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🔴 Live: Israeli missiles hit site in Iran, media reports
Israel has launched a strike against Iran in retalation for its weekend attack, ABC News reported Thursday night, quoting a senior US official. Israel had warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend. Most of them were intercepted. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates on the situation in the Middle East.
Issued on: 19/04/2024 – 04:04
1 min
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FRANCE 24
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Summary:
Israel launched a strike against Iran in retalation for its weekend attack, ABC News reported Thursday night, quoting a senior US official.
The United States on Thursday effectively stopped the United Nations from recognising a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny the Palestinian Authority full membership of the world body.
A senior Revolutionary Guards general threatened on Thursday to target Israel’s “nuclear facilities” if it strikes Iranian nuclear sites, state media reported, in retaliation for Tehran’s weekend attack on Israel.
The US and Britain announced Thursday that they were imposing a new round of sanctions on Iran.
At least 33,970 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 76,575 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks that sparked the war and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
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Last Update:
4 minutes ago
4 minutes ago
Iran says drones shot down, ‘no missile attack for now’
Iran said Friday it shot down several drones and that there had been “no missile attack for now” on the country, after explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan.
Several drones “have been successfully shot down by the country’s air defence, there are no reports of a missile attack for now,” Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian said on X.
The Fars news agency said “three explosions” were heard near the Shekari army airbase near Isfahan.
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8 minutes ago
Israel military says ‘don’t have comment at this time’ after reports of blasts in Iran
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16 minutes ago
Israel launches strike against Iran: US media
Israel has launched a strike against Iran in retaliation for its weekend attack, US media reported Thursday night.
ABC and CBS News reported the strikes early Friday Mideast time, quoting US officials.
There was no immediate comment from the White House or Pentagon.
Iran activated its air defense system over several cities, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan.
Israel had warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend. Most of them were intercepted.
That strike came in the wake of an attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus widely blamed on Israel.
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38 minutes ago
Iran activates air defence over several cities, says state media
Iran activated Friday its air defence system over several cities, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan.
“Iran’s air defence has been activated in the skies of several provinces of the country,” the official IRNA news agency said.
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39 minutes ago
Iran state TV reports on ‘big explosions’ near Isfahan
Iran’s state TV reported Friday that “big explosions” were heard near the central city of Isfahan, as a news agency said flights were suspended over the capital Tehran and other cities.
“News sources are reporting hearing big explosions in Isfahan province,” state television said, adding that the cause was not immediately clear.
Mehr news agency reported that “flights to Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, and airports in the west, northwest and southwest have been suspended.”
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40 minutes ago
Iran suspends flights over several cities, says Iranian state media
Iran has suspended flights over several cities including the central city of Isfahan, where state media earlier reported explosions were hears near its airport.
“Flights over Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran cities have been suspended,” state media reported.
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an hour ago
Flights divert around western Iran as one report says explosions heard near Isfahan
Commercial flights began diverting their routes early Friday morning over western Iran without explanation as one semiofficial news agency in the Islamic Republic claimed there had been “explosions” heard over the city of Isfahan. State television acknowledged “loud noise.”
The incident comes as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel.
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran about 4:30 am local time. They offered no explanation, though local warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.
The semiofficial Fars news agency reported on the sound of explosions over Isfahan near its international airport. It offered no explanation. However, Isfahan is home to a major airbase for the Iranian military, as well as sites associated with its nuclear program.
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an hour ago
Israeli missiles hit site in Iran, ABC News reports
Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, ABC News reported late on Thursday, citing a US official, days after Iran launched a drone strike on Israel in response to an attack at the Iranian embassy in Syria.
Iran’s Fars news agency said an explosion were heard at an airport in the Iranian city of Isafahan but the cause was not immediately known.
Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program.
Several flights were diverted over Iranian airspace, CNN reported.
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Yesterday’s key developments:
Dismantling the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, as sought by Israel, would accelerate Gaza’s slide into famine and doom generations of children to despair, the organisation’s head warned Wednesday.
Qatar is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas after suffering criticism, its prime minister said on Wednesday. This comes as Western powers are seeking to dissuade Israel from escalating regional hostilities in a riposte to the Iranian attack.
European Union leaders agreed Wednesday to impose new sanctions on Iran’s drone and missile producers over Tehran’s unprecedented weekend attack on Israel.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN’s counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
