Iran said it “successfully” struck Israel with a salvo of missiles on Monday, as Israeli rescuers reported four deaths and damage to residential buildings in multiple cities, according to the Associated Press.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel’s multi-layered defence systems to target each other, Reuters reports.
The Guards claimed the attack enabled missiles to “successfully and effectively hit” targets in Israel despite comprehensive US and Western support for Israeli defence systems.
Israeli media reported that three people were killed in the country’s centre whilst dozens more were wounded in the overnight strikes.
Israeli officials say several people have been injured in the latest round of Iranian strikes as the conflict between the two regional rivals enters a fourth day.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said fires were observed at a power plant near Haifa after Iranian forces launched a ballistic missile attack on the northern city’s port infrastructure.
The firm observed video footage of the Israeli military intercepting the attack, followed by impacts from two hypersonic missiles.
The escalation comes as world leaders meet in Canada for a G7 meeting set to be dominated by the escalating Middle East conflict.
Casualty toll mounts
Israeli strikes in Iran have killed 224 people so far, with 90% of casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian health ministry spokesperson said.
Iran’s foreign ministry has challenged Israel’s characterisation of what it described as “surgical” strikes in Tehran, saying many women and children have been killed in residential areas.
The intelligence chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in Israel’s attacks on Tehran on Sunday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
In an earlier interview on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News: “I can tell you we got their chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran”.
In Israel, Iranian strikes have killed at least 14 people, with three missing and hundreds injured by Sunday morning. Netanyahu visited the site of the Bat Yam strike on Sunday, saying: “Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children”.
International response
US President Donald Trump has said there will “soon” be peace between Israel and Iran, adding that many calls and meetings were happening and that the two countries should make a deal.
Trump reportedly vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday.
The foreign policy chief of the European Union has called for a video conference of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing conflict.
Tensions are escalating as G7 leaders prepare to meet on Monday in the Canadian Rockies, where they plan to ask Trump to justify his confidence that Israel and Iran will reach a peace deal.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reports that security forces have discovered a secret drone-manufacturing site in Shahr-e Ray, south of Tehran, claiming the space had been used by Israeli agents to assemble and store drones.
(information from The Guardian)
