The attack, in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, marks a significant escalation in the Middle East conflict.
Iran‘s actions have already been condemned by world leaders including Sir Keir Starmerwhile the US has said it played a role in helping ally Israel defend itself.
Image: People take cover on a Tel Aviv road side. Pic: AP
A US official said on Tuesday afternoon that an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel was “imminent” and within a few hours, shortly after 5.30pm UK time, sirens sounded across the country as rockets began to arrive overhead.
Window-shaking explosions were heard in Tel Aviv and near Jerusalem, though it was not initially clear whether the noise was from missiles landing, being intercepted by Israeli defences, or both.
Image: Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
Israelis had earlier been told to seek safety with orders to shelter sent to mobile phones and broadcast on national television. The Israeli military said all civilians were in bomb shelters as the rockets were fired.
Witnesses told Reuters they saw dozens of missiles flying over central Jordan and the country’s army appealed to its own citizens to stay in their homes for their safety.
Image: A map showing the sirens sounded across Israel as the barrage began
Jordan’s state news agency soon announced a temporary closure of its airspace, which lasted until around 7.55pm UK time, and Kuwait Airways said it was changing some of its flight routes due to the “current situation”.
Take offs and landings at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport were suspended for around an hour.
Image: People take cover on the side of the road in Shoresh, Israel. Pic: AP
Reporting close to the Israel-Lebanon border, Sky’s security and defence editor Deborah Haynes took cover as missiles flew overhead during a live broadcast.
Iran’s state TV has since claimed 90% of the missiles hit their targets while an Israeli spokesman has said officials there are so far not aware of any injuries from the attack.
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Sky team take cover near Israel-Lebanon border
Elsewhere in Tel Aviv, six people were killed by two suspects who opened fire in Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish neighbourhood in the south of the city, Israeli media reported.
Israeli police said the shooting was a suspected terror attack.
Image: Projectiles seen from southern Lebanon. Pic: Reuters
Israel and Iran exchange threats of escalation
Israel has vowed the attack will have consequences, with its prime minister leading officials who have made statements.
Mr Netanyahu said: “Iran made a major mistake tonight – and it will pay for it.”
“There is also a deliberate and murderous hand behind this attack – it comes from Tehran,” he continued. “We will stand by the rule we established: whoever attacks us – we will attack him.”
His comments came after IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari labelled the attack “extensive” and said: “There will be repercussions. We have plans.”
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Israeli PM: ‘Iran made a major mistake’
Iran has already said it will respond to any retaliation.
Its UN Mission said in a social media post that if Israel “should dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards also warned that any retaliation will spark a “more crushing and ruinous” response from Tehran, Iranian state TV reported.
Image: Some took to the streets of Tehran to celebrate following Iran’s attack. Pic: Reuters
Image: An Israeli flag being burnt during celebrations. Pic: Reuters
In a post on X, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said Mr Netanyahu “should understand that Iran is not warlike, but it will stand firmly against any threat”.
“This is only a glimpse of our capabilities,” he continued. “Do not engage in conflict with Iran.”
A senior Iranian official said its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was in a secure location.
‘It appears to be a far larger Iranian attack than in April’
Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall phoned in to explain what is going on where he is on the side of a road in Tel Aviv.
He witnessed a “huge amount of activity in the air above us” and said it was hard to distinguish between incoming missiles and ones launched by Israel to intercept.
“It appears to be a far larger attack than April,” he said.
Iran appears to have fired ballistic missiles this time, which take 10 to 12 minutes to reach Israel.
Back in April it was drones – much slower and easier to intercept.
“A lot of people” were out in the open air as the rockets were above, Bunkall said.
Some had decided to continue their journeys home, while others tried to “get to the side of the road and take some cover, whether that’s under a bridge or in a lay-by somewhere”.
US and UK react to Iranian attack
The US – which warned about Iran’s imminent attack earlier on Monday – said it helped its ally Israel to defend itself.
US Navy destroyers fired around a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles, the Pentagon said.
The White House press secretary said the president and vice president had convened two meetings with their national security team in the White House situation room and are receiving regular updates.
US officials also said they had not yet received any reports of injuries as a result of the missile strikes but stressed it was too early to rule out casualties.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Starmer – who spoke to Mr Netanyahu and the King of Jordan, Abdullah II – has condemned Iran’s actions “in the strongest possible terms”.
The prime minister later gave a statement from Downing Street saying the UK “stands with Israel” and Iran’s aggression cannot be tolerated – while reiterating his calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
“The prime minister said he will work alongside partners and do everything possible to push for de-escalation and push for a diplomatic solution,” a Downing Street spokesperson added.
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At least 59 Palestinians have reportedly been killed after the Israeli military opened fire near an aid centre in Gaza and carried out strikes across the territory.
The Red Cross, which operates a field hospital in Rafah, said 25 people were “declared dead upon arrival” and “six more died after admittance” following gunfire near an aid distribution centre in the southern Gazan city.
The humanitarian organisation added that it also received 132 patients “suffering from weapon-related injuries” after the incident.
The Red Cross said: “The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites.”
The organisation said the number of deaths marks the hospital’s “largest influx of fatalities” since it began operations in May last year.
The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.
It said in a statement: “Earlier today, several suspects were identified approaching IDF troops operating in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops, hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site.
“IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots.”
Image: Palestinians mourn a loved one following the incident near the aid centre. Pic: Reuters
Mother’s despair over shooting
Somia Alshaar told Sky News her 17-year-old son Nasir was shot dead while visiting the aid centre after she told him not to go.
She said: “He went to get us tahini so we could eat.
“He went to get flour. He told me ‘mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour’.
“He left the house and didn’t return. They told me at the hospital: your son…’Oh God, oh Lord’.”
Asked where her son was shot, she replied: “In the chest. Yes, in the chest.”
Image: Somia Alshaar, pictured with her daughter, says her son was shot dead. Pic: Reuters
‘A policy of mass murder’
Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s ministry of health, told Sky News after the incident that humanitarian aid centres in Gaza are now “centres of mass death”.
Speaking in Khan Younis, he said: “Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres… the Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. The Israeli occupation is carrying out a policy of mass murder.
“They call people to come get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive at these centres, they are killed in cold blood.
“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately.”
Israel has rejected genocide accusations and denies targeting civilians.
Image: Two boys mourn their brother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters
‘Lies being peddled’
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US and Israeli-backed group which operates the distribution centre near Rafah, said: “Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False.
“Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites.
“But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”
The Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah has recorded more than 250 fatalities and treated more than 3,400 “weapon-wounded patients” since new food distribution sites were set up in Gaza on 27 May.
Image: Palestinians inspect the wreckage after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
It comes after four children and two women were among at least 13 people who died in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli strikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the territory said.
Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not responded to a request for comment on the reported deaths.
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Israeli has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on 7 October 2023.
Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.
But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough.
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The latest fatalities in Gaza comes as a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health ministry said.
Sayafollah Musallet, also known as Saif, was killed during a confrontation between Palestinians and settlers in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said.
A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot in the chest.
Mr Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, has called on the US State Department to lead an “immediate investigation”.
A State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the incident but it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim.
The Israeli military said the confrontation broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.
As investigators continue to piece together the full picture, early findings of the Air India crash are pointing towards a critical area of concern — the aircraft’s fuel control switches.
The flight, bound for London Gatwick, crashed just moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on 12 June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board the plane and at least 19 on the ground.
According to the preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the two engine fuel control switches on the plane were moved from the “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position.
These switches control fuel flow to the engines and should only be used when the aircraft is on ground, first to start the engines before a flight and later to shut them down at the gate.
They are designed so they’re unlikely to be changed accidentally, pointing to possible human error on the Air India flight.
The findings include the final conversation between the pilots and show there was confusion in the cockpit as well.
When one pilot asked the other why he cut off the fuel, he responded to say he did not do so.
Image: The Air India plane before the crash. Pic: Takagi
Moments later, a Mayday call was made from the cockpit, but the plane could not regain power quickly enough and plummeted to the ground.
Captain Amit Singh, founder of Safety Matters Foundation, an organisation dedicated to aviation safety, told Sky News: “This exchange indicates that the engine shutdowns were uncommanded.
“However, the report does not identify the cause – whether it was crew error, mechanical malfunction, or electronic failure.”
Previous warning of ‘possible fuel switch issue’
“The Boeing 787 uses spring-loaded locking mechanisms on its fuel control switches to prevent accidental movement,” Mr Singh explained.
But a previous bulletin from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “warned that these switches might be installed with the locking feature disengaged,” he said.
This could “make them susceptible to unintended movement due to vibration, contact, or quadrant flex”, he added.
Image: The plane’s tail lodged in a building. Pic: Reuters
Speaking to Sky News, aviation expert Terry Tozner said: “The take-off was normal, the aircraft rotated at the correct speed left the ground and almost immediately, the cut-off switches were selected to off, one then two.
“But nobody has said with any clarity whether or not the latch mechanisms worked okay on this particular aircraft. So we can only assume that they were in normal working order.”
In India, there has been a backlash over the findings, with some saying the report points to pilot error without much information and almost dismisses the possibility of a mechanical or electric failure.
Indian government responds
India’s civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has been quick to respond, saying: “We care for the welfare and the wellbeing of pilots so let’s not jump to any conclusions at this stage, let us wait for the final report.
“I believe we have the most wonderful workforce of pilots and crew in the whole world.”
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India plane crash survivor carries brother’s coffin
Both pilots were experienced, with around 19,000 flying hours between them, including more than 9,000 on Boeing 787s.
The report says the aircraft maintenance checks were on schedule and that there are no signs of fuel contamination or a bird strike.
So far, no safety recommendations have been issued to Boeing or General Electric, the engine manufacturers.
Concern over destroyed flight recorder
Mr Singh said “the survivability of the flight recorders also raises concern”.
The plane’s rear flight recorder, designed to withstand impact forces of 3,400 Gs and temperatures of 1,100C for 60 minutes, “was damaged beyond recovery”.
“The Ram Air Turbine (RAT), which deploys automatically when both engines fail and power drops below a threshold, was observed as deployed in CCTV footage when the aircraft was approximately 60ft above ground level,” Mr Singh said.
“This suggests that the dual engine failure likely occurred before the official timestamp of 08:08:42 UTC, implying a possible discrepancy.”
Image: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the crash site. Pic: X/AP
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Mr Singh said it was also “of particular note” that the plane’s emergency locator transmitter (ELT) did not send any signal after the crash.
“Was the ELT damaged, unarmed, mis-wired, or malfunctioning?” he said.
The report has generated more questions than answers on topics including human error, power source failures and mechanical or electrical malfunction.
The final report is expected to take a year. Meanwhile, families grapple with the unimaginable loss of loved ones in one of the worst disasters in India’s aviation history.
Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.
The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.
Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.
Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.
In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.
“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”
In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.
Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.
“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.
“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”
Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.
He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”
Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.
The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.
The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.
In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.
However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.
As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.
Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.