At least 12 Palestinians killed waiting for aid in Gaza, say medics

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Reuters Funerals continued on Thursday for Palestinians killed by the gunfire

At least 12 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while waiting for aid in central Gaza, according to rescuers and medics. Reports say the group was killed by gunfire near an aid distribution site run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Thursday. The GHF denied there were any incidents near its site. The Israeli military told Reuters that “suspects” had attempted to approach forces in the area of Netzarim, and that soldiers had fired warning shots. It said it was unaware of any injuries. The incident is the latest in almost daily shootings near such aid sites in Gaza.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since late May, when the GHF took over aid distribution in Gaza in an attempt by Israel to bypass the UN as the main supplier of aid. Nearly all the casualties in Gaza in recent days have been linked to incidents around the delivery of aid, rather than Israeli strikes on Hamas targets. Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday that since midnight 12 people had been killed while seeking aid, without giving further details. The Hamas-run civil defence agency – Gaza’s main emergency service – told AFP news agency that a group was killed by Israeli gunfire near the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of people have been gathering daily seeking aid. Civil defence official Mohammad al-Mughayyir said 15 people were killed and 60 injured in the incident. Israel does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza, making it difficult to verify figures. AFP said it had spoken to witness Bassam Abu Shaar, who said thousands of people had gathered overnight at the GHF-backed distribution site, and that Israeli forces opened fire at about 01:00 (22:00 GMT). He said the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to escape the gunfire, adding: “We couldn’t help them or even escape ourselves.”

The GHF however told the BBC: “There were no incidents anywhere near our site today.” “This is yet again another example of false and misleading reporting by the GHM [Gaza health ministry].” The BBC has contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for a response. According to Reuters, the Israeli military said people had approached its forces in a threatening manner. In a Telegram statement on Wednesday, Hamas called for the UN and its humanitarian agencies to be the sole distributors of aid in Gaza.

Is the UK about to get dragged into Iran-Israel conflict?

60 minutes ago Share Save Frank Gardner BBC Security Correspondent Share Save

Getty Images People gather outside the UK parliament protesting against Israel’s attacks on Iran

Is this, some will be wondering, 2003 all over again? In 2003 Britain joined the US in a highly controversial military campaign against Iraq in a quest to rid it of its supposed arsenal of “weapons of mass destruction”. These turned out to have all been destroyed years previously. As America’s closest but junior ally, Britain is almost certain to be affected in some way by what happens now in the Middle East. If Donald Trump decides to commit US forces to help Israel eliminate Iran’s nuclear programme then what role will the UK be asked to play?

First off, Britain is very far from being a central player in this fight between Israel and Iran. The UK, along with other G7 allies, has called for de-escalation, but Israel is unlikely to be listening. This is not just because relations between Britain and Israel have recently soured after the UK joined other Western nations in sanctioning two Israeli cabinet ministers for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. It is also because Israel had clearly decided that now was a window of opportunity to act militarily against Iran’s suspect nuclear programme and that the time for talking was over. (In an apparent snub to the UK, Israel reportedly did not inform it in advance of its attack on Iran, considering it “not a reliable partner”.) But the UK still has a diplomatic role to play, together with its European allies who helped draft the 2015 JCPOA Iran nuclear deal that introduced intrusive UN inspections of Iran’s facilities in exchange for sanctions relief, until Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is in Washington on Thursday, meeting his US counterpart and the UK will be joining France and Germany in talks with Iran in Geneva on Friday. The UK also has military and strategic assets in the Middle East and Indian Ocean. Here’s how these could be involved.

Diego Garcia

This tiny, tropical Indian Ocean island base, jointly operated by the UK and US and now leased from nearby Mauritius, has a strategic significance out of all proportion to its size. At 2,300 miles (3,700km) from Iran, it is a potential staging base for the USAF B2 Spirit heavy bombers. These are the only aircraft in the world configured to carry the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb. This 30,000lb (13.6 tonne) monster is sometimes referred to as a “bunker-buster” but that’s an under-estimate. Retired US Army General Petraeus referred to it this week as “a mountain-buster”. It is thought to be the only weapon powerful enough to penetrate deep underground at Iran’s suspect nuclear enrichment facility at Fordo. If the US were to use Diego Garcia it would need permission from the UK. The Attorney General, Richard Hermer, is reported to have advised the UK government that any UK military involvement needs to be purely defensive in nature to remain within the law. The B2 bombers have a range of nearly 7,000 miles, roughly the distance from their airbase in Missouri to Iran, and with inflight refuelling the US could, if it chose, bomb Fordo without using Diego Garcia.

What do we know about the Fordo nuclear site?

Cyprus

The UK has two major strategic assets on this Mediterranean island. One is RAF Akrotiri, currently home to a reinforced presence of RAF Typhoon jets. The other is the secretive Signals intelligence listening station on a mountain top at Ayios Nikolaos, known as “Ayia Nik”, and part of Britain’s Sovereign Base Area on Cyprus. The British Army has also long used Cyprus as a base for its “spearhead battalion”, a rapid deployment force available for contingencies in the Middle East. The RAF’s Typhoons are already engaged in Operation Shader, monitoring and occasionally bombing the Islamic State group (IS) and al-Qaeda bases in Syria and Iraq. Last year, during a brief conflict between Israel and Iran, UK warplanes were reported to have helped shoot down incoming Iranian drones heading for Israel. But in this conflict an Israeli spokesperson told the BBC that no UK assistance has been sought or offered in doing the same thing.

The Gulf

The Royal Navy has had a small but vital role to play in keeping the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz free from sea mines. This dates back to the 1980-88 Iran Iraq tanker war, where mines were deployed and the UK activated its “Armilla Patrol”. Royal Navy minesweepers were based in Bahrain, an asset much appreciated by the adjacent US Navy’s 5th Fleet HQ which surprisingly, has been weak on mine counter measures. However, the UK’s vessels have been nearing the end of their working lives and the Royal Navy presence has been gradually reduced. This has contributed to the depressing assessment that should Iran decide to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, through which flows 20-30% of the world’s oil supplies, its effect would be considerable. The Ministry of Defence says that one Royal Navy minesweeper, HMS Middleton, is now in the Gulf. “Royal Navy vessels in the Gulf are currently at sea”, it adds, “and have not been retasked to undertake combat operations”. There is also a small, 100-strong UK military presence in Iraq and a port facility at Duqm in Oman.

Blowback

Trump approves Iran attack plan but has not made final decision, reports say

13 hours ago Share Save Graeme Baker & Helen Sullivan BBC News Share Save

Getty Images Trump said he’d “had it” and repeated his call for an unconditional surrender from Iran.

Donald Trump has approved plans to attack Iran, but has not made a final decision on whether to use them, the BBC’s US partner CBS reports. The US president held off from strikes in case Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear programme, an intelligence source said. Trump is reportedly considering strikes on the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo. Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday that the Wall Street Journal, which carried a similar report, had “no idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran”. He did not address whether plans had been approved. Speculation mounted about Trump’s intentions on Wednesday after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected his demand for surrender.

Reuters Khamenei said Iran would not surrender

Khamenei rebuked Trump in his speech, which was broadcast on Iranian television, saying that “any US military intervention” would be costly and added: “The Iranian nation will not surrender.” It was Khamenei’s first appearance since Israel launched what it described as pre-emptive strikes on Friday. Iran’s mission to the UN also mocked Trump in posts on X, calling him a “has-been warmonger clinging to relevance” and adding that no Iranian official would “grovel at the gates of the White House”. Trump brushed off the supreme leader’s rejection, saying “good luck”, but again declined to disclose his plans. “I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said. “Unconditional surrender – that means I’ve had it.”

The war of words and speculation about US entry into the war came as Iranians continued to jam roads out of the capital Tehran, a city of 10 million people, seeking sanctuary from Israeli attacks. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said in a video on Wednesday that his country’s forces were “progressing step by step” towards eliminating threats posed by Iran’s nuclear sites and ballistic missile arsenal. “We control the skies over Tehran. We are striking with tremendous force at the regime of the ayatollahs. We are hitting the nuclear sites, the missiles, the headquarters, the symbols of the regime,” he said. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defence secretary, told a Senate committee that the Pentagon was prepared to execute any order given by Trump. His comments came amid a build-up of American forces in the Middle East. A carrier strike group led by the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier was steaming from south-east Asia to join another strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson, already in the Gulf. Various air assets including refuelling tankers were also seen on flight trackers moving from Europe, with reports of F-22 and F-35 strike aircraft following. The US State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Washington DC on Thursday, for talks expected to focus on Iran. The BBC understands that, so far, the US has not made a formal request to use the UK’s military bases in Diego Garcia or Cyprus to conduct strikes against Iran. Normally, the US would first inform its ally if it intended to conduct offensive operations from those bases. A British source said it was believed “all options” were on the table in Washington but there was no complete picture of America’s intent. The US embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday issued an evacuation plan for American citizens currently in Israel. It was unclear how many Americans were seeking to leave Israel or whether the US military would assist with the evacuation flights. Since it launched its attack on Friday, Israel’s strikes on Iran have killed 585 people, according to Washington DC-based group Human Rights Activists, which said that 239 were civilians and 126 were security personnel. In retaliation, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities. Meanwhile, Iranian state TV warned viewers to ignore an “irrelevant” clip calling for the public to “rise up” against the regime, after an apparent hack of its satellite feed. “If you notice irrelevant messages while watching TV, it is due to the enemy jamming satellite signals,” state TV said. Hackers apparently broke in and broadcast a video that accused the Iranian establishment of “failing” its own people, called on viewers to “take control of your future”. It featured several clips of mass protests against the regime in 2022.

Watch: Americans divided on possible US involvement in Iran

Israeli hospital hit by Iranian missile strike

45 minutes ago Share Save Ruth Comerford BBC News Share Save

BBC on the scene at Israeli hospital struck by Iranian missile

A hospital in the Israeli town of Beersheba has been hit as Iran fired a barrage of missiles at the country, with the conflict between the two nations continuing into a seventh day. Iran said it had targeted a military site close to the hospital, not the facility itself. With strikes being reported in several locations across Israel, the country’s health ministry said 271 people had been injured. After visiting the Soroka Medical Centre on Thursday, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said Iran’s supreme leader “can no longer be allowed to exist”. Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear sites including the “inactive” Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility.

The conflict began on 13 June, when Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and killed several top generals and nuclear scientists. Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister said Iran’s hit on the Soroka hospital was “deliberate” and “criminal”. In a post on X, Sharren Haskel said the site that was the main medical centre for Israel’s entire Negev region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran”. While Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told reporters: “[Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals.” BBC correspondents in the area described the scale of the damage as extensive, with debris and plumes of smoke floating through the air long after the blast. Several wards were completely destroyed as fire spread through one of the buildings, causing windows to smash and ceilings to collapse, hospital authorities said. About 200 patients will be transferred to other hospitals centres, Prof Shlomi Codish, chief executive of the Soroka hospital said. “At the moment we don’t know if buildings or other wards might collapse,” he added. On Thursday morning, an Iranian ballistic missile struck the business district of Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv – causing a large sheet of glass to fall several floors from a skyscraper and part of an electrical pylon to crash to the ground. About 20 people are believed to have been injured by the blast in the area, authorities have said.

Several senior Israeli officials, including the prime minister, visited the damaged hospital in Beersheba on Thursday. Netanyahu told reporters at the site that Israeli forces had harmed “the nuclear program very strongly” but claimed that there are “other nuclear targets” and “nuclear missiles” in Iran. “We will remove the nuclear threat, just as I promised. By the end of this operation, there will be no nuclear threat to Israel, nor will there be a ballistic missile threat.” In response to a question from News 12 about whether Khamenei is a target, PM Netanyahu replied: “I have instructed that no one is immune. I prefer not to deal with headlines and let actions speak.”

The Israeli military said it told people living in the cities of Iranian cities Arak and Khondab, which are near the reactor, to leave the area “as soon as possible,” in a post on X, prior to the attack. The nuclear facilities that were attacked include a partially-built heavy-water research reactor. Heavy-water reactors produce plutonium, which – like enriched uranium – can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. Iranian media reported two projectiles hitting an area near the facility. There were no reports of radiation threats. In a separate announcement, Israel’s military said it also struck a site in the area of Natanz, which it said contains “unique components and equipment used to develop nuclear weapons”. Israel has alleged Iran has recently “taken steps to weaponise” its enriched uranium stockpile, which can be used for power plants or nuclear bombs. Iran has always claimed that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. Iran’s armed forces said their response to the Israeli attack will have “no limits.” It has lodged a complaint with the UN nuclear watchdog, accusing Israel of “continuing its aggression and actions contrary to international laws that prohibit attacks on nuclear facilities,” Iranian state media reported.

Reuters Arak’s nuclear facility had been evacuated before the attack according to Iranian media

The UN’s high commissioner Volker Türk said it was “appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage” in the conflict. He warned officials against “inflammatory rhetoric”, which he said pointed to a “worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians. “The only way out of this spiralling illogic of escalation is maximum restraint, full respect for international law, and return in good faith to the negotiating table.”

On X, the International Committee of the Red Cross for Israel and occupied territories stressed that hospitals must be “respected and protected” under international law. And the World Health Organization’s director general said in a statement on X: “We call on all parties to protect health facilities, health personnel, and patients at all times.”

Trump’s Iran dilemma exposes bitter split in president’s circle

20 hours ago Share Save Bernd Debusmann Jr & Max Matza BBC News Share Save

Getty Images

The dilemma of whether the US should join Israel in attacking Iran, or stay out of the offensive altogether, has exposed divisions among US President Donald Trump’s supporters. “I may do it, I may not do it,” the Republican president said on Wednesday whether the US would join the conflict by targeting Iranian nuclear sites. Trump often railed against “stupid endless wars” in the Middle East on the campaign trail, but has also maintained that Iran “can’t have a nuclear weapon”. The possibility that he might draw the US into another foreign entanglement has pitted the isolationist and hawkish wings of his party bitterly against one another.

Among those that have expressed doubt about Iran’s nuclear plans are Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who in March testified before Congress that while Iran’s enriched uranium was at an all-time high, experts did not believe it was working on a nuclear weapon. On 10 June – just three days before Israeli strikes on Iran began – Gabbard also posted a video in which she warned that “political elite and warmongers” were “carelessly fomenting fear and tensions” that risked putting the world “on the brink of nuclear annihilation”. Gabbard’s video and prior comments reportedly opened a rift between her and Trump, who US news outlet Politico reported “became incensed” at the video.

Watch: Protect the world or avoid war? Americans divided on Iran conflict

“I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters when asked about her earlier comments before Congress. “I think they were very close to having a weapon.” She later accused the media of taking her comments out of context, telling CNN that she was on “the same page” as Trump. Gabbard was not alone among Republicans in criticising potential US involvement in the conflict. On Tuesday, conservative Republican congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky sided with Democrats to introduce a bill that would block Trump from engaging US forces in “unauthorised hostilities” with Iran without congressional approval. “This is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution,” Massie posted on X. Several proponents of Trump’s “America First” doctrine pointed out that he vowed to keep the US out of “forever wars” such as those that led to the deaths of thousands of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Follow live updates on this story

Russia fears another loss in Middle East from Iran’s conflict with Israel

Watch: BBC at the site of Iranian attack in Israel

G7 leaders urge ‘de-escalation’ but stop short of calling for Israel-Iran ceasefire Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has called for the US to stay out of the conflict with Iran. On his podcast, he lambasted Republican “warmongers”, provoking a rebuke from Trump, who called Carlson “kooky”. Georgia congresswoman and Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene leapt to Carlson’s defence in a highly unusual break with the president. She said anyone who supported such an intervention was not “America First”. The tensions exploded into a shouting match on Tuesday during an interview between Carlson and hawkish Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz became defensive when asked if he knew the population and ethnic mix of Iran. Carlson said: “You’re a senator who’s calling for the overthrow of the government and you don’t know anything about the country!” Cruz retorted: “No, you don’t know anything about the country!” Steve Bannon, Trump’s former political strategist, argued on Carlson’s podcast that allowing the “deep state” to drive the US into a war with Iran would “blow up” the coalition of Trump supporters. “If we get sucked into this war, which inexorably looks like it’s going to happen on the combat side, it’s going to not just blow up the coalition, it’s also going to thwart the most important thing, which is the deportation of the illegal alien invaders who are here,” he said. On Wednesday, however, Bannon seemed to slightly soften his tone, telling attendees at a Christian Science Monitor event that the MAGA wing of his supporters would trust his judgement if he decided to commit US forces to the conflict. “Maybe we hate it but you know, we’ll get on board.” he said. Another conservative political commentator, Charlie Kirk – who describes himself as closer to the “isolationist” side of the debate – said on X that Trump is “pragmatic” and values “common sense”. “I don’t know if President Trump will choose to involve America against Iran,” Kirk wrote. “But he is a man I trust to be making that decision.”

What do we know about the Fordo nuclear site?