WASHINGTON: On the eve of European talks with Iran over its nuclear program, Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Thursday after meeting high-level US officials that there is still time to reach a diplomatic solution with Tehran.

Lammy met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff at the White House, before talks on Friday in Geneva with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi alongside his French, German and EU counterparts.

The diplomatic flurry came as European countries call for de-escalation in the face of Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program — and as US President Donald Trump weighs up whether or not to join the strikes against Tehran.

“The situation in the Middle East remains perilous,“ Lammy said in a statement released by the UK embassy in Washington.

“We discussed how Iran must make a deal to avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,“ Lammy said.

“Tomorrow, I will be heading to Geneva to meet with the Iranian foreign minister alongside my French, German and EU counterparts,“ the British minister said.

“Now is the time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one.”

The State Department said Lammy and Rubio had “agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.”

– European push for diplomacy –

Araghchi earlier confirmed he would “meet with the European delegation in Geneva on Friday,“ in a statement carried by Iranian state news agency IRNA.

The talks are set to include Lammy, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Trump has said he is weighing military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities as Israel pummels the country and Tehran responds with missile fire.

France, Germany, Britain and the European Union were all signatories of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which Trump sunk during his first term in office.

The EU’s Kallas, in coordination with European countries, has insisted that diplomacy remains the best path towards ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear bomb.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said European nations were planning to suggest a negotiated solution to end the Iran-Israel conflict. He asked his foreign minister to draw up an initiative with “close partners” to that end.

Barrot has been in regular touch with his German and British counterparts since Israel launched massive air strikes against Iran on Friday.

“We are ready to take part in negotiations aimed at obtaining from Iran a lasting rollback of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs,“ Barrot said.

Israel says its air campaign is aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the 3.67 percent limit set by a 2015 deal with international powers, but still short of the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead. Iran denies it is building nuclear weapons.

Juneteenth celebrations across the US commemorate the end of slavery

PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire: Juneteenth celebrations unfolded across the US on Thursday, marking the day in 1865 when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas and attracting participants who said current events strengthened their resolve to be heard.

President Donald Trump honored Juneteenth in each of his first four years as president, even before it became a federal holiday. He even claimed once to have made it “very famous.”

But on this year’s Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, the usually talkative president kept silent about a day important to Black Americans for marking the end of slavery in the country he leads again.

No words about it from his lips, on paper or through his social media site.

The holiday has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations, but became more widely observed after being designated a federal holiday in 2021 by former President Joe Biden, who attended a Juneteenth event at a church in Galveston, Texas, the holiday’s birthplace.

The celebrations come as Trump’s administration has worked to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal government and remove content about Black American history from federal websites. Trump’s travel ban on visitors from select countries has also led to bitter national debate.

In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Robert Reid waved a large Juneteenth flag at the city’s African Burying Ground Memorial Park, where African drummers and dancers led the crowd in song and dance. Reid, 60, said he attended in part to stand against what he called Trump’s “divide and conquer” approach.

“It’s time for people to get pulled together instead of separated,” he said.

Jordyn Sorapuru, 18, visiting New Hampshire from California, called the large turnout a “beautiful thing.”

“It’s nice to be celebrated every once in a while, especially in the political climate right now,” she said. “With the offensive things going on right now, with brown people in the country and a lot of people being put at risk for just existing, having celebrations like this is really important.”

Juneteenth’s origins and this year’s celebrations

The holiday to mark the end of slavery in the US goes back to an order issued on June 19, 1865, as Union troops arrived in Galveston at the end of the Civil War. General Order No. 3 declared that all enslaved people in the state were free and had “absolute equality.”

Juneteenth is recognized at least as an observance in every state, and nearly 30 states and Washington, D.C., have designated it as a permanent paid or legal holiday through legislation or executive action.

In Virginia, a ceremonial groundbreaking was held for rebuilding the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, one of the nation’s oldest Black churches.

In Fort Worth, Texas, about 2,500 people participated in Opal Lee’s annual Juneteenth walk. The 98-year-old Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth” for the years she spent advocating to make the day a federal holiday, was recently hospitalized and didn’t participate in public this year. But her granddaughter, Dione Sims, said Lee was “in good spirits.”

“The one thing that she would tell the community and the nation at large is to hold on to your freedoms,” Sims said. “Hold on to your freedom and don’t let it go, because it’s under attack right now.”

Events were planned throughout the day in Galveston, including a parade, a celebration at a park with music and the service at Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church that Biden attended.

Galveston Mayor Craig Brown presents former President Joe Biden with a commemorative plaque during a Juneteenth event at the Reedy Chapel AME Church on June 19, 2025, in Galveston, Texas. (AP Photo)

During a Juneteenth speech in Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore announced pardons for 6,938 cases of simple marijuana possession, which can hinder employment and educational opportunities and have disproportionally affected the Black community.

Moore, a Democrat who is Maryland’s first Black governor and the only Black governor currently serving, last year ordered tens of thousands of pardons for marijuana possession. The newly announced pardons weren’t included in that initial announcement because they’d been incorrectly coded.

In New Hampshire, Thursday’s gathering capped nearly two weeks of events organized by the Black History Trail of New Hampshire aimed at both celebrating Juneteenth and highlighting contradictions in the familiar narratives about the nation’s founding fathers ahead of next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“In a time when efforts to suppress Black history are on the rise, and by extension, to suppress American history, we stand firm in the truth,” said JerriAnne Boggis, the Heritage Trail’s executive director. “This is not just Black history, it is all of our history.”

What Trump has said about Juneteenth

During his first administration, Trump issued statements each June 19, including one that ended with “On Juneteenth 2017, we honor the countless contributions made by African Americans to our Nation and pledge to support America’s promise as the land of the free.”

When White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked during her Thursday media briefing whether the president would commemorate the holiday this year, she replied, “I’m not tracking his signature on a proclamation today.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington on June 19, 2025. (REUTERS)

Later Thursday Trump complained on his social media site about “too many non-working holidays” and said it is “costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed.” Most retailers are open on Juneteenth, while federal workers generally get a day off because the government is closed.

New Hampshire, one of the nation’s whitest states, is not among those with a permanent, paid or legal Juneteenth holiday, and Boggis said her hope that lawmakers would take action making it one is waning.

“I am not so sure anymore given the political environment we’re in,” she said. “I think we’ve taken a whole bunch of steps backwards in understanding our history, civil rights and inclusion.”

Still, she hopes New Hampshire’s events and those elsewhere will make a difference.

“It’s not a divisive tool to know the truth. Knowing the truth helps us understand some of the current issues that we’re going through,” she said.

And if spreading that truth comes with a bit of fun, all the better, she said.

“When we come together, when we break bread together, we enjoy music together, we learn together, we dance together, we’re creating these bonds of community,” she said. “As much was we educate, we also want to celebrate together.”

LIVE UPDATES | Iran and “Israel” exchange fire as US weighs direct military intervention

“Israel” and Iran continue exchanging fire in aerial attacks since Friday morning, in a massive escalation that evolved into a direct confrontation between the longtime enemies after years of shadow wars.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide whether to join “Israel’s” strikes on Iran within the next two weeks as there is still a “substantial” chance of negotiations to end the conflict.

Iran and European diplomats said nuclear talks will be held in Geneva on Friday, bringing together top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union as well as Tehran’s Abbas Araghchi.

The Wall Street Journal reported Trump has told aides he has approved attack plans but is holding off to see if Iran will give up its nuclear programme.

Netanyahu told “Israeli” public broadcaster Kan that “Israel” had destroyed “more than half” of Iran’s missile launchers since Friday.

The death toll from Iranian missile strikes has risen to 25, after the body of a Ukrainian woman was recovered on Thursday from a building struck by an Iranian missile four days earlier in Bat Yam.

Iran said Sunday that “Israeli” strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Authorities have not issued an updated toll since.

Reports from observers estimate the Iranian death toll to be between 500-700.

Iran imposed a nationwide internet and telephone blackout, telling civilians it’s necessary to prevent Israeli cyber attacks as fears grow the US will join the ongoing conflict.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology called the measure needed and temporary, “given the abuse of the country’s communication network by the aggressor enemy,” according to a statement cited by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

It’s a further sign that Israel and Iran are escalating their conflict online as well as with missiles “- ratcheting up hacking and cyberarmy efforts to disrupt infrastructure and essential services and track human targets.

Access to a limited number of domestic services and websites was still available, the Iranian ministry said, without giving further details. Since Wednesday afternoon, both mobile phones and domestic landlines in Iran were unreachable from outside the country. Some Iranians appeared to be able to make calls domestically despite the restrictions.

Iranian missiles hit a major hospital in southern Israel and struck residential buildings in Tel Aviv on Thursday, wounding 240 people and causing extensive damage.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”

Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.

The White House says President Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks whether to strike Iran. It says Trump still sees a “substantial” chance that negotiations can achieve U.S. and Israeli demands on Iran’s nuclear program.

Here’s the latest:

Britain’s foreign secretary says situation in Middle East ‘remains perilous’

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the “situation in the Middle East remains perilous,” after meeting Thursday at the White House with his U.S. counterpart, Marco Rubio, and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff.

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“We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon,” Lammy wrote in a post on X.

“We discussed how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,” he added.

Iran’s foreign minister due to meet with European diplomats in Geneva

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was due Friday in Geneva to negotiate with European diplomats, the country’s first face-to-face talks in the crisis.

Israeli military issued warning to flee Rasht in Iran ahead of strikes

Ahead of the Israeli strikes near Rasht in Iran, the Israeli military put out a warning urging the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, which sits about a few kilometers (miles) southwest of the city’s downtown.

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The Israelis did not immediately describe what they sought to destroy in the area. However, with Iran’s internet being shut off to the outside world, it’s unclear just how many people in Iran would be able to see the message.

Getting information out of Iran is increasingly difficult

After a week of Israeli airstrikes, getting any information out of Iran has grown incredibly difficult. Those outside of the country are broadly unable to dial any phone number in the country.

Meanwhile, Iran’s state-run television and radio stations offer irregular updates on what’s happening inside of the country, instead focusing their time on the damage wrought by their strikes on Israel.

Iran is one of the world’s top jailer of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and in the best of times, reporters face strict restrictions.

Iran has shut off its internet to the outside world, both locking its public out from seeing news from the outside and restricting those abroad from reading news outlets’ websites. NetBlocks, a group that monitors nations’ interference with internet access, said Iran has been disconnected from the rest of the world for 36 hours.

That’s left many scrambling on various social media app to see what’s happening — again, only a glimpse of life in a country of over 80 million people.

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Rights group says Israeli strikes have killed at least 657

A week of Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, a human rights group said Friday.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists offered the figures, which covers the entirety of Iran. It said of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 164 security force personnel being killed.

Human Rights Activists, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not been offering regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people being killed and 1,277 others being wounded.

Israeli airstrikes reach into the city of Rasht

Israeli airstrikes reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported as the conflict reached the one-week mark.

It wasn’t immediately clear what Israel was targeting in the city in Iran’s Gilan province.

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Social media video posted online appeared to show explosions around the city.

The semiofficial Fars news agency reported that local air defense systems were firing into the night sky against the Israelis.

Several U.S. airlines suspend flights to the Middle East

United Airlines said Saturday it has indefinitely paused flights between Newark, New Jersey, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

American Airlines said it is suspending flights between Philadelphia and Doha, Qatar, at least through Sunday and will make “additional adjustments as needed.”

Both airlines said they are monitoring the situation and are working to rebook customers.

Last week, Delta Air Lines said it was suspending service to Tel Aviv, Israel, where Ben Gurion Airport remains closed to regularly scheduled passenger flights.

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Iran meets with Germany’s envoy

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Germany’s envoy following what it called “unwise and irresponsible” statements by the German chancellor supporting Israeli actions that violate international law, state-run IRNA news agency reported.

IRNA reported that the country’s foreign ministry conveyed Tehran’s “strong protest” to Markus Potzel, over the German chancellor’s remarks, which he described as an “implicit endorsement of lawbreaking and the use of force against a peaceful country and government.”

In the meeting Thursday, Iran underscored Germany’s international commitment, as a signatory to the United Nations Charter, to oppose aggressive acts that breach international law. It asserted that Israel’s armed attack on Iran “explicitly violates Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the UN Charter and is a clear instance of an aggressive act that must be condemned by all UN member states.”

19 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza

An Israeli airstrike on Thursday on Shati Camp in north Gaza killed a total of 19 people, including three children and five women, and injured 70 others, Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, director of Shifa Hospital told The Associated Press. He said that the strike targeted a group of citizens in the area.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Tuesday that widespread bombardment, shelling and shooting continued across the enclave, including among those who were trying to receive aid. Meanwhile, hospitals are struggling to treat scores of injured due to shortages in medical resources and spaces.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis has been running out of space this week, with WHO’s Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus saying on social media the hospital is hosting twice as many patients as it can handle and had received over 300 injured people on Wednesday alone from food distribution sites.

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A WHO-supported tent originally set up for pediatric and surgical care is now being used as an overcrowded trauma ward with 100 beds crammed into a space built for 88.

Gaza’s health ministry said Thursday that 69 killed people, including two recovered bodies, and 221 wounded individuals arrived at hospitals across the territory over a span of 24 hours. Since the war began in October 2023, a total of 55,706 people were killed and 130,101 others injured.

Some patients at Israeli hospital had been moved before missile strike

Hospital staff at a major Israeli hospital that was hit by the latest Iranian missile barrage said some of the most immobile patients were moved to the basement earlier this week to protect them.

During a visit Soroka Medical Center’s basement, staff told The Associated Press that about 60 patients were moved there. That part of the hospital was previously used as a kindergarten where employees could leave their children, they said.

Dr. Dana Braiman said had they not been moved many could have been injured or killed from the missile. “The beds they were lying in are now gone,” she said.

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It’s unclear what the plan is going forward. The hospital is trying to transfer patients to other clinics in case there is another hit and there are more casualties, but staff say they’re taking it one hour at a time.

Italy’s foreign minister talks to US secretary of state

Italy’s Foreign minister Antonio Tajani had a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday in which he reiterated Rome’s commitment to a de-escalation to favor a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Tajani and Rubio agreed that “Iran must not have the atomic bomb,” Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers also addressed the situation in Gaza. Tajani stressed the urgency of an immediate ceasefire and the full restoration of the entry of humanitarian aid. Rubio agreed with that and confirmed that “this is the intention of the Trump administration.”

Trump to decide within 2 weeks whether to strike Iran, the White House says

The White House announced that U.S. President Donald Trump will decide whether to join Israel’s campaign against Iran’s military and nuclear program within two weeks, saying that Trump still sees a window for diplomacy to address Israeli and U.S. demands on Iran’s nuclear program.

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“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, told reporters, quoting Trump.

UN: Major telecommunications outage hits central and south Gaza for third day

U.N. humanitarian officials say efforts to repair a damaged fiber-optic cable are being hindered.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that Israeli authorities initially approved the movement Thursday of a team trying to identify where the cable was cut, but then rescinded it.

“They control the conflict theater, and they are not giving us the approvals,” Dujarric said. “And I can’t stress how urgently we need communications to make sure that we can operate in the safest possible environment — in an environment that is primarily not safe.”

Iran asks UN Security Council to condemn Israel’s strikes

Iran’s mission to the U.N. demanded Thursday that the international body condemn the recent Israeli strikes on Iran’s various facilities, including its Arak heavy water reactor earlier in the day.

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“The international community, in particular, the Security Council must not remain silent as crimes of aggression are committed in broad daylight, as international humanitarian law is widespread and systematically violated, and as peaceful nuclear sites and facilities operating under IAEA safeguards come under direct attack,” Amir Saeid Iravani, the Islamic Republic’s permanent representative to the U.N., said in a letter to the Security Council.

UN chief: Upcoming meeting with top diplomats from three European countries and Iran is positive

Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly said that “diplomacy is the only and best way forward” to end the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany are scheduled to meeting in Geneva on Friday with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

“The message from the secretary-general is clear,” Dujarric said. “Stop the military action, too many people have been killed. Return to diplomacy, and avoid at any cost the further internationalization of this conflict.”

Canada will help its citizens fly home from Israel and Iran

The Canadian government says it will help its citizens in Israel and Iran to fly home once they reach neighboring countries.

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Ottawa has stationed consular officials on the other side of certain crossings on the Israeli and Iranian borders to help those fleeing either country to get home.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand says the government is are extremely concerned about quickly evolving conflict and they are planning commercial options for Canadians in Israel, the West Bank, and Iran to leave the region via certain neighboring countries.

Houthi leader praises Iran’s ‘effective response’

Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech Thursday that Israel’s military operations against Iran is a dangerous development for the entire region.

He said Iran repeatedly asserted that it doesn’t want to produce nuclear weapons or use them, and praised the nation’s “effective response,” saying it placed Israel in an unprecedented position.

“The enemy hoped to achieve a major accomplishment through this aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, but it failed, and the failure of this aggression clearly resulted in losses and damage,” said al-Houthi.

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He dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks about Iran’s unconditional surrender as “nonsense and madness,” and affirmed that Houthi operations against Israel will persist, including those targeting Israeli maritime activity.

Hundreds of Israelis on way home from Cyprus aboard a cruise ship

Some 2,400 stranded Israelis are on their way to Israel aboard a cruise ship that has departed from Cyprus’ main Limassol port Thursday.

They had reached Cyprus after their Israeli-bound passenger aircraft was diverted to the island at the onset of a missile exchange between Israel and Iran last week. Many others stranded in other countries came to Cyprus, the closest European nation to Israel, in hopes of catching a flight or a boat trip back to Israel.

Cyprus’ chief Rabbi Arie Zeev Raskin says approximately 6,500 Israelis were in Cyprus which has become a key transit point for foreign nationals fleeing Israel and many Israelis who want to go back home.

Iran’s blackout has lasted over 24 hours

NetBlocks, a monitoring group that tracks internet outages, said Iran’s nationwide internet blackout had lasted over 24 hours as of Thursday afternoon, making it the most severe disruption since anti-government protests in November 2019.

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Israeli military says Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack

The Israeli military said Thursday that Iran used a missile with multiple warheads in its attack, posing a new challenge to its defenses.

Instead of having to track one warhead, missiles with multiple warheads can pose a more difficult challenge for air defense systems, like Israel’s Iron Dome.

There was no immediate independent analysis that could be made.

Russia voices concern about security at Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant

Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia is particularly concerned about security at the plant in Iran’s southern port of Bushehr and the Russian personnel there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that over 200 Russian workers are involved in building two more nuclear reactors in Bushehr. “We agreed with the Israeli leadership that their security will be ensured,” he said.

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Alexei Likhachev, the head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, told reporters that several dozen Russian workers had already been evacuated from Bushehr and others could follow suit quickly if necessary.

Likhachev warned that an Israeli strike on the Bushehr reactor could trigger a catastrophe comparable to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. He voiced hope that the Israeli leadership will “have sufficient understanding and common sense not to allow even an accidental hit.”

Israeli official: Iran has launched 450 missiles and 1,000 drones toward Israel so far

The vast majority of the drones have been launched from Iran, but a few have been launched from Iran’s proxies, including Iraq, according to the Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

He added that Israel began its operation in western Iran before moving toward the capital of Tehran and the center. The military is now starting to attack eastern Iran.

The official would not comment on whether or not the Americans are planning to target the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant. “What Americans do or will not do is up to them, we have our plan and are operating according to it,” he said.

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Gaza officials say 69 dead in past 24 hours

The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that hospitals had received 69 bodies and 221 wounded people in the last 24 hours.

It said 55,706 Palestinians have been killed and another 130,101 wounded since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, without saying how many were civilians or combatants.

The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, when Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 53 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israel says it destroyed majority of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers

Israel said its airstrikes have destroyed around two-thirds of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers, according to an Israeli military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. The official said on Thursday that Israel estimates Iran still has over 100 missile launchers remaining active.

“We are hitting all the chain of production, from the military factory all the way to the launcher itself, we’re stopping all of the elements,” the official said. Israel estimates that before Friday, Iran had around 2,000 ballistic missiles.

The official would not comment on Israeli impact on Iran’s nuclear program. “We said we’re going to damage severely the nuclear facilities, but we didn’t say we’re going to destroy it totally,” the official said. “We know our limits.”

At least 8 killed near aid distribution site in Gaza

Health officials in the Gaza Strip say at least eight Palestinians were killed and 60 wounded near an aid distribution site run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed humanitarian group.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza, which received the dead and wounded, confirmed the toll.

It appeared to be the latest of near-daily shootings of Palestinians seeking desperately-needed food in the territory, which experts say is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and ongoing military campaign.

Multiple Palestinian witnesses have said Israeli forces routinely fire on the crowds. Local health officials say scores have been killed and hundreds wounded. The military says it has fired warning shots at people it describes as suspects who approached its forces.

Russia warns the U.S. against entering the Israel-Iran conflict

“U.S. military interference would be “an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing Thursday. .

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he doesn’t want to carry out a U.S. strike on Iran but suggested he stands ready to act if it’s necessary to extinguish Iran’s nuclear program.

China’s Xi calls for ceasefire

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on Israel and Iran to implement an immediate ceasefire in their conflict, which he says risks spreading to other countries in the region.

“If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly,” Xi said during a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

“The parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease fire as soon as possible to prevent the situation from escalating in turn and resolutely avoid the spillover of war,” he added.

China has sought to maintain warm ties with both the Arab States on the one side and Israel on the other, to little practical effect.

Iran’s supreme leader appoints new commander

Iran’s supreme leader has appointed Brigadier General Mohammad Karami as the new ground forces commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force that controls Iran’s ballistic missiles, after Israeli strikes last week killed several high-ranking military officials in Tehran.

Karami is replacing Mohammad Pakpour, who was appointed last week to become the new commander of the Guard following the killing of Hossein Salami.

Iraqi militia threatens to attack US citizens if Iranian leader is targeted

Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iran-backed militias in Iraq, threatened to attack U.S. citizens in the event that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is targeted in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

“No soldier, diplomat, or even a bearer of your nationality in our region will be safe. All your direct and indirect interests will become legitimate targets for us, as long as we draw breath in this vile world,” the statement said.

Iraqi militias have thus far largely held their fire in the conflict, although three drones launched at the Ain al-Asad base housing U.S. troops in western Iraq were reportedly shot down on Friday, after Israel’s began its barrage of strikes on Iran. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the base.

French foreign minister: France and Europeans willing to negotiate with Iran

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday that France and Europeans partners are ready to “resume negotiations” with Iran.

The comments come after Iran’s state media said the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with European counterparts in Geneva on Friday.

Barrot did not confirm the Geneva meeting.

The message from Iranian authorities was “relatively clear: there is a willingness to resume talks, including with the United States, provided that a ceasefire can be reached,” Barrot told a news conference in Paris.

“On our side, there is a willingness to resume negotiations, provided that these negotiations can lead to lasting, substantial steps backward by Iran regarding its nuclear program, its ballistic program and its activities to destabilize the region,” Barrot said.

Patients wheeled out of Israeli hospital hit by missile

Patients were wheeled out of a major Israeli hospital that was hit by the latest Iranian missile barrage as emergency responders assessed the damage to the building.

A missile struck the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, damaging its surgical ward. The roof of the building was smashed in, and after the building was hit, smoke could still be seen smoldering from the side. Chunks of cement and glass lay scattered on the ground.

Hospital staff said several dozen people were lightly injured, adding that most patients had already been moved to safe spaces.

Emergency responders assessed the damage at the Soroka hospital Thursday after a missile struck the surgical ward.

Staff said it wasn’t clear how secure the building was, or if parts were going to collapse.

Two hospital staff who did not want to named told The AP the strike hit almost immediately after sirens went off and they went into the safe room.

Dust and debris at Iran’s state-run broadcaster after Israeli strike

The broadcaster allowed reporters on Thursday to film the aftermath of an Israeli strike against its building in Tehran this week.

Associated Press journalists saw the dust and debris now filling an Iranian state television studio. Its windows were blown out by the blast. Chairs sat singed.

Israel conducted the strike against the building Monday during a live broadcast there, an hour after it issued a public warning for the wider area of Tehran in which the building is located.

Iranian officials have said three employees of the broadcaster, formally known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, were killed in the attack.

US diplomat warns Hezbollah against supporting Iran

U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said it would be a “very bad mistake” for Lebanon if the Hezbollah militant group intervened to support Iran militarily in its conflict against Israel.

Barrack made the remarks to journalists Thursday after visiting top officials in Lebanon. Iran-backed Hezbollah has condemned Israel’s surprise strikes on Iran that sparked the conflict and endorsed Iran’s missile barrages over Israel, but has stopped short of saying it will take military action.

Israel says Iran’s Supreme Leader ‘cannot continue to exist’

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “cannot continue to exist.”

Katz spoke after the latest wave of Iranian missiles struck a hospital and wounded at least 40 people.

“A dictator like Khamenei, who heads a country like Iran and has made the destruction of Israel his mission, cannot continue to exist,” Katz said. “The IDF has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”

U.S. officials said this week that President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now.”

Putin and Xi condemn Israeli attacks on Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping condemned the Israeli attacks in a phone call on Thursday.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Moscow and Beijing agree that “the current situation and the issues related to the Iranian nuclear program can’t be solved by force.” They believe that “a settlement can and must be reached exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”

Putin informed Xi about his calls with the “key players” in the conflict and his readiness to help broker an end to the hostilities, Ushakov said, adding that Xi welcomed Russia’s mediation.

Iran’s foreign minister to meet with European counterparts on Friday

Iran’s foreign minister will meet with European counterparts in Geneva as an Israeli airstrike campaign continues to target his country, state media reported Thursday.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Geneva for the meetings Friday, the state-run IRNA news agency report.

IRNA said the meeting would include foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, and the European Union’s top diplomat.

Iran warns the US to avoid direct involvement in conflict with Israel

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Thursday warned the U.S. again to avoid getting directly involved in the conflict between the Islamic Republic and Israel, saying in a statement that “direct” role by the Americans would “expand the conflict to the region.”

“We warn the criminal United States: any direct involvement in this war would lead to its expansion across the region and will result in severe and irreparable blows,” the paramilitary guard in a statement carried by Iranian state T.V. The warning echoes recent statements made by other Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and comes as Trump has said he’s not looking for a fight’ with Iran but stands ready to act if necessary.

IAEA confirms Iran’s Arak heavy water research reactor was hit in a strike

The Arak reactor was not loaded with nuclear material at the time of the strike, meaning there is no risk to the public of any radioactive contamination.

“It was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects,” said the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.

The IAEA said it had no information on whether the heavy water plant next to the reactor had been hit.

Israel later released black-and-white footage of its strike on the Arak reactor, showing a bomb dropping on its dome and sending up a massive plume of fire and smoke.

UK’s Lammy to meet Rubio in Washington for Mideast talks

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy is flying to Washington on Thursday for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the crisis in the Middle East.

The trip comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired a meeting of senior ministers, military chiefs and intelligence officials at the government’s crisis committee, known as COBRA, on Wednesday. Discussions included how the U.K. would respond to a potential U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The U.S. may want to use the U.K.-controlled base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in a potential strike on Iran’s underground nuclear facility at Fordo but is not believed to have requested to do so yet.

Britain has continued to urge de-escalation, but has deployed two refueling tankers and 14 Typhoon jets to Cyprus to protect British personnel and interests in the Middle East. The Foreign Office has evacuated family members of British Embassy staff from Israel but not advised U.K. nationals to leave the country.

Israeli police stop media broadcast said to expose location of Iranian missile impacts

The Israeli police said in a statement that it dispatched cars to a facility to prevent “news agencies utilized by Al Jazeera” from transmitting “unauthorized and unlawful content.”

Israeli authorities have repeatedly warned media outlets not to share the location of Iranian missile interceptions and hits, though these have in some cases been disclosed in Israeli and foreign media.

Israel banned Al Jazeera last year, accusing it of incitement and of endangering troops by disclosing their locations. The network has denied the allegations.

China offers to play a role in restoring peace and stability in Middle East

Guo Jiakun, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, says China is willing to play an intermediary role in helping end the conflict.

“China has maintained communication with Iran, Israel, Egypt, Oman and other parties, calling on all sides to take immediate measures to de-escalate tensions and prevent the region from falling into greater turmoil,” Guo said Thursday at a daily briefing.

“China is willing to continue working with countries in the region and the international community to play a constructive role in restoring peace and stability in the Middle East as soon as possible,” he added.

Many aircraft dispersed from major air base in Middle East used by US military

A major air base in the Middle East used by the U.S. military has seen many of the aircraft typically on its tarmac dispersed this weekend.

The Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar, is the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command. Typically, the air base is filled with multiple transport planes, fighter jets and drones.

In a satellite photo taken Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press, the air base’s tarmac had emptied.

The U.S. military has not acknowledged the change. However, it comes after ships off the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet base in Bahrain also have dispersed. That’s typically a military strategy to ensure your fighting ships and planes aren’t destroyed in case of an attack.

Al-Sistani warns against a strike on Iran’s senior religious or political leadership

Iraq’s top Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned Thursday that a strike on Iran’s senior religious or political leadership could ignite uncontrollable chaos across the region, an apparent reference to threats that Israel or the U.S. might kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In a statement, al-Sistani denounced the ongoing Israeli military campaign against Iran. He said that targeting the country’s top leadership would be a “criminal act (that) would shatter regional stability, deepen human suffering, and inflict far-reaching harm on the interests of all nations.”

He called on the international community — particularly Muslim countries — to increase diplomatic pressure, halt the aggression and broker a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.

Widely seen as a voice of moderation, al-Sistani represents a school of thought in Shiism opposed to direct rule by clerics, the system in place in Iran, where Khamenei has the final word in all matters.

Patients evacuated from Soroka Medical Center after missile strike

Black smoke rose from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba as emergency teams evacuated patients.

Two doctors told The Associated Press that the missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing a loud explosion that could be heard from a safe room. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

— Sam Mednick in Beersheba, Israel

Iran says attack on Israel targeted a military site

Iran, through its state-run IRNA news agency, claimed it targeted an Israeli military site, not the hospital.

Iran claimed the “blast wave” of the missile struck the hospital.

Egyptian FM pushes for ‘de-escalation’ dialogue on call with European diplomats

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell on Thursday about the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.

In a statement after the call, Abdelatty said that the E3, an informal foreign and security cooperation arrangement between the U.K., Germany and France, is responsible for opening “channels for dialogue and negotiation and utilize all available channels with the Iranian side to reach compromises that contribute to de-escalation.”

Attack on Arak reactor meant to prevent plutonium production, Israel says

Israel’s military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium.

“The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,” the Israelis said.

Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes. However, it also enriches uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level.

Israel separately claimed to have struck another site around Natanz it described as being related to Iran’s nuclear program.

Several countries prepare to evacuate their citizens from Iran and Israel

Japan, China, Indonesia and Oman said Thursday they were preparing to help evacuate their citizens from Iran and Israel as the conflict between the two countries intensified.

Japan said it is dispatching two military aircraft to Djibouti ahead of a possible airlifting of Japanese nationals from Iran. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said he ordered the dispatch of two C-2 transport aircraft, along with 120 service members, to the Horn of African nation where Japan has a military base. About 280 Japanese are based in Iran and 1,000 others are in Israel.

The Chinese Embassy in Israel, meanwhile, said it will organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday. A notice posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account said Chinese citizens would be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt.

The Indonesian government said it would evacuate its citizens from Iran. About 386 Indonesians, mostly students, are in Iran, primarily in the city of Qom, he said. His ministry, meanwhile, said earlier that about 194 Indonesians are in Israel, the majority of whom are in the southern city of Rafah.

And Oman said it had evacuated 245 of its citizens and a number of nationals from other countries via the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, along the country’s Persian Gulf coast.

Israel’s main hospital in south sustained direct hit from Iranian missile with ‘extensive damage’

Israel’s main southern hospital sustained a direct hit Thursday from an Iranian missile, with officials reporting “extensive damage” there.

Soroka Medical Center is the main hospital in Israel’s south.

A spokesperson for the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheba said the hospital suffered “extensive damage” in different areas and people were wounded in the attack. The hospital has requested people not come for treatment.

The hospital has over 1,000 beds and provides services to the approximately 1 million residents of Israel’s south, according to the hospital’s website.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639, rights group says

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,329 others, a human rights group said Thursday.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists offered the figures, which covers the entirety of Iran. It said of those dead, it identified 263 civilians and 154 security force personnel being killed.

Human Rights Activists, which also provided detailed casualty figures during the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, cross-checks local reports in the Islamic Republic against a network of sources it has developed in the country.

Iran has not been offering regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the death toll at 224 people being killed and 1,277 others being wounded.