today.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir dismisses Italy’s announcement that it has put him under investigation over a video he published showcasing the humiliation of activists who were part of the Gaza flotilla last month.
“Israel isn’t a punching bag for a gang of lying terror supporters who invent libels and lies against our fighters,” he says.
“I am undeterred by this sort of investigation and will continue to stand proudly with our fighters.”
The Knesset votes 29-5 to grant final approval to a law offsetting compensation paid to terror victims by making additional deductions from tax revenues meant to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority.
The deductions will apply in cases involving attackers or their families who receive regular payments from the PA under a controversial arrangement dubbed pay-for-slay by critics, and which Ramallah has claimed to reverse, though Israel says it has continued.
Israel has withheld all of the PA’s clearance revenues — taxes collected by Israel on the PA’s behalf under the Oslo Accords — over the past year, arguing that Ramallah allocates some of that money for terrorists and their families.
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked a crackdown on terrorists in the West Bank, it has also no longer transferred the monthly sums the PA once directed to Gaza.
Altogether, the Gaza and “pay-for-slay” withholdings constitute nearly NIS 2 billion ($600 million), or about a fifth of the total annual clearance revenues.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to halt a larger operation against Iran this afternoon after a direct intervention by US President Donald Trump, Channel 12 reports, citing unnamed Israeli officials.
According to the Hebrew network, Israel had been preparing a major strike for late afternoon, which had been approved by Netanyahu, but the premier ultimately blocked it after Trump urged him to de-escalate.
The report describes several communications between Jerusalem and Washington that led up to this afternoon’s call.
Following Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut yesterday afternoon, Washington conveyed a message to Israel that they were unhappy about the strikes, to which Israel responded that it was a measured strike that could not be avoided given Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel.
After Iran’s ballistic missile attacks against Israel in support of Hezbollah last night, Netanyahu held a tense phone call with Trump, during which the president urged against escalation, telling him not to respond to the attacks, with Netanyahu reportedly replying: “The Iranians violated our sovereignty. We have to draw a red line.”
Trump replied that Washington would not grant Israel “a green light,” while adding that Netanyahu has his “own calculations,” according to the network.
Some senior Israeli officials tell Channel 12 that Trump came away from the conversation believing Israel would not strike, while others claimed that Trump understood from Netanyahu’s comments that Israel intended to proceed.
During a second conversation with Trump today, Netanyahu justified the choice to strike Tehran, telling the president that Israel “knew that a strike on Iran would not lead to a [full-blown] war,” according to the report. It isn’t clear from the report how Netanyahu made that argument while also having planned the larger attack on Iran that was called off.
Following Israel’s strikes against Iran overnight and again this morning, and Iran’s two rounds of strikes in return, Tehran approached the Trump administration and said it was prepared for a ceasefire, the network says.
Around the same time, intense discussions were underway at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv regarding a major operation Israel hoped to carry out later that afternoon, the report continues.
Around 4:30 p.m., Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation shortly before Trump called him and instructed him to halt any further attacks so Washington could pursue a deal with Iran.
Some Israeli officials portray the leaders’ conversation to Channel 12 as one characterized by mutual understanding, while other sources say it was effectively a directive from the president. In any case, Netanyahu apparently agreed to halt the fire and ordered an end to the operation, leading to “considerable confusion” within the military high command, as aircraft were already prepared for takeoff.
The Prime Minister’s Office does not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
Italian prosecutors have put Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben Gvir under investigation over a video he published showcasing the humiliation of activists who were part of the Gaza flotilla last month, a judicial source says.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett pans Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the recent round of fighting with Iran, claiming it will be “remembered as the start of the normalization” of periodical attacks from the Islamic Republic.
He goes on to detail his often-repeated attacks on Netanyahu, including that he doesn’t sufficiently talk to the public; cannot achieve decisive victory on any war front; is hindered by his dependence on the ultra-Orthodox parties since he can’t act to recruit Haredim to the IDF; and that he and his coalition partners are divisive in their rhetoric and legislative initiatives.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun makes a rare public appeal to the Israeli government and people in an interview with CNN, saying a military solution “will never provide you with security and safety” for the people in northern Israel.
“We are ready, we are willing, we are committed. Are you? If you are, let’s sit and talk,” says Aoun.
“We are fed up and we want to live in peace,” he says, adding that the Lebanese people “deserve to live in peace and in dignity, they deserve not seeing their homes being destroyed every five to 10 years.”
Regarding Israel’s military operations, Aoun says: “They can invade the whole country, they can flatten the whole country, but they will never be able to achieve their objective.”
He says he will not meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before reaching an agreement to end the war, which he says would be a non-aggression pact and not a full peace deal.
US President Donald Trump says that he warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the past day that Israel could find itself alone against Iran if it escalated the conflict further, while claiming Washington was informed only at the last minute about Israel’s overnight strikes against Iran and that he succeeded in limiting their scope.
In a phone conversation with Channel 12’s Barak Ravid, Trump says that he asked Netanyahu during a phone call last night that Israel not respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attacks.
“I said, ‘Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon,'” Trump said, according to a parallel report by Axios.
According to Channel 12, the conversation ended without a clear conclusion, but several of Trump’s aides who were on the call told Channel 12 they were given the impression that Trump had succeeded in buying a few more days without Israeli retaliation to support the US-Iran talks on a deal.
Following last night’s call, however, Netanyahu convened consultations with senior security officials, after which he informed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he had decided to carry out strikes in Iran, according to Channel 12.
Referring to Israel’s initial strikes against Iran last night, Trump tells the network that Israel updated Washington on the strikes very late, as the missiles were already on their way to Iran, while adding that he managed to scale back the scope of the attack.
Trump adds in the report that five regional countries involved in mediation efforts between the US and Iran had asked him to pressure Netanyahu to halt the strikes and move forward with an agreement.
“These countries were very concerned. They love the deal that we have been negotiating,” Trump says, according to Axios.
He says that this morning, Iranian officials contacted Washington and said they would not carry out any more attacks on Israel and requested that Israel stop attacking in return, after which Trump again called Netanyahu and persuaded him to agree to halt further strikes.
The president reiterates to Channel 12 that he believes an agreement with Iran remains within reach, that Tehran wants to sign one, and that such a deal would be beneficial. Trump told Fox News on Tuesday last week that he believed he had been only days away from finalizing an agreement with Iran before the fighting between Israel and Iran erupted.
A 25-year-old man suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder broke into northern Israel’s Haifa Zoo this morning and shattered the glass screen of the Persian leopard exhibit, Hebrew media reports.
Upon seeing zoo staff, the man bolted into the bear exhibit and climbed a tall tree.
The break-in activated the zoo’s emergency procedures.
The zoo’s management reported that the leopard had been nowhere near the window, and that there was no danger to the man at any point.
Zoo staff tried to calm the man until police and ambulance workers arrived, along with the man’s father.
The man was referred for treatment and medical supervision.
US forces disabled a Palau-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman today as the unladen vessel Marivex headed toward Iran, the US military says.
Iranian state media says flight restrictions in the country have been lifted, with airspace returning to normal conditions.
Reports earlier said all flights to and from Iranian airports were halted until further notice amid fears of further Israeli attacks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed a short while ago that attacks on Iran have been halted, while threatening to resume them if Iran attacks it again.
After they were closed due to Iran’s missile fire, Israeli authorities say the crossings with the Gaza Strip will reopen tomorrow.
“In accordance with the operational situation assessment and the removal of security restrictions in Israel, it has been decided to reopen the Kerem Shalom Crossing as of tomorrow for the gradual entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip,” the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) says.
COGAT says the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt will also “reopen for the limited movement of people in both directions.”
After the Home Front Command lifted almost all restrictions imposed amid the latest escalation of fighting with Iran, the Education Ministry confirms that schools will reopen nationwide tomorrow.
In the communities next to the Lebanese border, classes will need to take place near a shelter, while in the rest of the country, they will resume in full according to the regular school schedule.
Earlier today, Education Minister Yoav Kisch said that if the escalation in Iran were to continue, the ministry would give schools another day to get organized before resuming on Wednesday within a protected framework.
The ministry’s new statement also says that the matriculation exams scheduled for this week are confirmed to be canceled, as announced earlier today.
Media outlets affiliated with Hamas report that two people were killed in an IDF strike earlier today that targeted a group of Gazans east of Khan Younis.
The IDF has not yet commented.
شهيدان جراء استهداف الاحتلال مجموعة من المواطنين شرق منطقة العطار بمواصي خان يونس#فيديو pic.twitter.com/euWik0WIQl
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) June 8, 2026
Israel Police Chief Commissioner Danny Levy appoints former Prison Service official Eran Nahon as the police’s new chief legal adviser, following his predecessor’s retirement from the force in February.
Nahon most recently served as the Prison Service’s chief legal adviser and is closely aligned with the policies of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, namely the drastic reduction in food portions for Palestinian security prisoners.
The official replaces Assistant Commissioner Elazar Kahana, who retired from the police force amid tension between him and Levy, with the latter seeking to demote him to the head of the police’s prosecution division.
Kahana had a track record of opposing Ben Gvir’s repeated interference in the promotions of mid-ranking officers, which critics claim serves to undermine law enforcement’s independence from political pressures.
According to a Haaretz report from January, Ben Gvir pushed for Nahon’s appointment against the wishes of Levy, who wanted the role to go to someone already serving in the force.
The Lebanese Red Cross says an Israeli strike has wounded four rescuers near their center in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.
In a statement, the Red Cross says “the targeting that occurred in front of the Lebanese Red Cross centre in Tyre” wounded four paramedics. Lebanese state media earlier reported an Israeli strike on a vehicle in front of the center.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
The IDF Home Front Command says it will lift the restrictions imposed amid the latest escalation of fighting with Iran, allowing schools to reopen nationwide.
Starting from 6 a.m. tomorrow, educational activities will be permitted across the country, although in communities near the Lebanon border, they must be held in a building or near a bomb shelter.
Gatherings in areas near the Lebanon border are also restricted to 100 people outdoors and 400 indoors, according to the guidelines.
In his first public remarks since renewed fighting against Iran erupted last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will halt attacks on Iran “for now,” while stressing that the fight against both Tehran and Hezbollah is “not over” and that Israel will continue to respond to any attacks on its territory.
“After Iran attacked Israel” in support of Hezbollah following Israel’s retaliatory strikes on the group in Beirut, “I directed the IDF to strike military and economic targets throughout Iran,” Netanyahu says in an apparently pre-recorded Hebrew-language video statement.
“At present, the fire on this front has been halted, because after the terrorist regime in Tehran was struck, it stopped attacking us,” Netanyahu says, while warning that “if that terrorist regime makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with force.”
“Today, Iran and Hezbollah are weaker than ever, and we are stronger than ever. But our struggle against them is not yet over,” the premier says.
He adds that the military will continue to operate in southern Lebanon to “destroy all of [Hezbollah’s] terrorist infrastructure in the security zone, including massive underground facilities in the Beaufort Ridge.”
“Over the past day, Iran and Hezbollah tried to impose a new equation on us. That equation is intolerable and completely unacceptable to me. They thought they could launch attacks from Lebanon and Iran against Israel and that we would not act. That did not happen, and it will not happen. Not on my watch,” Netanyahu warns.
Netanyahu indicates that he relayed this message to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pressed Israel in recent days to de-escalate in order to preserve ongoing US-Iran negotiations on a deal.
“Israel has every right to self-defense, and we will exercise that right whenever necessary. I say this to you, dear citizens of Israel, just as I say it in my good conversations with my friend President Trump,” Netanyahu says.
The premier does not take questions from the press. The premier has not held a press conference for Israeli journalists in about three months, while granting several interviews to foreign media outlets over the same period.
The Knesset House Committee’s first hearing on Likud MK Tally Gotliv’s request for immunity from prosecution after exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer descends into chaos after the lawmaker screens a video alleging that “treason” by anti-government protesters, security officials and state institutions led to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks.
Among the more dramatic moments in the hearing is when Gotliv screens what appears to be a TikTok video combining footage of anti-government protest leaders and Brothers in Arms activists discussing refusal to show up for reserve duty during the 2023 judicial overhaul crisis, while advancing the conspiracy theory that senior military and security officials deliberately failed to respond to warnings before Hamas’s October 7 attack, prompting immediate outrage from opposition lawmakers.
“This incitement is insane. The people of Israel are ashamed. You’re deranged people for doing this,” Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen shouts before being removed from the room. “A video in the Knesset claiming there was treason? Aren’t you ashamed? What is wrong with you?”
Later, fellow Yesh Atid lawmaker Simon Davidson is also ejected after yelling at Gotliv: “You’re a crazy woman. You’re sick in the head.”
The chaotic exchanges are only part of a hearing that lasts roughly five hours, most of which is devoted not to legal arguments regarding Gotliv’s immunity but to her lengthy denunciations of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, seated silently across from the lawmaker throughout the proceedings, and of the security establishment and anti-government protestors.
“You have become enemies of the government, people who harm state security,” Gotliv says to prosecutors, accusing Baharav-Miara of everything from enabling reservists who threatened to refuse to serve during the judicial overhaul protests to “starving Haredi children,” while failing to prosecute “100,000 draft dodgers in Tel Aviv.”
Gotliv is seeking immunity after being indicted for exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer and partner of anti-government protest leader Shikma Bresler. Notably, she does not deny carrying out the act at the center of the indictment.
Instead, she repeatedly argues that exposing the officer’s identity was justified, proudly proclaiming that she “exposed the partner of the leader of the rebellion that led us to disaster.”
The IDF issues an evacuation warning for an area on the outskirts of the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre.
“In light of the Hezbollah terror organization’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it with force,” warns army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee.
“Anyone who is near Hezbollah operatives, its facilities, and its weapons is putting their life at risk,” he adds.
Residents of the area are instructed to evacuate to the north of the Zahrani River.
#عاجل ‼️إنذار عاجل إلى سكان لبنان وتحديدًا سكان زقوق المفدي
????في ضوء قيام حزب الله الارهابي بخرق اتفاق وقف اطلاق النار يضطر جيش الدفاع للعمل ضده بقوة. جيش الدفاع لا ينوي المساس بكم.
????حرصًا على سلامتكم عليكم إخلاء منازلكم فوراً والانتقال الى شمال نهر الزهراني.
????كل من يتواجد… pic.twitter.com/SJh7t32J3A
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) June 8, 2026
Israel had planned a “massive” attack on Iran before pressure from the United States caused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call it off, along with all planned strikes on Iran, The New York Times reports.
The report claims the US will likely not allow Israel to bomb Beirut going forward.
Iran’s top negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, issues a cryptic warning that Iran won’t tolerate what it views as “repeated violation” of the US-Iran ceasefire, in a Farsi-language post on X.
“We have upended the equation of a ceasefire [existing] on paper and [its] repeated violation on the ground. So long as you lack a genuine willingness to build trust, Iran’s response will remain the same,” he writes.
Tehran announced earlier today that it would halt attacks on Israel, barring any further “aggression” by Israel in Lebanon — which it insists be part of the US-Iran truce — a threat Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel “categorically rejects.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver a statement to the media this evening at 6:15 p.m., the Prime Minister’s Office announces.
Netanyahu has yet to officially comment on the renewed fighting with Iran, as Israeli officials indicate that Jerusalem will halt its strikes against the Islamic Republic barring further attacks.
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced minutes ago that Israel will continue to operate against Hezbollah in Lebanon and strike Beirut if the terror group attacks Israel, saying Israel “categorically rejects” Iran’s earlier threats that it would respond to any further “aggression” by Israel in Lebanon.
In the first official comments from an Israeli official on the ceasefire with Iran, Defense Minister Israel Katz says the military will continue to operate against Hezbollah in Lebanon and strike Beirut if the terror group attacks Israel.
“Dahiyeh in Beirut will be treated the same as the northern communities,” Katz says, referring to the Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut.
“Any attack on the northern communities will lead to an attack in Dahiyeh. The IDF will continue to operate in Lebanon against the Hezbollah terror organization,” he says.
Katz says that Israel “categorically rejects Iran’s threats.”
“Any Iranian attempt to link Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force, as happened yesterday,” he adds.
The statement marks the first from Katz since yesterday evening. The defense minister had not issued any comment on the escalation with Iran until now.
Iran warned earlier that it would respond to any further “aggression” by Israel in Lebanon, including in the country’s south.
Ultra-Orthodox Shas party chair Aryeh Deri continues to demand that legislation enshrining Torah study as a Basic Law be brought to a vote this week, not despite but because of Iranian ballistic missile attacks overnight and this morning, which sent millions of Israelis rushing to bomb shelters and forced the nationwide closure of schools for the first time in two months.
Speaking at the party’s weekly faction meeting, Deri says that “precisely at a time when the people of Israel need greater help to help ensure success in the campaign against our enemies, we are demanding that the Basic Law: Torah Study be brought to a vote this week as a condition for supporting any other legislation,” calling the legislation a declaration of the “contribution of Torah scholars to the people of Israel and its security.”
The proposed law, also backed by Haredi party United Torah Judaism, would establish Torah study as a foundational national value and define long-term Torah study as “meaningful service” to the state, equivalent to army service, with implications for the rights and obligations of those engaged in it.
The move marks the latest effort by Haredi parties to preserve exemptions from military service for yeshiva students, which the High Court of Justice has deemed unconstitutional, and to reinstate state stipends that have been halted to families of draft dodgers. The parties have repeatedly threatened to bring down the government over its failure to pass legislation on the matter.
Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot criticizes the coalition’s efforts to advance the legislation at a time “when many Israeli citizens sat in bomb shelters today and our soldiers are fighting and risking their lives,” saying that “the prime minister who sent them to war is working to pass a Basic Law that would grant equal rights to IDF fighters and Torah students.”
“In Netanyahu’s government, it pays to be a draft dodger — it’s both safer and more profitable,” he adds.
Former prime minister and leader of the Together slate Naftali Bennett denounces the proposal as a “draft-evasion law on steroids” being advanced under the “cynical and false” name of Torah study.
Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the former chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, ousted over his refusal to advance draft-exemption legislation for yeshiva students, likewise condemns the legislation, calling it “a blatant desecration of God’s name” and “a profound moral distortion.”
One person is killed in an Israeli drone strike on a car in the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanese media reports.
Several others are wounded, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
There is no immediate comment from the IDF.
مسيّرة إسرائيلية استهدفت سيارة في صور جنوبي لبنان pic.twitter.com/EWvZYipUYO
— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) June 8, 2026
Israeli strikes on Iran today wounded at least 15 people, the National Emergency Medical Organization says in a statement published by the Iranian official news agency.
No fatalities have been reported so far, the organization says. The statement does not specify whether the wounded are civilians or military personnel, noting that 14 of the injured are from Mahshahr in the province of Khuzestan, while one is from Tehran.
The IDF says it killed three top members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in a strike in the Gaza Strip over the weekend.
According to the military, the strike on Saturday in central Gaza killed Muhammad Abu Afash, chief of engineering in the Islamic Jihad; Farhat Harara, the group’s deputy head of engineering; and Abdullah Qadoum, the commander of Islamic Jihad’s anti-tank unit in northern Gaza.
The IDF says that recently, the three advanced attacks on troops and Israel, “in violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
Sirens sound in the northern border community of Zarit.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene the full security cabinet tonight at 9 p.m. amid intensified fighting with Iran and Hezbollah, the office of one of the cabinet ministers tells The Times of Israel.
Israeli officials have indicated that Israel has decided to halt its retaliatory attacks on Iran following pressure from the White House, but added that no final decision has been made.
There has been no formal comment from Netanyahu or his office on the escalated fighting since it began last night.
All flights to and from Iranian airports have been canceled until further notice, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports.
An unnamed security source cited by Israel Hayom says Iran has made the decision since Israel hasn’t yet formally announced that it will stop its strikes on Iran, even though Israeli officials have said as much to various media outlets.
Greek prosecutors have ordered provisional terrorism charges against a Gaza Palestinian who police say had ordered explosives on the internet and been trained by Hamas, according to local reports.
The 37-year-old suspect, who was detained on Saturday on the island of Crete, faces charges of membership in a terrorist organization and training to make and use explosives for terrorist acts, the ANA news agency reports.
Greek media say the man, who was working as an electrician in a Crete hotel, may have planned an attack on an Israeli cruise ship expected to stop at the island tomorrow.
Greek police say in statements that the suspect is “linked to individuals recently arrested in Cyprus for terrorism-related offenses” and that he “received training” from Hamas and had “ordered explosives online.”
ERT public television says the man rented an apartment in Athens where police have found laboratory equipment and chemical products that could be used in a bomb.
The man was trained in Malaysia with one of the suspects detained in Cyprus, according to ANA.
The suspect has been ordered to appear before an investigating magistrate who will decide any formal charges.
Israel has decided to halt its strikes against Iran, an Israeli official says.
A regional official also says the US has told Iran there will be no more attacks by Israel if Tehran halts its missile strikes, and that Israel has agreed to halt attacks for now.
Separately, an Israeli official tells Hebrew media outlets that the decision came at the request of US President Donald Trump, but stresses Israel will not stop its offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, saying, “The sense is that this round of fighting is behind us. We are awaiting a final decision from the political leadership.”
Hebrew media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump spoke over the phone today, ahead of Tehran’s announcement that it would cease attacks if Israel stopped its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Prime Minister’s Office has not responded to repeated requests for comment since the escalation in fighting against Hezbollah and Iran began last night.
Three rockets were launched by Hezbollah at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon a short while ago, the military says.
The rocket fire triggered sirens in Kiryat Shmona and nearby communities on the border.
According to the military, two of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while the third struck near the forces.
No injuries were caused, the army says.
Sirens warning of rocket fire from Lebanon sound in Kiryat Shmona and surrounding towns.
The IDF says it is looking into the details.
The apparent Hezbollah attack comes shortly after Lebanese media reported Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
Iran warned earlier that it would respond to any further “aggression” by Israel in Lebanon, including in the country’s south.
صورة – غارة إسرائيلية استهدفت بلدة الخرايب في جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/wxuck50sss
— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) June 8, 2026
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump concluded a phone call a short while ago, according to Hebrew media reports.
There has been no official statement on the matter.
No final decision has been made in Israel on how to proceed in the renewed fight with Iran, after Tehran announced it would halt its attacks so long as Israel does not continue to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon, Channel 12 reports.
“We are waiting for a clear directive from the political leadership regarding the direction we are taking,” an Israeli official tells Channel 12.
Schools nationwide will remain closed tomorrow, Education Minister Yoav Kisch has announced, with plans to reopen at least partially for in-person instruction on Wednesday
“The Education Ministry’s policy is to return to in-person learning as quickly as possible,” Kisch writes on X, stressing that it is unreasonable to keep the education system shut down while workplaces can operate, provided that safe access to shelters is guaranteed.
He makes the statement prior to Iran’s announcement that it will halt its attacks if Israel does the same.
Kisch says that after consulting with local authorities and other actors, the ministry decided to keep schools closed for another day to allow them to organize, but the goal is to return to in-person learning on Wednesday, “in a protected framework.”
Some 40% of schools in the country do not offer adequate access to shelters, according to data from a State Comptroller’s audit in March.
In the previous round of the war with Iran in February-April, only schools in areas deemed at lower risk of attack and only certain grades were initially allowed to resume in-person classes, before a ceasefire was declared on April 8.
According to a statement by the Education Ministry, special education schools and programs for at-risk youth will be prioritized.
The statement adds that all matriculation exams for this week are canceled.
Finance Committee chair and Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky yells at and berates a female staff member from the Prime Minister’s Office during a committee meeting, causing her to burst into tears and forcing her to leave the room, in his latest outburst against a female staffer.
At the filmed session, the committee chair erupts as the staffer attempts to present data regarding changes to the 2026 state budget to lawmakers. After interrupting her throughout the exchange, Milwidsky launches into an angry tirade.
“You’re delaying things. You’re wasting time. What are you doing? Do you think we won’t add up the numbers and realize you haven’t given us everything?” says the visibly agitated Milwidsky.
״את מבזבזת זמן, את מעכבת זמן״ – עוד יום שבו פקיד ממשלתי מוצא את עצמו בוש ונכלם בגלל התפרצות של יו״ר וועדה בכנסת.
הפעם: תקציבאית במשרד רה״מ שפרצה בבכי אחרי המתקפה הזאת של חנוך מילביצקי pic.twitter.com/w5omNDbdEC
— מיכאל שמש Michael Shemesh (@shemeshmicha) June 8, 2026
The staffer attempts to respond before breaking down in tears and leaving the room. A colleague then takes over the presentation in her stead.
Later in the session, Milwidsky defends his conduct, insisting it “wasn’t personal” but “entirely professional,” and instead criticizes the media for publishing footage of the incident.
Milwidsky was appointed chair of the powerful Finance Committee last summer despite an ongoing police investigation into allegations of rape and witness tampering, and has since drawn criticism for multiple outbursts toward female government and Knesset staff.
In December, Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik lambasted Milwidsky for his treatment of committee legal adviser Shlomit Erlich during a committee meeting, during which he repeatedly interrupted Erlich, mocked her legal advice and accused her similarly of “disrupting and delaying” him for hours, while yelling with visible anger and slamming his hands on the desk, ultimately causing Erlich to flee the room as well.
Palestinian media outlets affiliated with Hamas in Gaza report that three people were killed in an IDF strike in the Jabalia refugee camp.
According to the reports, the dead include an 8-year-old boy, Jad Suleiman.
???? فيديو | من مكان استهدف الاحتلال مجموعة من المواطنين"عمال بئر مياه" في ساحة انور عزيز في مخيم جباليا pic.twitter.com/26OLqulPUf
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) June 8, 2026
The IDF has not yet commented.
Iran announces that it is halting attacks on Israel, but threatens a further response if the Israeli military continues “aggression” in Lebanon.
“The cessation of armed forces operations is announced,” Khatam al-Anbiya, Iran’s emergency military command, says in a statement carried by Iranian media.
“However, it is emphasized that if the aggression and acts of malice continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures than before will be forthcoming,” the statement adds.
Former defense minister Yoav Gallant says Israel and the US could have and should have gotten Iran’s enriched uranium out of the country, arguing this would have “set them back 30 years.”
“The IDF and US military had the capability to physically extract the enriched uranium from Iran,” Gallant tells Army Radio. “In the situation we’ve come to, that was the only option to achieve the necessary goal. That’s what the campaign was for — to stop the nuclear program.”
He adds: “The uranium enriched to high and medium levels represents 30 years of Iran’s nuclear efforts. If you bring it to you, you’ve set them 30 years back.”
The IDF publishes footage of its strikes on Iranian air defense systems earlier.
Overnight and this morning, dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck nine Iranian air defense systems in western and central Iran, according to the IDF.
The footage published by the military shows a strike on one of the systems, which the IDF says was armed with anti-aircraft missiles.
“The destruction of the systems further expands the Israeli Air Force’s aerial superiority in the skies over Iran, with the goal of continuing to remove threats to the citizens of the State of Israel,” the military adds.
תיעוד ראשון בצבע מהתקיפות באיראן: צה"ל השמיד לפני זמן קצר מערכות הגנה אוויריות של משטר הטרור האיראני
חיל האוויר השלים לפני זמן קצר מטס תקיפה לעבר מערכות הגנה אוויריות של משטר הטרור האיראני במערב ובמרכז איראן.
צה"ל מפרסם כעת תיעוד בצבע מהשמדת אחת מהמערכות, בה אוחסנו טילים… pic.twitter.com/NVesj23CM8
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 8, 2026
US President Donald Trump says both Israel and Iran want “an immediate ceasefire” but warns that “stupidity” could thwart a peaceful resolution.
“Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!” he writes on Truth Social. “Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way. The Blockade will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a ‘Final Deal’ is reached. Things should move quickly.”
Iran’s military command warns it will respond “more forcefully” to any further attacks amid an ongoing exchange of fire with Israel.
“In the event of continued aggression and acts of hostility, [the United States and Israel] will be dealt with even more forcefully,” the spokesman for the military’s Khatam al-Anbiya central command says in a video shared by Iran’s state broadcaster.
Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 air strikes on Lebanon and hundreds of controlled explosions since the US announced a ceasefire for the country on April 16, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says.
The US-brokered ceasefire came into effect just after midnight on April 17, with Israeli troops still positioned deep inside southern Lebanon. While it has largely halted air strikes on Beirut and its suburbs, it failed to halt fighting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
In comments published by his office on X after a cabinet meeting, Salam says that from April 17 to June 7, Israel carried out 3,491 air strikes, 407 controlled demolitions and six “razing” operations, or demolitions — which have left some entire villages in the southernmost strip of Lebanon entirely flattened.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel says it is acting against the ongoing threat posed by Hezbollah in south Lebanon, and argues that the terms of the ceasefire allow it to do so.
Salam says Lebanon is striving to uphold the ceasefire but that the latest escalation between Iran and Israel has caused additional waves of displacement, straining Lebanon’s ability to accommodate fleeing families.
In a medical world first, Israeli doctors have delivered gene therapy into the brain of an eight-month-old baby suffering from a rare, life-threatening form of genetic epilepsy, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem says.
The procedure, which replaced the missing critical gene, was performed at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
Prof. Rami Aqeilan of the Lautenberg Center for Immunology and Cancer Research at the university’s Faculty of Medicine laid the groundwork through his research into the WWOX gene.
Children born with this severe genetic defect suffer from intractable epilepsy, profound developmental delays, and a high risk of premature death. While mutations of this gene are found worldwide, the specific catastrophic mutation treated in this case is particularly prevalent among people of Yemeni Jewish ancestry.
Dr. Naama Orenstein and Dr. Dror Kraus of Schneider Children’s Medical Center performed the surgery last month. The doctors used a single injection to deliver healthy copies of the WWOX gene directly into the child’s brain neurons.
The child has since been discharged from the hospital and is in stable condition.
“What began as a scientific effort to understand the biological function of a gene has now become a potential treatment for children suffering from one of the most severe forms of epilepsy,” says Aqeilan.
The IDF says its strike on a petrochemical complex in southwest Iran this morning aimed to destroy infrastructure used by Iran to produce raw materials for the manufacture of missiles.
“The targeted infrastructure produced unique materials that serve as critical components for the development of ballistic missiles, which pose a threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the military says.
“These are critical components of the production infrastructure supporting the Iranian terror regime’s missile program,” the IDF adds.
Iran has launched a total of 24 ballistic missiles at Israel since last night, according to the Israeli military.
The IDF says the missiles were intercepted or struck open areas.
The US military also particpated in the interceptions of some of the missiles, according to the IDF.
No injuries were caused in the attacks, although a missile fragment that struck the West Bank caused damage to several homes in a settlement.
US President Donald Trump says Israel and Iran “must immediately stop ‘shooting.'”
He makes the short comment in a post on his Truth Social network.
Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air temporarily suspends all flights to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport scheduled for today and Tuesday after Iran fires missiles at Israel for the first time in two months.
“The safety and security of our passengers and crew remains the airline’s highest priority,” Wizz Air says in a statement. “Wizz Air continues to closely monitor the evolving situation in coordination with relevant authorities and will adjust operations accordingly.”
The decision comes even though Israel’s airspace remains open and Ben Gurion International Airport operates as usual.
The Israeli military says it is prepared for at least a few more days of fighting against Iran, and potentially a full resumption of the war.
The IDF believes that the fighting will continue for several days, but says it is also ready for a lengthy conflict.
So far, since last night, Iran has launched at least 20 ballistic missiles at Israel, which the military says were intercepted or hit open areas. In addition, Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen fired two ballistic missiles at Israel this morning. According to the IDF, one of the missiles was intercepted while the second failed to reach the country.
Israel has so far carried out two waves of strikes in Iran in response to the ballistic missile attacks.
Overnight, dozens of Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck nine Iranian air defense systems in western and central Iran, and this morning, the IAF struck three factories at a petrochemical complex in southwest Iran.
The military says the strikes are only being carried out by Israel, but there is “full coordination” with US Central Command. The American military has also participated in the interception of missiles fired by Iran at Israel.
Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has spoken with his counterpart, CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper, three times, according to the military.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reports that a “hostile drone of the US-Zionist enemy” was shot down over Tehran.
This comes after Iranian media reported explosions in the capital.
State prosecutors are preparing to file charges against an Arab Israeli teen suspected of planning to carry out a terror attack in a northern Jewish town.
The 18-year-old suspect from Ibillin will be indicted this morning in the Haifa District Court, the Shin Bet and police say in a statement.
The suspect allegedly holds membership in Hamas and planned to carry out attacks on behalf of the terror group, one of which was meant to target a Jewish town next to Ibillin. He tried to acquire an M16 assault rifle for this purpose, according to the security agencies.
He attempted to teach himself how to use firearms and prepare explosives, officials add. Though he did not succeed in getting ahold of a gun, he did acquire and stash away ammunition in his home, which police officers later seized.
Yashar party leader and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot slams the coalition for continuing to advance legislation establishing a politically appointed probe into the October 7, 2023, attacks amid renewed Iranian missile strikes on Israel, calling it “proof of the coalition’s distorted priorities” and “deep contempt for the public and its spirit of resilience.”
“Even under the current emergency conditions of Iranian missile fire, a shuttered education system and civilians living under wartime conditions, the government will continue trying today to advance a non-state commission of inquiry in an attempt to absolve itself of responsibility for the October 7 massacre,” Eisenkot says in a post on X.
He also links the effort to the “corrupt appointment” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer Michael Rabello last week as state comptroller in a highly contentious Knesset vote, echoing opposition criticism that the premier sought to install a loyalist in a position that will be tasked with scrutinizing the government’s conduct before and during the Hamas-led assault.
Eisenkot also accuses the government of failing to achieve its war aims on every front, saying that “the absence of a strategy has become the strategy” and arguing that Israeli deterrence has reached “one of its lowest points.”
Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen writes on X: “The Knesset is beginning discussions not on the state of the home front, not on the situation of northern residents, not on the closed schools, but on MK Gotliv’s request for immunity after she exposed the identity of a Shin Bet agent and harmed state security. These people are unhinged.”
The criticism comes after Iran fired ballistic missiles at northern Israel overnight and central Israel this morning, sending millions scrambling to bomb shelters, closing schools nationwide and prompting the Knesset to suspend most of its activities.
Iranian media reports explosions and air defense activity in Tehran.
“The exact location and source of this explosion are still unknown,” the Fars news agency reports.
No further details are immediately available.
Overnight exchange of fire between Iran and Israel will only worsen a “chaotic diplomatic process” with the United States, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson says, and will further exacerbate Tehran’s suspicion toward Washington.
Esmaeil Baghaei adds that the US bears direct responsibility for recent ceasefire breaches and that Israel does not take independent action without consulting Washington.
Lawmakers are pressing ahead with two of the coalition’s most controversial initiatives today, even as most Knesset activity is suspended following Iran’s ballistic missile attacks: a House Committee hearing on granting procedural immunity to Likud MK Tally Gotliv as she faces charges for disclosing the identity of a Shin Bet agent, and a Constitution Committee discussion on establishing a politically appointed probe into the October 7, 2023, attacks.
Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel overnight and into the morning, sending millions of Israelis scrambling to bomb shelters and shuttering schools nationwide for the first time in two months.
The office of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who is attending the House Committee session in a rare appearance, announced last month that it was indicting Gotliv over social media posts from 2024 that identified the partner of anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler as a Shin Bet agent, while promoting baseless conspiracy theories linking him to Hamas and insinuating that he bore responsibility for October 7.
Later today, the Constitution Committee is set to continue deliberations on legislation to establish a politically appointed commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led assault, even after cancelling other agenda items due to the missile attacks.
The bill has drawn renewed criticism after last week’s election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, Michael Rabello, as state comptroller in a contentious Knesset vote. Under the legislation, if the opposition, which is boycotting the legislation, declines to appoint representatives to the panel within 14 days, Rabello would appoint the remaining members, while coalition representatives would be appointed by Coalition Whip MK Ofir Katz.
Critics argue the arrangement would allow Netanyahu allies to effectively control a body tasked with investigating the failures surrounding October 7. The opposition is instead demanding a state commission of inquiry, the traditional mechanism for investigating major national disasters, whose members are appointed by the president of the Supreme Court. Netanyahu has rejected this, arguing that the judiciary is biased against him.
Shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange drop and the shekel weakens after Iran fires ballistic missiles at Israel for the first time in two months, raising concerns over renewed escalation of hostilities in the region.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index falls 2.4 percent in morning trading. The TA-35 index of blue-chip companies is down 2.5%. The TA-90 index, which tracks the shares with the highest capitalization not included in the TA-35 index, falls 2.2%. The TA-Finance index dives 2.8%, and the TA-Insurance index dips 3.6%.
The shekel weakens 1.4% to NIS 2.9845 per dollar, trimming the currency’s annual gain to 15%.
“It is too early to assess the magnitude of the consequences of the mutual attacks by Iran and Israel last night and this morning — and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen joining the campaign in the early hours of the morning,” says Mizrahi Tefahot Bank chief markets economist Ronen Menahem. “There is no doubt that this is a negative development for markets in Israel and around the world, but the magnitude of the impact will depend on whether it turns out to be a limited round or a rolling renewal of hostilities.”
The Israeli Air Force completed an “extensive” wave of airstrikes on Iranian air defense systems a short while ago, the military says.
The military says dozens of IAF fighter jets struck “strategic defense systems” in Iran as part of the strikes, which began overnight.
“Recently, defense systems were deployed in numerous areas across Iran as part of the regime’s efforts to restore its detection and defense capabilities, which were degraded during Operation Roaring Lion,” the IDF says, referring to the recent war.
“The strike led to the destruction of these systems,” the IDF adds.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev says the country’s airspace remains open and operations at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport continue as scheduled until further notice.
At the same time, professional discussions are currently underway following the Home Front Command’s demand to restrict the number of passengers at Ben Gurion Airport to 2,500 at any given time. As of now, no decision has been taken, the ministry says.
There are no reports of injuries following Iran’s latest ballistic missile fire on Israel, medics say.
Sirens had sounded across northern Israel and in the center of the country.
The Home Front Command says residents in areas where sirens sounded can now leave bomb shelters.
Talks on advancing the fragile Gaza ceasefire have begun in Cairo between mediators and Palestinian factions, a Palestinian source familiar with the meeting tells AFP.
The discussions, which started yesterday and are resuming today, come as violence continues to plague the territory despite the truce in place since October.
The talks bring together mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, along with representatives of several Palestinian factions, as efforts continue to push forward negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
According to the source, mediators are due to meet a Hamas delegation before midday, followed by a wider meeting including all participating factions.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen take responsibility for this morning’s missile attack on central Israel, as well as announcing that they will block “Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea.”
The Houthis claim to have launched a “missile barrage targeting sensitive Israeli enemy targets” in the Tel Aviv area. According to the IDF, a single missile fired from Yemen this morning was intercepted by air defenses.
The Houthis also announce a “complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements to be legitimate military targets.” The Houthis previously launched attacks in the region where the strategic Bab el-Mandab Strait is located.
The IDF says it has detected the launch of ballistic missiles from Iran.
Sirens are expected to sound in central and northern Israel shortly.
Iran claims it struck Israel’s Nevatim and Tel Nof air bases, as the two sides trade fire.
“The operation was carried out in response to a missile attack launched by the Zionist regime… against several radar sites in three different places” in Iran, the country’s Revolutionary Guards says in a statement.
The IDF says it shot down all the missiles launched by Iran at Israel this morning.
Damage was caused to several homes in a West Bank settlement following the impact of an Iranian missile fragment, rescue services say.
No injuries are reported in the incident.
The IDF said it shot down all of the missiles launched by Iran at Israel this morning, and the impact in the West Bank was likely a fragment of an intercepted missile.
תיעוד: הנזקים לבתים כתוצאה מהפגיעה בשומרון pic.twitter.com/QK9vjBtG9I
— ערוץ 7 (@arutz7heb) June 8, 2026
Prosecutors are planning to charge a man from Bat Yam with security offenses after he allegedly carried out tasks for Iranian intelligence agents.
An indictment against the suspect is expected in the coming days, the Shin Bet and police say in a brief statement, amid renewed hostilities with Iran.
The suspect, a man in his 30s, is accused of maintaining online contact with an Iranian agent from the start of the year until his arrest in May. The agencies say the suspect agreed to carry out security-related tasks at the agent’s behest in exchange for money.
The investigation into the alleged offenses was conducted jointly by the Shin Bet and police in the Ayalon Precinct crime-fighting unit.
The IDF confirms launching airstrikes on Iranian petrochemical facilities in southwest Iran.
The military in a statement says the Israeli Air Force struck “several targets” at the petrochemical complex in the Mahshahr area, with further details to be provided later.
A petrochemical facility in southwest Iran was hit by Israeli airstrikes a short while ago, according to Iranian media.
The Fars news agency reports that the Karun Mahshahr Petrochemical Company in the Khuzestan Province was hit by strikes carried out by “the Zionist enemy, causing partial damage.”
0450Z
Salman Farsi Petrochemical Complex
Mahshahr, Khuzestan Province, #Iran
(Via @IliaHashemicom's TG) pic.twitter.com/TJMrjbDaFN— Shin (@hey_itsmyturn) June 8, 2026
In April the IDF bombed petrochemical facilities in the same area.
All of the Iranian missiles launched at Israel this morning were intercepted, according to the military.
The IDF assesses that an impact reported in an open field in the West Bank was likely a large fragment following an interception.
Meanwhile, an all-clear is given in the Jerusalem area after an early warning was issued for an Iranian missile attack, as the projectile apparently failed to reach the country.
The IDF has detected another launch of ballistic missiles from Iran.
Sirens are expected to sound in the Jerusalem area in the coming minutes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security cabinet meeting at 11 a.m. amid renewed fighting with Iran, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
Only a small group of key ministers will be attending.
Fresh sirens sound in Beersheba and the surrounding area in southern Israel amid an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
This comes minutes after sirens sounded widely across other areas of the country.
So far, there have been no reports of injuries in the missile attacks.
The IDF says it has detected the launch of ballistic missiles from Iran at Israel.
Sirens sound across wide areas in the country, including Jerusalem, Beersheba and at the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv.
The missile attack from Iran comes after overnight, the IDF said the Israeli Air Force struck Iranian military targets in western and central Iran.
The Israeli strikes came as a response to Iran’s ballistic missile fire on northern Israel last night.
Hours after US President Donald Trump said he would urge Israel not to retaliate against an Iranian missile attack, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee argues that Tehran wants to “incinerate America and Israel.”
“Iran fired missiles at Israel last night and early today. The missile alerts sounded at 6am in Jerusalem. They were intercepted thank God!” he tweets.
“Iran and its proxy agents of evil want to incinerate America and Israel. Mothership of Satan is in Tehran,” Huckabee writes.
Huckabee is known to be among the US administration’s most hawkish members on Iran, but it’s unclear what impact he has from Jerusalem on policy decisions.
As Israel responded this morning to last night’s Tehran’s missile attacks by striking in western and central Iran, Jerusalem’s ambassador in Washington Yechiel Leiter issues a tweet explaining the decision to do so, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to show restraint.
“Iran fired 11 ballistic missiles at Israel today. Each one of those missiles can level an entire neighborhood and kill hundreds. No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither will Israel,” Leiter writes on X.
“Israel is now targeting Iranian surface-to-surface missile launch sites, as well as infrastructure facilities unrelated to the energy sector,” he adds, notably indicating that Israel refrained from targeting Iran’s energy sites.
“The people of Lebanon have rejected Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, and have told Iran to get out of their country,” he claims. “If Hezbollah fires at Israel, its command centers in the Dahiyeh will be hit hard,” Leiter warns. “This has nothing to do with Iran.”
“Everyone has had enough of this maniacal Iranian regime,” he insists.
Leiter is one of the only Israeli officials publicly commenting on the tit-for-tat with Iran and its proxies that began yesterday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been largely mum, as he faced mounting calls from political rivals and coalition partners to buck Trump — something he apparently decided to do by striking Iran, despite the US president’s reported urging not to do so.
Trump had claimed in one of the many phone interviews he had held in recent hours with cold-calling journalists that he is the one “calling the shots,” not Netanyahu.
Saudi Arabia sounded missile alert sirens early this morning in an area home to an air base that hosts US forces.
Saudi state media reported the alert around the Al Kharj governorate, home to Prince Sultan Air Base. It did not elaborate.
The Saudi Civil Defense later said that the danger had passed, without providing any details, according to state TV.
The military says that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and senior IDF officials are currently monitoring IDF strikes on Iran.
The IDF is “fully prepared for both attack and defense,” it says.
Zamir and other officials “have been conducting ongoing situation assessments” for the past several hours, the IDF adds.
“The IDF remains alert and prepared to continue operations across all fronts against anyone who threatens the State of Israel,” the military says.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service says that it has not received reports of anyone wounded in the Houthi missile attack or any impact sites.
MDA says it is treating a man who fell on his way to seek shelter.
The IDF says that the incident has ended and people can exit their safe rooms.
The Houthi missile was successfully intercepted, according to Hebrew media reports.
Sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv and across a wide swath of central Israel including the outskirts of Jerusalem following missile fire from the Houthi terror group in Yemen.
The IDF says it is working to intercept the missile.
An alert warning of an incoming missile attack sounds across much of central Israel, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Modiin and surrounding areas.
The IDF says the missile is coming from Yemen.
A US official reportedly says that the US military did not take part in the overnight Israeli strikes on Iran.
The Axios news site cites a US defense official who also says that the Israeli strikes were “relatively limited.”
US President Donald Trump had urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on any retaliation amid ongoing diplomacy, and Axios had earlier reported that the Israeli premier “pseudo-agreed” to the demand.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says in a statement that Israel carried out attacks on targets inside Iran using air-launched ballistic missiles, according to the IRNA news agency.
Iranian state media reported explosions in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan.
The IDF said it had targeted sites in western and central Iran.
Iranian reports said Israel carried out strikes on around 15 targets, while Al Jazeera reported that one of them was a drone storage facility in Tehran.
Some reports also indicated that Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran was among the targeted sites.
Iran closes the airspace around Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, the country’s main airfield, after Israeli strikes.
The IDF says its Air Force struck targets in central and western Iran, hours after Iran fired a wave of ballistic missiles at northern Israel.
The IDF says that the Israeli Air Force struck military targets in western and central Iran, hours after Iran fired a salvo of missiles at northern Israel.
Additional details will be provided later, the IDF adds.
Sounds of explosions were heard in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan, in Iran, according to local media.
US President Donald Trump had said earlier that he was planning to urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on any retaliation to the ballistic missile attacks.
The US State Department issues a warning to its citizens currently in Jordan to seek shelter due to missiles in the airspace over the country.
“Reports indicate missiles, drones or rockets are in Jordanian airspace,” the State Department says in a statement. “Seek overhead cover and shelter in place immediately. Remain indoors and pay attention to local announcements and alerts. The US Embassy in Jordan will continue to review the situation and provide additional information as needed.”
Earlier Iran fired a wave of ballistic missiles at northern Israel, the first since an April ceasefire took effect.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards targeted the headquarters of “terrorist groups” in Iraqi Kurdistan, state media reports.
The Iranian government accuses the armed Kurdish parties, which have camps in neighboring Iraq’s Kurdistan region, of serving Western or Israeli interests and designates them as terrorist organizations.
Since the start of the Middle East war, and despite a ceasefire announced in April, Iran has repeatedly struck these groups, although their posts and camps had largely been evacuated.
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has targeted the headquarters of terrorist groups in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq,” Iran’s IRNA news agency posts on Telegram.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to a request by US President Donald Trump to hold off on retaliating against Iran’s ballistic missile attacks to give Washington several more days to pursue a diplomatic agreement with Tehran.
According to the Axios news site, citing a senior US official and a senior Israeli official, Trump requested during their phone call tonight that Netanyahu hold off on retaliating against the attacks, believing “we are close to doing something good in terms of a deal,” the US official said.
Netanyahu tried to push back and persuade Trump to allow Israel to strike Iran, but ultimately “pseudo-agreed” to the president’s request, according to the US official.
The official describes the conversation as much calmer than the heated exchange between the leaders over Israeli plans to strike Beirut last week – during which Trump publicly acknowledged cursing and yelling at Netanyahu – saying that the president did not raise his voice during tonight’s call.
Following the call, “we think the president bought a little bit of time. He is pretty adamant that we are close to a deal with Iran. I don’t think anything is imminent in terms of an Israeli strike,” the US official adds, saying: “We are in a moment in time — that why jeopardize a potential deal when you are in the fourth quarter. The president thinks that we have been in this thing for three months — now is the time to end this thing.”
No formal decision has been made in Israel, and as of half an hour ago, Netanyahu was still meeting with senior security officials on the issue, Channel 12 news reports.
In a separate report, two US officials tell Channel 12 that the White House never gave a “green light” to the Israeli strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut this morning, which prompted the Iranian attacks, with one of them saying, “we had no part in this.”
A Saudi report claimed earlier today that Israel had updated Washington ahead of the strikes.
US President Donald Trump reaffirmed in his phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this evening that he is committed to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and from threatening the region and Israel, while insisting at this stage not to escalate against Tehran so that US-Iran talks on a deal can progress, a senior White House official told Israel Hayom.
An Israeli security official tells the Hebrew outlet that Israel will respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attacks earlier tonight, “even if it does not happen in the immediate term.”
“In Iran, they have forgotten that their skies belonged to the Israeli Air Force for two months. Attempts to link Lebanon to Iran have been rejected even by the Lebanese government. Operations against Hezbollah will continue,” the official says.
The Kan public broadcaster reports that in light of Trump’s opposition, Israel is considering delaying its response and striking in several days’ time, as opposed to this evening, though no final decision has reportedly been made amid ongoing assessments in Israel.
Hospitals across Israel are instructed to relocate operations to their underground shelters and to mobilize personnel for a rapid transition to emergency status, following renewed ballistic missile fire from Iran.
In a statement, the Health Ministry says that following a situational assessment and in accordance with the Home Front Command instructions, hospitals are also being told to prepare to release patients who are able to return home.
In addition, health fund clinics and well-baby clinics which don’t have a nearby bomb shelter will not be operating, the ministry says.
