Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations has vowed “we will not stop” attacks on Iran until the “nuclear threat is dismantled” and “its war machine is disarmed”.
The two countries traded angry accusations at the United Nations Security Council, as its secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could “ignite a fire no one can control”.
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon vowed: “We will not stop. Not until Iran’s nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed.”
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His Iranian counterpart Amir Saeid Iravani said Iran would continue to respond to Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear sites that Israel sees as part of a weapons programme.
But he told reporters in New Jersey on Friday that his director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, was wrong in suggesting there is no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon.
More on Iran
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0:27
Trump: US intelligence ‘wrong’ on Iran
Talks between Iranian and European ministers took place on Friday, but the US president was dismissive of the discussions.
“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one”.
But he added that he might support a ceasefire between Iran and Israel “depending on the circumstances”.
Lammy on ‘perilous moment’
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned “this is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation of this conflict”, after he and his German, French and EU counterparts met Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva.
He also referred to the role of the US in potential negotiations: “There is a… short window to find a diplomatic solution for the Iranians to… end their nuclear programme.
“We’re urging diplomacy. It’s important they get back into serious talks with the United States.”
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1:04
Lammy warns of ‘perilous moment’
Iran says attacks are ‘grave war crimes’
But the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict, did not reveal any indication of an immediate breakthrough.
Mr Araghchi described the talks as “a very serious but respectful discussion” but condemned what he called Israel’s “atrocities”, adding that “Iran will continue exercising its legitimate right of self-defence against the regime”.
“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again… once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed. In this regard, I made it clear that Iran’s defence capabilities are not negotiable,” he added.
Earlier, he called Israel’s attacks on nuclear facilities “grave war crimes”.
Jason Brodsky, policy director at the US-based pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran, told Sky News the talks in Geneva would not satisfy the US president.
He said: “It seems that the maximum that the Islamic Republic is prepared to give still does not meet the minimum that President Trump is able to accept.
“I think the Islamic Republic wants to lure the United States back into an endless negotiating process. They think they can dominate this process and manipulate President Trump.
“President Trump has made it very clear that a deadline means a deadline. And he has red lines as well. And his red lines is zero enrichment in Iran.”
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4:53
Iran ‘wants to lure US into an endless negotiating process’
Protests over Israeli strikes
On Friday, thousands of people protested in Iran’s capital Tehran after a week of Israeli strikes which have killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.
Image: Anti-Israeli protest in Tehran after Friday prayers. Pic: Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters
Israel’s military says 25 fighter jets carried out airstrikes on Friday morning targeting “missile storage and launch infrastructure components” in western Iran.
In the Israeli city of Haifa, at least 19 people were wounded by an Iranian missile barrage.
UN issues nuclear warning
Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned against attacks on Iran’s nuclear reactors.
Image: Rafael Grossi, who heads the UN nuclear watchdog, has warned about Israeli attacks on nuclear sites. Pic: Reuters
“A direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity,” said Rafael Grossi, chief of the UN nuclear watchdog.
Israel has not targeted Iran’s nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the country’s uranium enrichment sites.
Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful, although it enriches uranium up to 60%, well beyond the level required for an atomic power station and a step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the IAEA.
“We call drones our loyal friends, because they never leave us.”
Tasneem hears Israeli drones overhead, a constant fact of life in Gaza. It gets into your head, into your chest, she says.
“You can’t think, you can’t sleep. You can’t even be.”
“It’s always there, hanging above our heads, like some kind of punishment,” she says. In the background, the slow, constant buzz of a drone is audible.
“The people here in Gaza know that when the drone gets very low, at this level, something will happen. We all know what that something is… I don’t want to mention it.”
Image: Tasneem al Iwini shared voicenotes with Sky News
Tasneem al Iwini is 24. Like her peers across the world, she splits her time between work, studying for a master’s degree and spending time with her family of six.
Except she also has to deal with warplanes screaming overhead, rocketing food prices and the possibility that any day could be the last for her or her loved ones as Israel continues its war in Gaza.
To give a sense of what day-to-day life is like for her in Deir al Balah, Tasneem recorded a series of audio diary entries over the course of a week as part of her work with ActionAid and shared them exclusively with Sky News.
Image: Smoke rises over Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Day One: At least I’m still breathing
It’s incredibly hot today,Tasneem says. The kind of heat that makes your skin heavy and your thoughts slower.
I had so many things to do on my plate today, but honestly, I couldn’t move.
There’s no electricity and no fans, no air conditioner. So here I am just laying on my mattress and sweating.
My only relief is my plastic tray. I’m just using it as my personal fan…
I keep waving it back and forth, not to cool the room, but just to trick my brain into thinking I have control over this heat.
Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine I’m somewhere cold, as I actually prefer winter.
But then I hear the buzz of flies and mosquitoes in my ear and I remember this is Gaza, summer 2025. It’s exhausting, but at least I’m still breathing.
Day Two: Rocketing price of food
It’s Friday, which is a special day for us as it is the day we usually wait to cook something special. Today we are cooking maqluba (a traditional dish consisting of meat, rice and fried vegetables).
We haven’t tasted any kind of real protein like meat, chicken or fish for more than three months. I really miss chicken and fish badly.
But even this fake maqluba costs a lot, so many families can’t afford it… vegetables are very expensive.
Image: Tasneem prepares meals with what she can get. Pic: Tasneem/ActionAid
Before the war we used to cook maqluba with at least four kilos of eggplants, because we are crazy about eggplants and its taste in maqluba . Now, if we manage to cook it with only two eggplants, that’s considered a luxury.
The price of one kilo of eggplant is more than 45 shekels. That’s approximately $12.50. Talking about tomatoes, the price is more than 90 shekels, which is approximately $27 per kilo.
Here we go again. Our dear friend, the drone, Tasneem says as a buzzing noise hums in the background.
It just never leaves. It’s always there hanging above our heads like some kind of punishment.
The sound, I don’t even know how to describe it.
It’s not just noise. It gets into your head, into your chest. You can’t think, you can’t sleep, you can’t even be.
It drains something inside you slowly, and yet we live with it every day.
Later on:
Hi again. I’m just recording the gunfire. We are not sure what is happening outside, actually.
I can say that this is almost an every afternoon routine.
Image: Tasneem al Iwini speaking about conditions in Gaza
Day Four: A message to the world
Today I came across a small community kitchen, one of the very few still functioning.
Because of the current situation, especially the scarcity of food and the near-total blockade on the humanitarian aid, most of these kitchens have shut down…
Image: Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Tasneem says that just after she left the office, the community kitchen was hit in an Israeli strike.
Three youths were killed, and many children were injured.
Those children were playing around and nearby the kitchen…
This time I went to send a message to the world, with a heavy heart burdened by the challenges and the impossible conditions we live under.
I still hold on to hope that this war will end… Because honestly, here in Gaza, we have lost trust in the world, governments and every actor.
Day Five: How many children must die?
Good evening, dear friends. I don’t really know what to say. I feel like my heart is just a drain.
Yesterday I promised to take you through the rest of my day, but honestly, I came home feeling exhausted…
I bought just two cucumbers, and that cost me $8. Yes, $8 for two cucumbers.
This is what it means to say that even the basics have become impossible to get in Gaza.
I came home, washed the cucumbers and cut them into small pieces so all of us could taste what it feels like to eat cucumber.
Tomatoes are even worse. They are completely unaffordable in the market.
Image: Palestinians gather at an aid distribution centre. Pic: Reuters
And every time I think about the situation we are living through here in Gaza, I feel like I’m out of patience. I just can’t take more.
How many of us have to die before the world decides to intervene? And how many children must die, not from bombing or shelling, but from starvation and malnutrition?
Today, the telecommunications company in Gaza announced that in the next 24 hours it is expected that internet services will shut down again because of the fuel shortage and because of the occupation, who continue to block fuel from entering the Strip.
And this does not mean losing the internet only. It means patients in the ICUs will lose connection to life. It means ambulances, fridges for medications and blood, even water pumps for both drinking and domestic use will stop working.
I was planning today to come home and study for my final exams, but I just sat there for a moment thinking about our reality.
And I couldn’t, I couldn’t do anything. So instead, I decided to record this for you. This is what Gaza looks like right now.
Day Seven: The cemetery is full… and the horror of jets overhead
There are many types of weapons being used… and here in Gaza, we the people have learned to genuinely distinguish between them.
We know each sound by heart.
For example, we know the sound of the F-16 (fighter jet) very well. We can even guess when it has a target.
It has a special tone, like it’s rushing towards something. There is a tension in the air, and we feel it in our bodies.
Whenever I hear one of them, I swear I feel like this is the last moment of my life. I cover my ears with both hands and run to stay nearby my family, because in this moment my heart tells me, if something happens, let it happen to all of us together.
I know that’s not how it works, but that’s how I cope. That’s the only way I feel some false sense of control…
Sometimes it feels like the pilot is showing off, flying lower over the heads of women, children and civilians, as if to say: “Look at me. I can do this.”
Every time the jets go low, I start praying, I do everything I can as if it is the end of my life.
Image: A Palestinian boy walks amid debris after strikes in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
In another voicenote from the same day, Tasneem talked about her walk to work.
I pass by the cemetery every day. Today, I saw a situation that truly broke my heart.
There was a group of angry people gathered around the person who is responsible for digging graves.
They were shouting, saying the cemetery is completely full, and now they have started opening all the graves without knowing who is buried there and without getting any consent from the families of the dead.
They are placing new dead bodies on the top of the old ones, whether they are men, women or children.
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3:06
‘Many people here prefer death over displacement’
Most people were furious, and honestly, I was so disappointed and heartbroken when I saw this.
This is one of those things I wish I never had to witness, but I wanted to share it with you, because it says so much about how bad things have become.
‘Critical moment’ for Gaza
Tasneem works with the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza and has partnered with ActionAid in the UK.
A spokesperson for ActionAid UK said: “Humanitarian workers like Tasneem are risking their lives every day to support and advocate for their fellow Palestinians in Gaza, despite experiencing the same intolerable conditions that they are.
“Just imagine having to go to work when you haven’t had a proper meal in days, knowing that at any moment you could be killed by bombing: that is their daily reality. Yet still, people like Tasneem are bravely speaking out and telling their stories so that the world knows the truth about the horrors they are facing…
“This is a critical moment. It’s time for the world to take meaningful action and use every diplomatic lever available to bring about a permanent ceasefire and end the siege on Gaza immediately so that food and other aid can enter unhindered, rapidly and at scale.”
“We call drones our loyal friends, because they never leave us.”
Tasneem hears Israeli drones overhead, a constant fact of life in Gaza. It gets into your head, into your chest, she says.
“You can’t think, you can’t sleep. You can’t even be.”
“It’s always there, hanging above our heads, like some kind of punishment,” she says. In the background, the slow, constant buzz of a drone is audible.
“The people here in Gaza know that when the drone gets very low, at this level, something will happen. We all know what that something is… I don’t want to mention it.”
Image: Tasneem al Iwini shared voicenotes with Sky News
Tasneem al Iwini is 24. Like her peers across the world, she splits her time between work, studying for a master’s degree and spending time with her family of six.
Except she also has to deal with warplanes screaming overhead, rocketing food prices and the possibility that any day could be the last for her or her loved ones as Israel continues its war in Gaza.
To give a sense of what day-to-day life is like for her in Deir al Balah, Tasneem recorded a series of audio diary entries over the course of a week as part of her work with ActionAid and shared them exclusively with Sky News.
Image: Smoke rises over Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Day One: At least I’m still breathing
It’s incredibly hot today,Tasneem says. The kind of heat that makes your skin heavy and your thoughts slower.
I had so many things to do on my plate today, but honestly, I couldn’t move.
There’s no electricity and no fans, no air conditioner. So here I am just laying on my mattress and sweating.
My only relief is my plastic tray. I’m just using it as my personal fan…
I keep waving it back and forth, not to cool the room, but just to trick my brain into thinking I have control over this heat.
Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine I’m somewhere cold, as I actually prefer winter.
But then I hear the buzz of flies and mosquitoes in my ear and I remember this is Gaza, summer 2025. It’s exhausting, but at least I’m still breathing.
Day Two: Rocketing price of food
It’s Friday, which is a special day for us as it is the day we usually wait to cook something special. Today we are cooking maqluba (a traditional dish consisting of meat, rice and fried vegetables).
We haven’t tasted any kind of real protein like meat, chicken or fish for more than three months. I really miss chicken and fish badly.
But even this fake maqluba costs a lot, so many families can’t afford it… vegetables are very expensive.
Image: Tasneem prepares meals with what she can get. Pic: Tasneem/ActionAid
Before the war we used to cook maqluba with at least four kilos of eggplants, because we are crazy about eggplants and its taste in maqluba . Now, if we manage to cook it with only two eggplants, that’s considered a luxury.
The price of one kilo of eggplant is more than 45 shekels. That’s approximately $12.50. Talking about tomatoes, the price is more than 90 shekels, which is approximately $27 per kilo.
Here we go again. Our dear friend, the drone, Tasneem says as a buzzing noise hums in the background.
It just never leaves. It’s always there hanging above our heads like some kind of punishment.
The sound, I don’t even know how to describe it.
It’s not just noise. It gets into your head, into your chest. You can’t think, you can’t sleep, you can’t even be.
It drains something inside you slowly, and yet we live with it every day.
Later on:
Hi again. I’m just recording the gunfire. We are not sure what is happening outside, actually.
I can say that this is almost an every afternoon routine.
Image: Tasneem al Iwini speaking about conditions in Gaza
Day Four: A message to the world
Today I came across a small community kitchen, one of the very few still functioning.
Because of the current situation, especially the scarcity of food and the near-total blockade on the humanitarian aid, most of these kitchens have shut down…
Image: Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Tasneem says that just after she left the office, the community kitchen was hit in an Israeli strike.
Three youths were killed, and many children were injured.
Those children were playing around and nearby the kitchen…
This time I went to send a message to the world, with a heavy heart burdened by the challenges and the impossible conditions we live under.
I still hold on to hope that this war will end… Because honestly, here in Gaza, we have lost trust in the world, governments and every actor.
Day Five: How many children must die?
Good evening, dear friends. I don’t really know what to say. I feel like my heart is just a drain.
Yesterday I promised to take you through the rest of my day, but honestly, I came home feeling exhausted…
I bought just two cucumbers, and that cost me $8. Yes, $8 for two cucumbers.
This is what it means to say that even the basics have become impossible to get in Gaza.
I came home, washed the cucumbers and cut them into small pieces so all of us could taste what it feels like to eat cucumber.
Tomatoes are even worse. They are completely unaffordable in the market.
Image: Palestinians gather at an aid distribution centre. Pic: Reuters
And every time I think about the situation we are living through here in Gaza, I feel like I’m out of patience. I just can’t take more.
How many of us have to die before the world decides to intervene? And how many children must die, not from bombing or shelling, but from starvation and malnutrition?
Today, the telecommunications company in Gaza announced that in the next 24 hours it is expected that internet services will shut down again because of the fuel shortage and because of the occupation, who continue to block fuel from entering the Strip.
And this does not mean losing the internet only. It means patients in the ICUs will lose connection to life. It means ambulances, fridges for medications and blood, even water pumps for both drinking and domestic use will stop working.
I was planning today to come home and study for my final exams, but I just sat there for a moment thinking about our reality.
And I couldn’t, I couldn’t do anything. So instead, I decided to record this for you. This is what Gaza looks like right now.
Day Seven: The cemetery is full… and the horror of jets overhead
There are many types of weapons being used… and here in Gaza, we the people have learned to genuinely distinguish between them.
We know each sound by heart.
For example, we know the sound of the F-16 (fighter jet) very well. We can even guess when it has a target.
It has a special tone, like it’s rushing towards something. There is a tension in the air, and we feel it in our bodies.
Whenever I hear one of them, I swear I feel like this is the last moment of my life. I cover my ears with both hands and run to stay nearby my family, because in this moment my heart tells me, if something happens, let it happen to all of us together.
I know that’s not how it works, but that’s how I cope. That’s the only way I feel some false sense of control…
Sometimes it feels like the pilot is showing off, flying lower over the heads of women, children and civilians, as if to say: “Look at me. I can do this.”
Every time the jets go low, I start praying, I do everything I can as if it is the end of my life.
Image: A Palestinian boy walks amid debris after strikes in Deir al Balah. Pic: AP
In another voicenote from the same day, Tasneem talked about her walk to work.
I pass by the cemetery every day. Today, I saw a situation that truly broke my heart.
There was a group of angry people gathered around the person who is responsible for digging graves.
They were shouting, saying the cemetery is completely full, and now they have started opening all the graves without knowing who is buried there and without getting any consent from the families of the dead.
They are placing new dead bodies on the top of the old ones, whether they are men, women or children.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:06
‘Many people here prefer death over displacement’
Most people were furious, and honestly, I was so disappointed and heartbroken when I saw this.
This is one of those things I wish I never had to witness, but I wanted to share it with you, because it says so much about how bad things have become.
‘Critical moment’ for Gaza
Tasneem works with the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza and has partnered with ActionAid in the UK.
A spokesperson for ActionAid UK said: “Humanitarian workers like Tasneem are risking their lives every day to support and advocate for their fellow Palestinians in Gaza, despite experiencing the same intolerable conditions that they are.
“Just imagine having to go to work when you haven’t had a proper meal in days, knowing that at any moment you could be killed by bombing: that is their daily reality. Yet still, people like Tasneem are bravely speaking out and telling their stories so that the world knows the truth about the horrors they are facing…
“This is a critical moment. It’s time for the world to take meaningful action and use every diplomatic lever available to bring about a permanent ceasefire and end the siege on Gaza immediately so that food and other aid can enter unhindered, rapidly and at scale.”
More than 63,000 Palestinians have now reportedly been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza, a figure likely to rise after the IDF declared Gaza City a combat zone on Friday.
The number of people killed, reported by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, follows nearly 23 months of war.
Image: A mourner during the funeral of Palestinians killed while trying to receive aid. Pic: Reuters
Israel on Friday claimed the city was a Hamas stronghold and alleged that a network of tunnels remains in use despite several previous large-scale raids on the area.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee urged Palestinians to flee south, calling evacuation of the city “inevitable”.
But the head of the Red Cross warned it would be impossible to keep people safe during such a mass evacuation.
Many people in Gaza City would not be able to follow evacuation orders because they are starving, sick or injured, Mirjana Spoljaric said.
Image: Palestinians are being urged to flee Gaza City by the Israeli military. Pic: Reuters
International humanitarian law requires Israel to ensure civilians have access to shelter, safety and nutrition, when evacuation orders are issued.
“These conditions cannot currently be met in Gaza. This makes any evacuation not only unfeasible but incomprehensible under the present circumstances,” Ms Spoljaric added.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced it had targeted Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, in a strike on Gaza City, according to Israeli media.
And Mr Netanyahu later said the body of hostage Idan Shtivi was retrieved from Gaza.
Image: A Palestinian child waits to receive food from a charity kitchen. Pic: Reuters
Four people were killed by Israeli gunfire on Saturday while trying to get aid in central Gaza, according to health officials at Awda hospital, where the bodies were brought.
Their deaths join the almost 1,900 people who the UN say have been killed while seeking food since 27 May, including more than 1,000 killed in the vicinity of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites.
“Most of these killings appear to have been committed by the Israeli military,” a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Thameen Al-Kheetan said.
Israel has previously blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians at aid sites.
The conflict began with a Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which saw around 1,200 people killed and about 250 people taken hostage.