Iran Israel war live updates: The Israeli flag flutters in front of a destroyed building at the site of an Iranian missile attack in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv.

Iran Israel war live updates: The Israel-Iran conflict escalated aggressively on Thursday after relentless strikes rocked both nations on day seven of the military showdown. Israel struck Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, a key nuclear site, hours after issuing evacuation warnings. Iran also unleashed a barrage of missiles, one of which hit southern Israel’s largest hospital Soroka Medical Center, causing “extensive damage”, said officials. At least 47 people have been injured in Iranian strikes on Israel, according to rescuers. …Read More

Senior officials of the United States are preparing for the possibility of striking Iran in the coming days, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

This comes after US President Donald Trump weighed on Wednesday whether to enter the conflict to aid Israel or not, with no certainty yet on the US’ participation.

“I may do it, I may not do it…I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” said Trump while talking to reporters at the White House.

He also said, “I have ideas as to what to do…I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due because things change, especially with war.”

Some high-ranking European diplomats will hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, reported Associated Press citing an European official familiar with the matter, however, there were no plans yet of the United States joining these talks.

An offer of mediation between Iran and Israel has also come from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Iran-Israel conflict | Key updates

A British man stranded in Israel has criticised the UK Government for not arranging flights to get him home.

Zak Wagman, 26, is unable to fly home following the closure of Israel’s airspace amid the conflict with Iran.

He said he has had to take cover in a bomb shelter most nights and said there has been frequent sirens and empty streets around his hotel in Herzliya, in the district of Tel Aviv.

The Conservative councillor for Stanmore, who works in PR and communications, arrived in Israel last Wednesday to attend a family member’s wedding.

He was due to fly back to London last Monday but says his flight with Israeli airline El Al was cancelled.

He remains with his father, father’s partner and brother and says he is waiting for advice from the Government.

Mr Wagman told the PA news agency: “There was always a level of apprehension given the ongoing situation since October 7 but nothing that caused me to think anything other than coming.

“I have been here before and all the guidance indicated it was safe and acceptable to come here.”

He said the bomb sirens heard through the night sounded “crazy”.

Mr Wagman added: “Being someone that’s lived in London, I have never until last week experienced bomb sirens or rockets going off and having to get down quickly to bomb shelters.

Israeli hospital hit by Iranian missile strike

6 hours 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 Soroka hospital, not the facility itself. Israel said 271 people were injured in strikes reported across the country. Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it had targeted Iran’s nuclear sites including the “inactive” Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility. Israel said at least 24 people had been killed in the country since the start of the conflict. Iranian state media last updated its death toll on 15 June, when it said 224 people had been killed.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – a Washington-based human rights organisation that has long tracked Iran – has said 639 people have been killed in Iran since Friday. 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 on Thursday was “deliberate” and “criminal”. In a post on X, Sharren Haskel said the site 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”. Israel also threatened Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”. Katz told reporters: “Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals.” Khamenei is Iran’s spiritual leader and its highest authority, with final say over all government matters in the country. In response to a question from Israeli broadcaster News 12 about whether Khamenei was a target, Netanyahu replied: “I have instructed that no one is immune.” 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.” He also told broadcaster Kan that Israel had destroyed “more than half” of Iran’s missile launchers but that “all help” would be welcome in destroying nuclear sites.

BBC correspondents reporting from the hospital described 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. Elsewhere 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.

Israel’s military, which targeted the Arak heavy water reactor on Thursday, said it told people living in the nearby Iranian cities of Arak and Khondab to leave the area “as soon as possible” prior to the attack. 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”. Iran 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,” he said.

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