‘This must stop now’: MSF denounces killing of staffer in Israeli bombing

The French medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has condemned the killing of a staff member during a major Israeli attack on Gaza’s southern Khan Younis.

“MSF denounces in the strongest possible terms the killing of our colleague, Hasan Suboh, on October 24 at night during Israeli military operations in Khan Younis,” it said in a statement.

The attack on Thursday killed at least 38 people, including 14 children, the Health Ministry said. “This is our eighth colleague killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023 – and the second in two weeks. Through its war on Gaza, Israel continues to show a fundamental disregard for civilian lives. This must stop now.

Suboh, 41, was married and had seven children. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones and with our colleagues in Gaza,” said MSF.

Israeli forces ‘shooting’ inside Kamal Adwan Hospital

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli soldiers have opened fire inside the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. “The occupation forces are searching the hospital and shooting inside the various departments, increasing the state of panic and anxiety,” the ministry said.

Two children died in the damaged intensive care unit after its generators stopped functioning and the oxygen station was targeted by Israeli forces, it said. Three ambulances and the solar panel electricity generation system were destroyed, “hindering relief and transportation operations”.

UN calls for the protection of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital

The United Nations demanded the protection of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza after Israeli troops attacked then stormed the facility.

“Kamal Adwan must be protected. It is the only minimally functional hospital providing trauma care in all of north Gaza,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said at a news conference.

With Israel’s ongoing siege, Haq emphasised the UN’s “deep” concern. Haq said a UN mission transferred 23 patients and some healthcare workers from Kamal Adwan to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, while providing fuel, medicine, blood and surgical supplies.

An unknown number of medical staff were wounded when Israeli soldiers targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya on Thursday, damaging life-saving equipment in the intensive care unit. The hospital’s main oxygen station was bombed, rendering it inoperable.

“The vast majority of attempts to deliver critical assistance continue to be denied or impeded,” Haq said, noting Israeli military authorities again “denied permission for the delivery of essential food and water supplies to Jabalia” refugee camp today.

WHO chief: 600 patients, medical staff ‘under siege’ at Gaza hospital

The head of the World Health Organization has given an update on the situation at the Kamal Adwan Hospital after Israeli forces attacked the facility.

“Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza is still under siege, but we managed to get in touch with the staff. Three health workers and another employee have been injured, 44 health workers have been detained and four ambulances damaged. Around 600 patients, health workers and individuals are currently sheltering in the hospital,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

“We urge for hospitals, health workers and patients to be protected. Ceasefire!”

Israel accused of ‘medicide’ as Gaza’s healthcare relentlessly attacked

Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to health, says there’s a new term coined after Israel’s yearlong war on Gaza – “medicide” – because of its repeated attacks on healthcare centres and medical workers.

“In the same way we understand the right the journalists do as human rights defenders, this genocide has shown the incredible work that doctors and other healthcare workers do in a way I don’t think we’ve seen before,” she told a news conference.

“They are the oath takers, the ones who refused to leave and evacuate, and they stayed knowing what their fate was, caring for their patients.”

Israel’s Gaza assault may amount to ‘atrocity crimes’ on civilians

Earlier, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said Israeli military action in northern Gaza may be considered “atrocity crimes” and “crimes against humanity” under international law.

According to Wadie Said, a professor of law at the University of Colorado, those comments are “legally significant”.

“He’s indicating how serious the situation has become … The fact he’s making this statement at this time shows how dangerous things have become, how dangerous the Israeli military’s actions have become,” Said told Al Jazeera.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan in May asked judges at the court to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.

But Turk’s reference to potential “crimes against humanity” brings the situation to a new level as “those are even more serious in the sense they indicate a kind of a campaign against civilians … a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population”.

‘Who’s going to live and who’s going to die’: A surgeon’s choice in Gaza

Dr Bara Zuhaili, a surgeon who worked in Gaza and was last there in July, says he can’t understand why Israel’s army keeps attacking hospitals in the Strip.

“Each hospital in Gaza has been invaded at least once, potentially a couple of times, so I cannot understand the rationale … The one reason that only comes to my mind is they’re just forcing the civilians to exit the area,” Zuhaili told Al Jazeera.

“I have been in multiple different hospitals in Gaza. I haven’t seen any military presence whatsoever from the Palestinian side,” he added.

The doctor described the severe difficulties he faced when treating Gaza’s victims.

“Every time mass casualties were coming in the ER we had very limited supplies, and me and my colleagues would look at each other and have to make a decision within split seconds – who’s going to live and who’s going to die,” he said.


_{Doctors work at the trauma ward in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza}

‘Nothing justifies the continuation of the wars’

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says “ethnic cleansing” is taking place in northern Gaza. He made the comments after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in London.

“We are at the moment now where nothing justifies the continuation of the wars. Guns have to go silent,” said Safadi. “We see ethnic cleansing taking place and that has got to stop.”

Several explosions heard in Tehran: Reports

Iran’s official Fars News Agency, managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has reported several explosions have been heard in the capital, Tehran.

Non-state media also reports that three successive explosions have been heard west of Tehran, with the cause still unknown.

CNN was prepared, immediately after the attack

Recap: Iran launched a missile attack on Israel on October 1. An Israeli response had been expected since

As reports emerge on multiple explosions in Iran, here’s a recap of the October 1 attacks from Iran on Israel.

Iran launched dozens of missiles toward Israel on October 1 in what it said was a response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others — potentially taking the region closer to a wider conflict.

Remember: Hezbollah is an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.

On October 1, CNN teams on the ground in multiple locations in Israel observed dozens of missiles piercing through the skies as sirens blasted across the country.

One Palestinian was killed in Jericho as a result of the attacks, Nadav Shoshani, the international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told CNN at the time.

Israel’s response was heavily anticipated: Israel had vowed to respond to the attack — sparking worries among its allies that the conflict in the Middle East could escalate further.

Speaking hours after the assault, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it. The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”

The US had engaged in diplomacy with Israel, urging it to stay away from attacking Iran’s oil or nuclear sites.

Some background: Israel and Iran, two regional powerhouses, have long been enemy states engaged in a decades-long shadow war.

Over the years, Israel has carried out covert operations against the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, it has also fought an indirect war against several militant and Islamist groups across the region — including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen — many of whom are believed to be funded and armed by Iran.

Together, these groups are known as the “Axis of Resistance” — but Iran’s control over them varies.

These groups have also ramped up attacks against Israel since the war in Gaza began, vowing to keep up the fight as long as Israel’s devastating war in Gaza continues. Those battles, which span the Middle East including Iraq and Syria, grow in complexity the longer they go on.

Syrian air defenses confront "hostile targets" in skies around Damascus, state media reports

Syrian air defenses have confronted “hostile targets” around Damascus, according to Syria’s state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) early on Saturday local time.

Earlier, SANA reported that explosions heard in the skies around the Syrian capital were being investigated.

US official says Israeli strikes ‘exercise in self-defence’

Here’s the full statement from National Security Council spokesman, Sean Savett:

“We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defence and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1st. We would refer you to the Israeli government for more information on their operation.”

Citing unnamed officials, a reporter with FOX News said in a post on X just moments ago that the White House was “notified a short time” before Israel launched its strikes.

US says it is not participating in Israeli strikes against Iran

The United States is not participating in the Israeli military’s operations against Iran, a senior administration official said Friday.

‘Without US support, this attack would not have been possible’

Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at the US-based think tank DAWN, says the Israeli attacks on Iran would not have been possible without the Biden administration’s “blind military and political support” for Israel.

“In the past few weeks, we saw the US moving dozens of military assets to Israel, including the THAAD [missile defence] system,” Jarrar noted.

“For me, that is the most important part about the attack: the United States’s blind support that enabled Israel to continue its belligerence around the region,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Without US support, this attack would not have been possible.”

At least seven explosions heard in Tehran: Report

A Tehran resident has told The Associated Press news agency that at least seven explosions could be heard around the Iranian capital, which rattled the surrounding area.

Israel ‘will do whatever necessary’ to ensure security: Foreign Ministry

Confirming that the Israeli military is attacking sites in Iran, Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs said the country “will do whatever is necessary to defend its state and people”.

Netanyahu and Gallant in underground bunker: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are in an underground room at the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, the Israel Hayom newspaper reports.

‘Defence activity’ caused some sounds heard in Tehran: Report

Iran’s official IRNA news agency has cited a security source as saying some of the sounds heard in the capital were caused by “defence activity in Tehran, and the air defense was successful during this incident”.

In a separate Telegram post, the news agency said there were no reports of incidents that required assistance. It added that the situation at Mehrabad International Airport and the Imam Khomeini International Airport was “normal”.

"I woke up to a distant sound of blasts," Tehran resident tells CNN

A Tehran resident told CNN she “woke up to a distant sound of blasts” in the early hours of Saturday morning local time.

Speaking to CNN anonymously due to security concerns, she said she looked through the windows of her house to check for any signs of the blasts’ aftermath but could not see anything. She also told CNN there was a heavy Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps presence in the city “all day” on Friday, but could not provide more details.

Israel’s military has confirmed it is striking “military targets” in Iran, following initial reports of explosions in the Iranian capital.


Iranian air defence firing at drones

Iranian officials say the sound of explosions in Tehran is the air defence system intervening – these are anti-aircraft systems shooting at drones. We can confirm that the majority of these are drone attacks, not missiles or aircraft.

The question is where these have been launched from, Israel or somewhere else? Because, usually, these aerial vehicles don’t have a long range. Iranian officials are not reporting any casualties. They are saying that no military target has been hit in a meaningful way.

Israel’s retaliatory attack not targeting Iran energy infrastructure, Israeli military source says

Israel’s retaliatory targets on Iran do not include energy infrastructure, an Israeli military source tells CNN.

The source said Saturday’s attack on Iran was 100% Israeli, but there continues to be “deep cooperation” with the United States, including on aerial defenses.

Earlier this month Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, assured the United States that a counterstrike on Iran will be limited to military targets rather than oil or nuclear facilities, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Extent of Israel’s attacks a major question

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft think tank, says the extent of tonight’s Israeli attacks on Iran remains a major question.

“If the attack is as extensive as the Israelis themselves claim that it is – numerous targets across the country, not just in Tehran – it dramatically increases the likelihood that the Iranians will respond,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.

“And then in the next round, the Israelis are quite likely to go after nuclear sites, and go after oil installations and economic infrastructure – and at that point, we will be inside of a regional war.”

Israeli plan to strike Iran awaited order from Prime Minister Netanyahu

Just in the last couple of minutes, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel has released a very short statement saying that the prime minister has been at the operations centre at the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv and that he was there while this strike against Iran was ongoing.

What we have also heard from Israeli media in the past hour is that the security cabinet had approved the plan for the strike against Iran and that they were, essentially, waiting for the order from the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

It seems, of course, that has happened now.


Antony Blinken cutting short Middle East trip seen as sign of ‘imminent’ attack

There was a lot of speculation that this strike was going to be imminent because US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to be in the region for, perhaps, a week.

That trip in the region did not last a week. It only lasted a few days. Then he went on to London where he met with several Arab leaders to discuss the situation in the region.

The fact that he left earlier than had been anticipated – and the fact that we know the US has been discussing so often with Israel the scope of this potential attack against Iran – there was a lot of speculation in the media that perhaps this strike could be happening much sooner rather than later.

Israeli military launches ‘second wave’ of Iran attacks: Report

Israel’s News 12 channel reports that the “second wave” of Israel’s attack on Iran has started, citing explosions in Iran’s south-central Shiraz city.

The news channel gave no further details and there was no official confirmation.

No IRGC military bases west, southwest of Tehran targeted: Report

Iran’s Tasnim news agency says no explosions have been reported so far on IRGC military centres in the west or southwest of Tehran.

“The sounds heard were related to the involvement of the army’s air defence in three places around Tehran” in response to Israel’s attack, the report said, citing sources. Additional information about the reason behind the sound of several explosions “will be announced later”, it added.

It came after the Fars news agency said several military bases in the west and southwest of the Iranian capital had been targeted in the Israeli attack, according to an initial investigation.

Iranian capital ‘functioning as normal’, says professor

Foad Izadi, an associate professor of world studies at Tehran University, has spoken to Al Jazeera from the Iranian capital.

He said the city is “very quiet now”.

“It’s about four in the morning in Tehran, and we we don’t see any anything happening outside, or any activities or movements,” he said.

“So the city is functioning as normal, and if we had any attacks, I think they weren’t that big.”


Iran closes its airspace

Iran has closed its airspace, according to an official notice issued by its civil aviation authority. The airspace will be closed until Saturday 9:00 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), according to the notice.

Earlier on Saturday morning, around the time of the strikes, CNN observed four civilian planes begin flying away from the Iranian capital of Tehran on the flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

 

US, Israeli media reporting attacks to last several hours

Doron Kadosh, a reporter with Israel’s army radio, has cited an unnamed source who said the Israeli attacks “are expected to continue for several more hours”.

Israel is preparing for more attacks, as well as for defensive measures in case of a possible Iranian response, Kadosh said.

Citing an unnamed source briefed on Israel’s military planning, The Washington Post also reported that the Israeli “target list contains military assets, particularly missile manufacturing facilities and aerial defense sites”.

Footage shows Iranian air defences intercepting missiles over Tehran

The state-run IRNA news agency has said Iranian air defences have “successfully shot down adversarial targets in the airspace around Tehran province”.

Footage shared online captured what appeared to be interceptions over the Iranian capital.

Israel wants war, but not ready for ‘a major war’ with Iran: Analyst

Foad Izadi, associate professor at Tehran University, has told Al Jazeera that Iranian analysts believe that Israel is not yet ready for a full-scale war with Iran.

“I think the Israelis are planning a major war against Iran, but not at this time,” Izadi said.

“Remember that happened to Lebanon. The Israelis attacked Lebanon after one year of preparation. They started a genocide in Gaza. They continued with that, and then after 11 months of starting the genocide in Gaza they started to attack Lebanon,” he said.

“They decided to postpone that because they needed time to plan that attack. The analysis in Iran is that the Israelis are not ready for a major military confrontation with Iran at this time,” he added.

“They may do it after one year or two years. I think the Israelis want to be in perpetual war, continuous war.”

Iran ‘ready to respond’ to Israeli aggression: Report

Iran is “ready to respond” to Israel’s attacks on the country, reports the semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing “informed sources”.

The agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reports the sources as saying there is “no doubt” Israel will “receive a proportionate response to any action”.

Tehran residents to start working week shortly

Just a reminder that the sun is due to rise in about half an hour in the Iranian capital. Saturday is the first day of the working week in Iran and residents of the capital and across the country will soon start to go to their jobs.

Daylight is expected to bring more clarity as questions over the scale of the attack, casualties and targets remain.

Iraq closes airspace, citing security concerns

Iraq has closed its airspace, citing security concerns, according to an official notice issued by its civil aviation authority. The closure, according to the notice, is set to expire at 11:00 a.m. local time on Saturday (4 a.m. ET).

It follows a similar decision by neighboring Iran’s civil aviation authority.

Air defenses engaged near Tehran, state media reports

Iranian officials said blasts heard around the country early on Saturday were related to air defenses deployed “in several areas around Tehran and the country,” state news agency IRNA reported.

Several explosions were heard west of Tehran around 2:15 a.m. local time (about 7 p.m. ET Friday), according to IRNA.

The agency said the situation in the capital remained “normal” despite the explosions.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency earlier reported that several explosions were heard west of the Iranian capital.

Several explosions were also heard in Tehran on Saturday morning local time, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Israeli military’s attacks on Iran have finished: Report

The Israeli military’s attacks on Iran ended at about 5am local time (02:30 GMT), after hitting roughly 20 sites over the course of several hours, two Israeli officials have told The New York Times on condition of anonymity.

Israeli military confirms strikes against Iran are over

The Israeli military said it has completed “precise and targeted” airstrikes on military targets in Iran.

“The retaliatory strike has been completed and the mission was fulfilled,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Our planes have safely returned home.”

The Israeli Air Force struck “missile manufacturing facilities” that it said were used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at Israel over the last year. It also said the Israeli military struck “surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aerial capabilities, that were intended to restrict Israel’s aerial freedom of operation in Iran.”

Netanyahu conducts "security situation assessment" from Kirya military base

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a “security situation assessment” from the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, according to the prime minister’s office.

Those in attendance include Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and the heads of its intelligence agencies Mossad and Shin Bet, the statement said.

Netanyahu was in a bunker in the military base early Saturday (local time) during the attack in Iran, his office said earlier.

US Defense Secretary Austin emphasizes "enhanced force posture" to defend Israel in call with Israeli counterpart

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant spoke Friday about Israel’s strikes on Iranian military targets. Austin “emphasized the enhanced force posture” of US troops to defend US personnel and Israel, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Friday evening.

“Secretary Austin reaffirmed the ironclad commitment of the United States to Israel’s security and right to self-defense,” Ryder said. “The Secretary emphasized the enhanced force posture of the United States to defend US personnel, Israel, and partners across the region in the face of threats from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organizations and the US determination to prevent any actor from exploiting tensions or expanding the conflict in the region.”

Israel’s assault on Gaza and Lebanon continues amid Iran attacks

The Israeli military’s attacks on several Iranian sites in recent hours come as it continues it deadly bombardments of Gaza and Lebanon.

At least 88 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Friday, including 38 people – 14 children among them – in a strike on a residential building in Khan Younis in the south of the territory.

In Lebanon, the country’s Health Ministry said on Friday the death toll from Israeli attacks since October 2023 has surged to 2,634 in recent weeks as a result of its escalating assault on the country.

At least 41 people were killed and 133 wounded in Israeli attacks in the latest 24 hour period, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Friday.

Iran says Israeli attacks intercepted, causing "limited damage"

Iran said Israel attacked military facilities across the country Saturday morning, causing “limited damage” in some areas.

Israel “attacked parts of military centers in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam,” state news agency IRNA reported, adding that “the attack has been successfully intercepted and countered” by Iran’s “integrated air defense system.”

Iranian officials earlier said air defenses were deployed “in several areas around Tehran and the country,” according to IRNA.


Iranian military says Israeli strikes targeted bases in three provinces

Iran’s military has confirmed that Israeli strikes on the country targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, causing “limited damage.” The statement from Iran’s armed forces was read aloud on state television, which showed no images from the sites of the attacks.

Iran’s military claimed its air defences limited the damage inflicted by Israel’s strikes.