Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least five killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of a conflict between the regional foes that showed no sign of slowing.
Powerful explosions, likely from Israel’s defense systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn. Plumes of black smoke rose into the sky over the major coastal city.
The latest salvo comes after a weekend of escalating tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran that raised fears of a wider, more dangerous regional war.
Iran on Sunday said Israel struck oil refineries, killed the intelligence chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and hit population centers in intensive aerial attacks.
___
Here’s the latest:
Israel claims air superiority over Tehran
Israel’s military claimed Monday to have achieved “aerial superiority” over Iran’s capital.
The military says it has degraded Iranian air defenses and missile systems to the point that its planes can now operate over Tehran without facing major threats.
It says Israel now controls the skies from western Iran to Tehran.
Egypt arrests 2 members of Global March to Gaza, group says
Egyptian authorities arrested two members of the international coordination committee of the Global March to Gaza, the group said Monday.
The group said in a statement it hasn’t heard from French citizen Hicham El Ghaoui and Spanish national Manuel Tapial for around a day since their arrest and it has no details about their whereabouts.
Demonstrators from 80 countries planned to march to Egypt’s border with Gaza to spotlight the deepening humanitarian crises facing Palestinians since Israel began blocking aid trucks from entering the coastal enclave in March.
“Our commitment remains unchanged: We stand with Gaza, call for the opening of a humanitarian corridor, and demand an end to the genocide against the Palestinian people. Governments must act now,” the statement said.
Foreigners are being evacuated from Iran and Israel
Some 120 people, including diplomats and their families, were evacuated from Iran via Turkmenistan, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. Many of those evacuated were from fellow Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, officials said.
Turkmenistan, a gas-rich nation that has remained largely isolated under its autocratic rulers since it became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, shares a 1,148-kilometer (713-mile) border with Iran.
The Czech Republic is also sending a plane for Czechs who want to leave Israel amid the conflict with Iran, the Czech Foreign Ministry said. Other Czechs will use another plane sent by the government of Slovakia headed to Jordan to return home.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it helped 14 Taiwanese leave Israel by bus for Jordan on Sunday and will help them travel onward. The ministry is in touch with another nine Taiwanese currently in Iran and will assist them if they need help departing, the ministry said in a statement Monday.
Concussion of Iranian missile causes minor damage to US Consulate in Tel Aviv
The American Consulate in Tel Aviv suffered minor damage from the concussion of an Iranian missile landing nearby, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on Monday.
Huckabee said in a post on X there were no injuries to American personnel but that the consulate in Tel Aviv and Embassy in Jerusalem would remain closed through the day as a precaution.
The damage came amid a new wave of Iranian missile attacks on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s sweeping attacks on Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure.
Iran’s health ministry says 224 killed since Israel’s attack began Friday
Iran’s health ministry says 224 people have been killed since Israel’s attack began Friday.
Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said on social media that 1,277 other people were hospitalized, and asserted that over 90% of the casualties were civilians.
Israel has said 14 people have been killed there since Friday and 390 others wounded.
EU foreign ministers to meet Tuesday by video link
The European Union’s top diplomat will convene an emergency meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers Tuesday to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The meeting, to be held via video link, “will provide an opportunity for an exchange of views, coordination on diplomatic outreach to Tel Aviv and Tehran, and possible next steps,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’ office said Sunday.
“We will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and to find a lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue which can only be through a negotiated deal,” it said.
Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, US official says
President Donald Trump vetoed a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei. After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter.
The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilize the region.