Israeli strikes intensify in Iran as casualties mount and tensions escalate

Israeli warplanes pounded Irans capital overnight and into Wednesday hitting a facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components the Israeli military said It said it intercepted ten missiles overnight as Irans retaliatory barrages diminishIsrael is carrying out blistering attacks on Irans nuclear programme and military sites that began with a surprise bombardment on Friday A Washingtonbased Iranian human rights group said at least 585 people including 239 civilians have been killed and more than 1300 woundedShops have been closed across Irans capital Tehran including in its famed Grand Bazaar as people wait in gas lines and pack roads leading out of the city to escape the onslaughtIran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliatory strikes that have killed at least 24 people in Israel and wounded hundreds Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel causing heavy damage and air raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelterIran has fired fewer missiles in each of its barrages with just a handful launched on Wednesday It has not explained the decline but it comes after Israel targeted many Iranian launchersAll eyes are on Washington where President Donald Trump initially distanced himself from the Israeli attacks but has hinted at greater US involvement saying he wants something lsquomuch biggerrsquo than a ceasefire The US has also sent more warplanes to the regionCasualties mount in IranThe Washingtonbased group Human Rights Activists said it had identified 239 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 126 as security personnelThe group which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini crosschecks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in the countryIran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimised casualties in the past Its last update issued Monday put the death toll at 224 people killed and 1277 others woundedA major explosion could be heard around five am in Tehran Wednesday morning following other explosions that boomed earlier in the predawn darkness Authorities in Iran offered no acknowledgement of the attacks which has become increasingly common as the Israeli airstrikes have intensifiedAt least one strike appeared to target Tehrans eastern neighbourhood of Hakimiyeh where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academyNo signs of backing downIsrael says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution had made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing Trump has said Israels campaign came after a 60day window he set for the talksIran long has insisted its nuclear programme was peaceful though it is the only nonnucleararmed state to enrich uranium up to 60 percent a short technical step away from weaponsgrade levels of 90 percent US intelligence agencies have said they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bombAs the conflict entered a sixth day neither side showed signs of backing downldquoWe will show the Zionists no mercyrdquo Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a post on his official X accountldquoA storm is passing over Tehranrdquo Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz posted ldquoThis is how dictatorships collapserdquoTrump demands Iranian surrenderTrump demanded lsquoUNCONDITIONAL SURRENDERrsquo in a post on social media and warned Khamenei that the US knows where he is hiding but that there were no plans to kill him at least not for nowTrump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the evolving situation over the phone on Tuesday according to a White House officialIran offered no immediate response to the presidents posts but the countrys military leaders vowed that Israel would soon see more attacksldquoThe operations carried out so far have been solely for the purpose of warning and deterrencerdquo General Abdul Rahim Mousavi the commander in chief of Irans army said in a video ldquoThe punishment operation will be carried out soonrdquoIsrael welcomes first repatriation flightsIsraelis began returning to the country on flights for the first time since the countrys international airport shut down at the start of the conflictTwo flights from Larnaca Cyprus landed at Tel Avivs Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday morning said Lisa Dvir an airport spokespersonIsrael closed its airspace to commercial flights because of the ballistic missile attacks leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad The conflict has disrupted flight patterns across the regionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever