Iran confirms President Pezeshkian injured in air strike during war with Israel
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was injured in the leg during an Israeli air strike on June 16 that targeted a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in western Tehran, the IRGC-linked Fars News Agency has revealed.
The strike, which marked a rare direct hit on Iran’s top leadership, reportedly involved six missiles aimed at blocking exits and cutting off ventilation in the underground site. Pezeshkian and other senior officials, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, were forced to evacuate through an emergency hatch.
The report is the first official confirmation of injuries sustained by Iran’s leadership during the 12-day war with Israel. It also follows Pezeshkian’s recent interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, where he said: “They did try [to assassinate me], yes… but they failed,” without previously confirming he was hurt.
Authorities say investigations are ongoing into possible insider collaboration with Israel. More than 700 people have been arrested, and a new espionage bill proposing the death penalty is being pushed through parliament.
Israel’s planned concentration camp in Rafah may be prohibitively expensive: Report
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reports that the estimated cost of establishing Israel’s so-called “humanitarian city” in the Gaza Strip, which the United Nations has said would actually be a concentration camp, amounts to approximately 20 billion shekels (just over $6bn) for the first year alone, according to preliminary estimates prepared by the security system and submitted to the Ministry of Finance.
The report explained that this amount includes the operation and maintenance of the city, which is supposed to accommodate about 600,000 Palestinians from the sector, and to provide education, social services, and waste collection, among other services.
According to the news outlet, the ministries of finance and defence were asked to prepare “less costly” alternatives, including reducing services or merely levelling the ground without establishing complete infrastructure, leaving residents to manage their affairs themselves, in an attempt to reduce spending.
The report indicated that the plan will be discussed tonight with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid proposals to establish the city in an area between the Morag axis and Rafah. However, the report warned that the project could be cancelled entirely if Israel agrees to withdraw from Morag as part of any potential prisoner exchange deal.
American tax payers will pay for it...
Lapid: ‘Humanitarian city’ is a bad idea
Israeli opposition politician Yair Lapid has come out against Israel’s plans to concentrate a significant percentage of the population of Gaza in Rafah.
“A bad idea from every possible perspective – security, political, economic, logistical, the [Israeli army] of course opposes it loudly; there is nothing good in it except an attempt to create a process that will ultimately leave Israel in Gaza out of no choice”, he said, according to Israeli Army Radio.
