Iran and Israel strike at each other in new wave of attacks

Tensions between Iran and Israel have sharply escalated, with both countries launching new attacks against each other overnight into Sunday, raising fears of a broader regional conflict. The escalation followed Israel’s unexpected strike on the world’s largest gas field, intensifying hostilities with its longtime adversary.

In response, Iran withdrew from scheduled nuclear negotiations that Washington had described as the only viable path to de-escalating the situation. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the recent attacks were only a prelude to what Iran could expect in the days ahead.
Iranian attacks began late Saturday, around 11:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT), triggering air raid sirens in major cities including Jerusalem and Haifa. Roughly a million Israelis were forced to take shelter as the alarms sounded.
The Israeli military issued another alert around 2:30 a.m. local time (2330 GMT Saturday), warning of an additional wave of missiles. Explosions were heard across Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as Israeli defense systems launched interceptor rockets. Nearly an hour later, the military lifted its shelter advisory.
Emergency services reported at least seven fatalities overnight, including a 10-year-old child and a woman in her 20s, with over 140 others injured. Rescue teams searched through the debris of flattened residential buildings, using dogs and flashlights to locate survivors.
According to Israeli media, around 35 people were unaccounted for after a missile struck an eight-storey building in Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv. Emergency officials confirmed both rescues and casualties at the scene, though the full extent of the damage remained unclear.
Since Iran began its retaliatory strikes on Friday, at least nine people have been killed and more than 300 injured across Israel.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities reported that Israeli attacks had killed 78 people on the first day of strikes, with the death toll rising on the second day. One of the deadliest incidents occurred when a missile destroyed a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran, killing 60 people, including 29 children.
Iran also confirmed that Israeli missiles targeted the Shahran oil depot in Tehran, sparking a fire that was later contained. Additional strikes hit an oil refinery near the capital and caused minor damage to a building belonging to Iran’s defense ministry, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Amid the escalating violence, former US President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Iran, suggesting harsher consequences if Tehran refused to scale back its nuclear ambitions. However, he indicated that a diplomatic resolution was still possible.
A planned round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran, scheduled for Sunday in Oman, was called off. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated that negotiations could not continue while Iran faced what he described as Israel’s 'barbaric' military aggression.