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

Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, with intense cross-border missile exchanges resulting in casualties and severe damage on both sides.

In Israel, a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles struck major cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa, killing 10 people and injuring 240 others, according to Israeli media reports.

Simultaneously, the Iranian capital Tehran came under heavy Israeli bombardment targeting sensitive strategic locations. Iranian news agencies confirmed that the strikes hit the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence, the Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research, and fuel and oil depots, triggering massive fires and widespread destruction.

Iran has said 78 people were killed there on the first day of Israel's campaign on Friday, and scores more on the second, including 60 when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran, where 29 of the dead were children.

The Shahran oil depot in Tehran was targeted in an Israeli attack, Iran said, but added the situation was under control. A fire had erupted after an Israeli attack on an oil refinery near the capital while Israeli strikes also targeted Iran's defence ministry building, causing minor damage, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Sunday.

Tehran has called off nuclear talks that Washington had said were the only way to halt Israel's bombing, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks by Israel so far were nothing compared with what Iran would see in the coming days.

"If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," Trump said in a message on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." Trump gave no details of any possible deal.

Yemen's Houthis said on Sunday that they targeted central Israel's Jaffa with several ballistic missiles in the last 24 hours. It was unclear how many buildings were hit overnight.

A round of US-Iran nuclear talks that was due to be held in Oman on Sunday was cancelled, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi saying the discussions could not take place while Iran was being subjected to Israel's "barbarous" attacks.

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