Asaad Abu Sharia, leader of the Mujahideen Brigades, a small Hamas-allied group in Gaza, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza, the Israeli military confirmed. Another senior operative of the group, Mahmoud Kaheel, was also killed in a separate strike in the city.

The Mujahideen Brigades confirmed the deaths of Abu Sharia and Kaheel. Palestinian media reported that over 30 people died in the strike in the Sabra neighbourhood that targeted Abu Sharia. The strike that killed Kaheel also killed his wife, children, and other family members.

The Mujahideen Brigades operate primarily in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank as the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement. This faction emerged in the early 1970s with the goal of resisting Israeli occupation and achieving Palestinian independence through armed struggle. The group carries out a range of military operations including rocket fire, ambushes, and guerrilla tactics. They have claimed responsibility for attacks on Israeli targets and regularly cooperate with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Their arsenal includes small arms, rocket-propelled grenades, locally manufactured mortars, and short-range rockets.

According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Abu Sharia was directly involved in the October 7, 2023, attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he participated in the abductions and murders of civilians. The IDFadded that Abu Sharia orchestrated various attacks from Gaza and directed assaults on Israel from the West Bank.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants stormed southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Among those kidnapped were Shiri Bibas, Yarden Bibas, and their two sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, a nine-month-old baby at the time. Ariel and Kfir, along with their mother Shiri, were killed in captivity. Their bodies were returned in February and their identities confirmed through forensic evidence.

The IDF reported that the Mujahideen Brigades were responsible not only for the Bibas family’s abduction and murder but also for the killings of Gadi Haggai, Judith Weinstein, and Thai hostage Nattapong Pinta. The bodies of Haggai and Weinstein, a US citizen couple aged 72 and 70, were recovered from Gaza on Wednesday night. Pinta’s body was returned on Saturday.

Since the October attack, Israel has launched a sustained military offensive in Gaza, which has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians and injured 125,000 others. The operation is ongoing, with Israel imposing a blockade that has restricted aid deliveries for over 12 weeks. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed aid organization, briefly suspended its aid distribution on June 6 citing threats allegedly from Hamas but resumed operations the next day, reopening two aid points.

The United Nations reported that, between May 28 and June 3, 44 out of 75 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities across Gaza were denied, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

The Israeli military has ordered the forcible evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians in northern Gaza.

What began as simmering tensions between two rivals has now exploded into one of the most dangerous flare-ups the Middle East has seen in years. On June 13, Israel launched a sweeping aerial offensive, striking over 100 strategic targets, from nuclear facilities to military installations, across Iran. Tehran responded, unleashing waves of missiles and drones on Israeli cities, damaging vital infrastructure.

More than 70 people have been reported killed in Iran, and at least seven in Israel, with hundreds of others injured.

As both nations trade blows, global powers are sounding alarms over the risk of a full-scale regional war. Here are some of the most concerning scenarios experts fear may unfold:

The United States May Join

Iran believes the US tacitly supported Israel’s June 13 aerial strikes. With American troops stationed across the region, US targets may become vulnerable.

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A single American casualty could force US President Donald Trump to act, despite his “no new wars” promise.

Israel Fails To Crush Iran’s Nuclear Programme

Despite the scale of Israel’s assault, doubts remain over its impact. Iran’s enriched uranium may be hidden deep underground, and killing scientists won’t erase nuclear expertise.

If Israel’s strikes miss uranium stockpiles or leave key facilities like Fordow intact, Iran may race to build a bomb.

With more aggressive commanders now in charge, risking a cycle of retaliation and further Israeli strikes in what is grimly called “mowing the grass.”

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Gulf States In The Crosshairs

If Iran can’t hit Israel hard, it may strike softer Gulf targets, like oil fields or US airbases in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, or Bahrain. Past attacks show it is capable.

A fresh assault could pull Gulf nations into the war and demand more US firepower.

A Global Economic Shock

Oil prices are rising. If Iran moves to block the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial choke-point for global oil, or if the Houthis in Yemen resume attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes, the impact could be global.

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Many economies are still struggling with inflation and post-Covid pandemic recovery. Another oil shock could deepen the cost-of-living crisis. And any rise in crude prices would directly benefit Russia, giving President Vladimir Putin a financial windfall for his war in Ukraine.

Iran’s Regime Falls

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Iranian people that the strikes were “clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom.”

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If Israel triggers regime collapse, the result may not be freedom, but a vacuum. Iran could face internal conflict, like post-Saddam Hussein Iraq or Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya.

The region might face years of instability, radicalisation, and displacement.

Over the last eight days, Israel’s much-acclaimed air defence system, the Iron Dome, has been tested like never before against multiple waves of Iranian missiles. As the conflict stretches into its eighth day, questions mount over its performance and whether it can withstand a long conflict.

On Thursday, Iran confirmed a new wave of combined missile and drone attacks on military sites in Haifa and Tel Aviv, escalating tensions and prompting fears that Israel’s air defences may be cracking under pressure, reported Al Jazeera.

On June 19, the strikes, which reportedly hit four locations – including Soroka Hospital in southern Israel – triggered a counter-attack. Airstrikes were aimed at what are believed to be Iranian-linked nuclear facilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was not ruling out a strike on Ayatollah Khamenei, while Defence Minister Israel Katz directly blamed the Iranian Supreme Leader for the attack on the hospital.

As footage surfaces showing some missiles slipping past Israeli air defences, speculation has intensified — is the Iron Dome beginning to falter?

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Speaking to NDTV, retired Brigadier General Amir Avivi, chairman of the Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF), insisted that while the system was under strain, it remained largely intact. He said it wasn’t just the Iron Dome at work. “Ballistic missiles — especially those fired from long range — are intercepted mostly by Arrow 3,” he said, referring to Israel’s space-based missile defence system, which he claimed has “more than 90% success.”

Still, he cautioned that no system is flawless. “It’s hard to reach 100%,” he said, adding that when a missile does break through, Israel’s layered defence kicks in. He also advised civilians to use bunkers in such instances.

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On whether the Iron Dome was still dependable or if Israel must prepare for a post-Iron Dome future, Avivi maintained that the system, along with the broader air defence network, was reliable. He said the situation was not just about a single system but about a multi-layered strategy to counter a range of threats.

Watch #NewsNight with @DeeptiSachdeva_ | Last Few Hours For Khamenei’s Regime? US Attack Imminent?

Chairman of IDSF (Retd) Amir Avivi speaks to NDTV’s Deepti Sachdeva, shares his insights on the ongoing Iran-Israel tensions#NDTVExclusive pic.twitter.com/g3lwusXxZK — NDTV (@ndtv) June 19, 2025

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“Israel is managing to systematically destroy the ballistic capabilities of Iran,” he said, pointing out that Iran aimed to launch hundreds of ballistic missiles but failed to maintain that momentum. According to him, Israeli strikes have destroyed more than 40% of Iran’s launchers, significantly damaging Tehran’s ability to sustain attacks.

As Israel’s defence systems are being tested by Iranian missile attacks, Avivi seems to suggest that the Iron Dome, though under pressure, can hold the line — at least for now.

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On Thursday, the White House said that President Donald Trump will make a decision on whether or not the US should get directly involved in the Israel-Iran conflict in the next two weeks. The negotiations or talks weren’t off-table, it added.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with the members of the Expediency Discernment Council in Tehran, Iran October 12, 2022. File Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Defence Minister Israel Katz told media that Israel would have killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the war between the two countries if the opportunity had presented itself.

“If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Israel’s public radio station Kan Thursday evening, adding that the military had “searched a lot”.

“Khamenei understood this, went very deep underground, broke off contact with the commanders… so in the end it wasn’t realistic,” Katz told Kan.

He told Israeli television Channel 13 Thursday that Israel would cease its assassination attempts because “there is a difference between before the ceasefire and after the ceasefire”.

Katz had said during the war that Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”, just days after reports that Washington vetoed Israeli plans to assassinate him.

But on Kan, Katz advised Khamenei to remain inside a bunker.

“He should learn from the late Nasrallah, who sat for a long time deep in the bunker”, he said, referring to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who Israel killed in a Beirut air strike in September 2024.

The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since he took power, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy.

Katz said Thursday that Israel maintained its aerial superiority over Iran and that it was ready to strike again.

“We won’t let Iran develop nuclear weapons and threaten (Israel) with long-range missiles”, he said.

In his Channel 12 interview, Katz admitted that Israel does not know the location of all of Iran’s enriched uranium, but that its air strikes had destroyed the Islamic republic’s uranium enrichment capabilities.

“The material itself was not something that was supposed to be neutralised,” he said of the enriched uranium.

The impact of Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear programme has been a subject to debate.

A leaked US intelligence assessment estimated the programme to have set Iran back a few months, while Katz and other Israeli and US public figures said the damage would take years to rebuild.

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in a 12-day war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The war erupted on 13 June when Israel launched a bombing campaign that it said aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

Hamas released four Israeli women hostages on Saturday in what was the second exchange under the ceasefire deal between Israel and Gaza. As the world watched, the soldiers, in military uniform, were handed over to Red Cross members. As the fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza, the fate of the Bibas family and the youngest Hamas hostage remains unknown.

Shiri Bibas, her two sons, Ariel (5) and Kfir (2), and her husband, Yarden, were among those kidnapped by the group on October 7, 2023. Baby Kfir, the youngest hostage, was just 8 months old at the time.

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The Bibas family’s hopes were shattered when their names were missing from the list of hostages to be freed in the latest phase of the multi-phase ceasefire deal. In a statement, the family shared their anguish. According to The Times of Israel, the statement read, “Yesterday at 16:00, when the list of those set for release was published, our world collapsed. Even though we were prepared for this possibility, we had hoped to see Shiri and the children on the list that was supposed to be for civilian women.”

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While Israeli authorities insist on the return of Kfir and Ariel, Hamas has claimed that Shiri and her two boys are no longer alive. Israeli officials have not confirmed this, and the uncertainty has left the family anxious.

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An analyst told ABC News that whether they’re alive depends on who is asked about it. Should they be confirmed dead, it is likely to unleash fury and sadness in Israel, where the family has become a symbol of the country’s darkest moment.

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According to an AFP report, Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari expressed “deep concerns” over the well-being of the two remaining child hostages from the Bibas family in Gaza. In a televised statement on Saturday, Hagari said that Israel insists on the return of Kfir and Ariel Bibas. Hagari added, “We are deeply concerned for their fate,” and also mentioned their mother, whose deaths Hamas had announced more than a year ago but Israeli authorities have not confirmed.

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Meanwhile, the family’s plea remains steadfast — “Shiri, Yarden, Ariel, and Kfir — We will continue to hope and demand your return. It’s not over until it’s over,” they said in the statement.

The three-stage Ceasefire deal is currently in its first phase as part of which 33 of the remaining 98 hostages – women, children, men over 50, the ill and wounded – will be released in return for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

In the first phase, Israeli forces would also withdraw from Gaza and allow the displaced population to return “to their residences”, the Qatari prime minister earlier said. The first phase will last six weeks.