Israel, Iran shows no signs of retreating as the conflict enters the second week
The Israeli-Iran air battle took place on Friday for the second week, with European officials trying to draw Tehran to the negotiating table after U.S. President Donald Trump said any decision on potential U.S. involvement would be made within two weeks.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying it aims to prevent its long-term enemy from developing nuclear weapons. Iran retaliated against missile and drone strikes in Israel. It said its nuclear program was peaceful.
Human rights activist news agency said the Israeli air strikes have killed 639 people. Those killed include top echelons of the army and nuclear scientists. Israel said at least twenty dozen Israeli civilians died in Iran's missile strikes. Reuters cannot independently verify the number of deaths on both sides.
According to Western and regional officials, Israel has targeted nuclear sites and missile capabilities and is trying to crush the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Are we targeting the fall of the regime? This may be the result, but it depends on the rise of the Iranian people for their own freedom,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
Iran said it targeted Israel's military and defense-related sites, although it also attacked hospitals and other civilian sites.
Israel accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians on Thursday, using clustered ammunition that disperses small bombs in wide areas. Iran did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the UN mission.
Iran's emergency services ministry said Friday that it damaged five hospitals during an Israeli strike.
With the support of the state, foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany and the head of EU foreign policy will meet with Iranian foreign ministers in Geneva in an attempt to eliminate the conflict on Friday.
“It's time to stop serious scenarios in the Middle East and prevent regional escalation,” British Foreign Minister David Lammy said ahead of a joint meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.
The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump will decide whether to authorize the U.S. to strike against Iran in the next two weeks, and he believes there is still a “great negotiating opportunity” to find the nuclear deal.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also met with Lammy on Thursday and called a separate call with his Australian, French and Italian counterparts to discuss the conflict.
The U.S. State Department said Rubio and the foreign minister agreed that “Iran will never be able to develop or obtain nuclear weapons.”
Rami said the same thing on X, while adding that the situation in the Middle East is “still dangerous” and there is now a “window” for the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution. ”
However, Alakchi told Iranian state television on Friday that Tehran would disagree with the talks when the Israeli strike continued.
The Kremlin said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both condemned Israel and agreed to the need for a downgrade.
The role of the United States remains uncertain. Sources said Trump has spoken with Araqchi several times since last week to Steve Witkoff, the region’s envoy, several times.
The White House said Trump will attend a national security meeting on Friday morning. The president alternated between threatening Tehran and urging it to resume nuclear negotiations suspended due to the conflict.
At dawn on Friday, the Israeli military issued a new warning warning of incoming missiles from Iran. At least one directly affects Bellsheba, the largest southern city in Israel, which has been targeting in recent days.
The missile attacked near residential apartments, office buildings and industrial facilities, leaving behind a huge crater and tearing off the exterior walls of at least one apartment building while damaging several other apartments.
“We had a direct strike next to one of the buildings. The losses here are very (widely widespread).
Israeli public broadcaster Kan played video showing cars engulfed in flames, smoke-dense smoke and broken windows.
Botner said at least six people were slightly injured in the explosion, and he said the first responders were still searching for apartment casualties.
Iran attacked a large hospital in Belshba, the largest city in southern Israel on Thursday. Iran said it was targeting Israeli military headquarters near the hospital, but Israel denied any such facilities in the area.
Israel's military also said it had conducted several strikes in the heart of the Iranian capital. The military said the targets include missile production sites and nuclear weapons research and development facilities.
Defense Minister Israel Katz took action against Iranian ally Hezbollah on Friday, the day after Lebanese armed groups suggested it would receive Iranian aid.
Iran's missile strikes severely damaged an Israeli hospital on Thursday, while Israel continued to bomb Iran's nuclear sites.
Trump has contemplation about the strike on Iran, which could be a “bundle nemesis” bomb that may have destroyed nuclear sites built deep underground. The White House said Trump will decide whether to participate in the war in the next two weeks.
This may not be a firm deadline. Trump usually uses “two weeks” as a time frame for making decisions and allows other economic and diplomatic deadlines to slide.
Netanyahu He said he believed Trump would “do the best thing for America.”
He said on rubble and broken glasses around the hospital: “I can tell you that they are already helping a lot.”
Since the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic has faced one of its greatest external threats, and any direct challenge to its 46-year rule may require some form of popular uprising.
But activists involved in previous protests say they are reluctant to release large-scale unrest, even against institutions they hate, their country is under attack.
“How should people pour into the streets? In such a horrible situation, people are focused only on saving themselves, their families, fellow citizens and even their pets,” said Atena Daemi, a well-known activist.
