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Images showed gutted residential buildings in Tel Aviv and fires smoldering outside the coastal city of Haifa, following Israel's army warning people to take cover from incoming Iranian missiles. In Jerusalem, a journalist heard loud explosions, while footage showed Israeli air defenses lighting up the night sky.
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war fought through proxies and covert operations, Israel's surprise assault on Iran last week has triggered the most intense fighting yet, raising fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the Middle East. Israel claims its attacks have targeted military and nuclear facilities, killing many top commanders and atomic scientists. However, a senior US official reported that President Donald Trump advised Israel to back down from plans to kill supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump has urged both nations to "make a deal" but acknowledged that "sometimes they have to fight it out" first. Monday's Iranian missile attack followed Israeli strikes in central Iran, targeting surface-to-surface missile sites. Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed they had "successfully" struck Israel and vowed "effective, targeted and more devastating operations" to come.
Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service reported five fatalities and 92 injuries from the latest Iranian attacks. Both nations have suffered deadly strikes since hostilities began on Friday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemning Iran for allegedly targeting civilians. He stated, "Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children."
Iranian strikes since Friday have killed more than a dozen people in Israel, while Iran's health ministry reported at least 224 deaths and over 1,200 injuries from Israeli attacks. Iranian state television noted that an Israeli strike killed at least five people in a residential building in central Tehran.
Colonel Reza Sayyad, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, threatened a "devastating response" to Israel's attacks, warning that "occupied territories (Israel) will certainly no longer be habitable." Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged citizens to "stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence." Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Tehran's residents would "pay the price" for Iranian attacks on Israeli civilians.
Despite reports of people fleeing the Iranian capital, some residents expressed determination to stay. Shokouh Razzazi, 31, stated, "It is natural that war has its own stress, but I will not leave my city."
Trump claimed Washington "had nothing to do" with Israel's bombing campaign but threatened to unleash "the full strength and might" of the US military if Iran attacked American interests. He reiterated the call for both nations to "make a deal," though he expressed skepticism about peace prospects.
A senior US official revealed that Trump advised Israel to abandon plans to assassinate Khamenei, stating, "We told the Israelis not to." When asked if regime change in Iran was a goal of Israel's strikes, Netanyahu suggested it "could be the result, because the Iran regime is very weak."
Iran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, asserted that Tehran had "solid proof" of US support for Israel's attacks and described Iran's actions as a "response to aggression." He added that if the aggression ceased, so would Iran's responses. Iran subsequently scrapped planned nuclear talks with the US, deeming them "meaningless" under current conditions.
In related news, Iran's judiciary announced the execution of a convicted agent for Israel's Mossad spy agency on Monday. Meanwhile, Israel reported detaining two individuals over alleged links to Iranian intelligence.
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