π️Lonny's War Update- October 624, 2023 - June 21, 2025 π️
“The chance of seeing Tamir is slipping away”: the mother of the abducted soldier fears the hostages will be forgotten
Herut Nimrodi is waiting for progress that will bring her son Tamir home • “I’m not dealing with accusations,” she describes, “the voices of the hostages cry out to us from the ground” • against the backdrop of the war with Iran, Herut fears: “the hostage issue has dropped from the headlines” • meanwhile at home, at every siren the family enters the safe room – Tamir’s room: “you can’t help but think he’s with us in those moments”The campaign against Iran began against the backdrop of the war being waged in the Gaza Strip – while 53 hostages are being held by Hamas. Herut Nimrodi, mother of the abducted soldier Tamir Nimrodi, shared in a conversation with N12 about the dual difficulty of war in Gaza and against Iran.
“Where were the failures back then? That’s a good question,” she said. “In the specific situation I’m in right now, I’m dealing a little less with accusations and anger. I need to preserve my strength for the fight to bring my child home.”
Herut Nimrodi, mother of Tamir (Photo: Channel 12 News)The war against Iran began while IDF forces are still maneuvering in Gaza. “We are all as a country currently in some fear, a real existential threat,” Herut described. “The feeling that Tamir is there, and I don’t know his condition, makes it even harder. There are live hostages whose voices cry out to us from the ground, and we can’t do anything more right now to intensify the struggle to save them. The feeling is that you’re screaming into empty space and you have no voice. No one hears you at the moment.”
Herut admitted: “This week I felt that the chance to see Tamir is moving further away from me, as the hostage subject drops from the headlines, and we open a new front we don’t know where it will take us. We don’t know how it will affect Hamas, and the biggest fear is that the chance to see Tamir slips away.”
She added: “Some will say this campaign could affect the Gaza campaign as well, but we know what it means. Every hour, every moment could be the hostages’ last moment.”
“When there’s a siren — we all go to Tamir’s room”
“Our safe room is Tamir’s room,” Hirut described. “And since October 7 my youngest daughter sleeps in Tamir’s bed, both because it’s the safe room and because that way she feels close to her brother. At the moment there’s a siren, we all enter Tamir’s room.”Tamir Nimrodi at home (Photo: Courtesy of the family)And against the backdrop of the sirens, the period reminds Hirut of Operation Protective Edge: “It immediately takes me back there, to the time when Tamir was with us in the safe room when there were rocket attacks on the central region. I even have a picture of him sitting on the bed watching the news on TV. You can’t help but think maybe Tamir is with us in those moments we’re in his room, near his things, sitting and hearing the rockets outside.”
“I wonder, if I from the Sharon region hear the blasts from Gaza, what goes through the mind of someone down there under the ground?” she said. “Doesn’t he feel like every moment could be his last? When I’m with my daughters in the safe room there are explosions so loud that you feel maybe the rocket will hit the house any moment and you’ll lose what little you have – the children, the home, yourself. And if Tamir returns, why does he return? These are a lot of questions that come up in my mind at that moment in the safe room.”
“Our army is an amazing army,” Herut shared. “It’s our army: our children served there, we served there, our parents served there. It is the army Tamir serves in and which is responsible for his abduction on the one hand, and on the other hand is also the army that achieved such great success in Iran this week.” link I feel like a broken record but we all must continue to be broken records. The most pressing issue in Israel today is the hostages, not Iran. The soul and heart of the country are at stake. This isn't a political issue, which our politicians have tried to make it. We are numb, still from October 7. It affects all of us in some way and the fact that we still have 53 hostages rotting in Gaza is an open wound that is festering and will never heal until they are all brought back home.
The government abandoned us all on October 7 because they abandoned us many years before. We can never feel safe and secure again until our hostages are brought home. What mother or father will ever feel comfortable sending their child to the army if the government is willing to let them be kidnapped, raped, tortured, killed, kept in captivity and do almost nothing to bring them home? We are a people's army with great motivation because we always felt that our country, our people and our government cares about every single one of us and will never leave anyone behind. Ron Arad was supposed to be the exception to this basic unwritten contract between the government and every single citizen of the country, but Ron Arad has turned into an example of what a government does when it is first and foremost interested in its own survival and partisan interests above all else.- Avrum Burg’s Substack
π️Day 624 that 53 of our hostages are still in Hamas captivityπ️
**There is nothing more important than getting them home! NOTHING!**
“I’ve never met them,But I miss them. I’ve never met them,but I think of them every second. I’ve never met them,but they are my family. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!”
We’re waiting for you, all of you.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
A deal is the only way to bring
all the hostages home- the murdered for burial and the living for rehabilitation.
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
#BringThemHomeNow #TurnTheHorrorIntoHope
There is no victory until all of the hostages are home!ΧΧΧ Χ Χ¦ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ Χ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ€ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ
So I won't be repeating myself, I recommend reading my blog in The Times of Israel about why we are now fighting this war with Iran
link to my blog
Red Alerts - Missile, Rocket, Drone (UAV - unmanned aerial vehicles), and Terror Attacks and Death Announcements
*3:40pm yesterday - country wide alert - tens of ballistic missiles from Iran - from the Negev to the northern borders - about 25 missiles- impact in Beersheva, Gush Dan, Jerusalem mountains and direct impact in Haifa with at least 2 seriously injured
large shrapnel from the missile attack
Building in Haifa impacted by shrapnel from the missile or the interceptor setting off a fire
*11:45 pm yesterday- no alert sounded, drone intrusion closing in on Haifa Bay was intercepted Video
Building in Haifa impacted by shrapnel from the missile or the interceptor setting off a fire
*11:45 pm yesterday- no alert sounded, drone intrusion closing in on Haifa Bay was intercepted Video
*4:55am - north - drone intrusion
*7:00am -north - drone intrusion
*8:10am - north -drone intrusion
*8:45am- north - drone intrusion
*10:15am - south - drone intrusion - Arava
*10:40am north -drone intrusion- direct hit of drone on 2 story building in Beit Shean, no injuries - This is the first Iranian drone since the direct war with Iran began that was a direct hit with damages
*10:50am - south - drone intrusion - Arava - drone impact - in open space at Kibbutz Yotvata. video
*11:15am - north - drone intrusion
*11:30am - south - drone intrusion - Eilat
A Public Letter
To the Members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate,
Avrum Burg
Jun 20, 2025
Dear Members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate,
I write to you today as a public figure and an Israeli citizen, out of deep concern for the destructive influence Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to exert—on the future of the Middle East, on American foreign policy, and on the stability of the world at large.
For more than two decades, Netanyahu has demonstrated time and again that he is one of the most dangerous strategists in modern geopolitics—and without a doubt, the most failed statesman in Israel’s history. His decisions, and his persistent efforts to export his ideology to Washington, have inflicted profound harm: on Israel, on the region, and on vital American interests.
The record speaks for itself.
In September 2002, prior to the Iraq War, Netanyahu appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Speaking of Saddam Hussein, he declared: “If you take out Saddam, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region... There is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking and is working and is advancing toward the development of nuclear weapons. There is no question.” Every American lawmaker knows what followed. That “guarantee” ushered in a catastrophic war that claimed countless lives, cost trillions of dollars, and damaged America’s global standing in ways that reverberate to this day.
But Netanyahu did not learn. He repeated the very same manipulative maneuver in March 2015, again addressing Congress—this time to sabotage the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. In 2018, he succeeded in pressuring the U.S. to withdraw from that deal. The result? Iran is now closer than ever to nuclear breakout; the U.S. is entangled in yet another avoidable regional crisis; Israel is caught in a war of its own making; moderate Arab states face escalating threats; and American assets across the region are increasingly vulnerable.
In October 2023, we witnessed the lethal consequences of Netanyahu’s poisonous doctrine. For years, he deliberately strengthened Hamas as a tactical counterweight to the Palestinian Authority, funneling resources and legitimacy to the most extreme elements while systematically weakening moderate forces. This short-sighted strategy culminated in the catastrophe of October 7.
As if all this were not enough, Netanyahu has also politicized the once-sacred bond between the U.S. and Israel. For decades, Israel enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington. Netanyahu, through crude interference in American elections and cynical alliances with partisan actors, has turned that relationship into a wedge issue—as if the United States were not a sovereign ally, but a subordinate arena for his personal political theater.
He acts as though he were an American official himself, arrogating to himself the right to intervene in domestic debates and dictate American foreign policy—as if he held veto power over the decisions of your sovereign democracy. As an Israeli citizen, I find this behavior outrageous. I trust you do too.
Let me be clear: Netanyahu does not represent the best interests of the Israeli people. He is not a reliable partner for a responsible U.S. foreign policy. I urge you—and your colleagues—to exercise your own judgment, to listen to a broader chorus of Israeli voices, and to stop treating one man’s destructive instincts as if they were national destiny.
Just as the Western world now rightly distinguishes between the Iranian people and the regime that oppresses them, so too must it differentiate between the people of Israel and the political self-interest of one man and his family. Netanyahu’s agenda stands in direct and dangerous opposition to the true interests of both our nations.
Don’t be misled by fleeting military victories. The Middle East is never that simple. The cycles of triumphalism and hubris always give way to protracted entanglement, grief, and despair.
Let us, instead, recall the prophetic verses of Bob Dylan:
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friends, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer my friends is In the true American and Israeli spirit.
If the genuine interests of the United States are your compass - and if, within that compass, you hold a sincere concern for Israel’s future - then I implore you to do precisely the opposite of what Netanyahu demands:
- Rejoin and revive the nuclear deal with Iran.
- Advance a regional normalization framework centered on Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
- Do everything possible to end the war in Gaza and bring the hostages home.
- And most importantly: work toward a just and enduring peace agreement that honors the national aspirations of both peoples living between the Jordan River and the sea; Israeli and Palestinian alike.
A secure and democratic Israel is a stronger ally to the United States. Netanyahu’s Israel is an embarrassing burden - a tightening noose around both our necks.
Thank you for your time and attention.
With respect,
Avraham (Avrum) Burg
Israeli Citizen. link Avrum Burg is a former Member of Knesset and Speaker of the Knesset
IDF indicates that it’s not running low on missile interceptors, contrary to reports
Contrary to multiple reports in US media, the Israeli military is not running low on air defense interceptors amid its conflict with Iran, the IDF has indicated.
The IDF has said it is “prepared and ready to handle any scenario,” but officially has declined to comment on specific munitions matters.
Military officials have told The Times of Israel that the operation in Iran was planned months in advance, and the planning took into account Iran’s stock of ballistic missiles and drones that it could fire at Israel.
Taking Iran’s stockpile into account means the IDF prepared ahead of time with enough interceptors to handle the threat.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said this evening that “we launched the campaign when Iran possessed around 2,500 surface-to-surface missiles.”
Additionally, the IDF is actually running through fewer interceptors than it anticipated at this point in the operation.
The IDF estimated that Iran would fire several hundred ballistic missiles at Israel in its initial response. In reality, it mustered just 100.
In all, some 470 ballistic missiles have been fired from Iran at Israel in the past week, below the IDF’s “reference scenario” for the operation.
Most of the Iranian missiles fired at Israel in recent days have been intercepted, at similar rates to Iran’s attacks in 2024, according to the IDF.
Military officials said 5-10 percent of the missiles “leak” through and impact Israel. This includes missiles that the IDF says it does not try to shoot down “according to protocol,” allowing them to strike open areas without causing damage to any critical infrastructure, as well as missiles it failed to intercept which hit urban areas and caused casualties and damage.
The military has routinely emphasized that, as good as Israel’s multilayered air defenses are, they are not hermetic.
- GHF says it distributed 31,680 boxes of food at three sites today
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it distributed 31,680 boxes of food at three different sites in Rafah, Khan Younis and central Gaza.
GHF says its boxes contain enough food for 5.5 people for 3.5 days, but the contents are dry food products that need to be prepared elsewhere in war-ravaged Gaza, where community kitchens and cooking supplies are limited.
The food distributed at GHF sites today amounted to 33 truckloads — far below the 300 trucks per day that the World Food Program says is needed to properly feed Gazans.
- Israeli security establishment said to realize Iran campaign will take longer than initially thoughtChannel 12 reports that Israel’s security establishment has come to the realization that the military campaign against Iran will take longer than thought just days ago. link. This is not surprising especially with this prime minister and this government. Netanyahu knows how to get us into wars, but has no idea how to end them. To end them, there needs to be a strategic plan, both military and diplomatic. Netanyahu works only on tactics and nothing on a diplomatic end to a war. This is why we have been fighting the same war for some many years, but with different names.
- Shockwaves from Iran missile damage Haifa mosque
Shockwaves from an Iranian missile that hit the downtown area of the northern city of Haifa on Friday have knocked out stained glass windows and caused infrastructure damage at the Al Jarina Grand Mosque, built in 1775 and extended in 1901.
The low, thick-walled stone building near Haifa’s port usually attracts up to 200 people on Fridays, but just 15 turned up today because of a Home Front prohibition on large gatherings, according to Wakf representative Khaled Dagash.
He said prayers had ended by the time the missile fell, and nobody was left in the building.
One person whose identity he didn’t know was lightly injured outside, he said.
The building was undergoing renovation, said Dagash, adding that he feared government compensation would not be enough to repair the damage.
Windows were also blown out at the even older Masjid Al-Saghir, built in 1761. No other damage was visible from the cordon outside.
President Isaac Herzog says Iran is trying “to kill Israelis of all faiths — Muslims included” — and asserts that Israel “will defend all Israelis. All faiths included.”
55 injured in direct hit in Haifa, teenage boy seriously hurt: “Two strategic points were hit”
A 16-year-old was hit by shrapnel in his upper body, two others were moderately injured, and the rest are in light condition. Magen David Adom teams evacuated them to hospitals while continuing searches at the scene: “Enormous destruction in the building whose adjacent parking lot was hit by the missile, and in nearby buildings.” Also: documentation from the barrage across the country
A barrage of 23 missiles from Iran was fired this afternoon (Friday) toward wide areas in Israel, from north to south. In the direct hit in Haifa, 55 people were injured: the condition of a 16-year-old boy is defined as serious, two others were moderately injured, the rest are in light condition. MDA teams evacuated them to Rambam and Bnai Zion hospitals in the city; ten injured arrived on their own at Poriya Hospital. video
Haifa mayor Yona Yahav said following the shooting that “two strategic points in the city were hit by the Iranians,” adding that “the destruction is great, but so is the miracle,” and urged residents to continue following directives.
Destruction and damage at the scene of the crash in Haifa (Photo: Elad Gershgoran)As a result of the missile impact, high-rise buildings, offices, and commercial shops in Haifa were damaged. Arza Geller, the MDA’s Carmel district manager, said: “We treated three people in critical condition, the rest in light condition. They were on the street and sought shelter; this was not proper protection. This emphasizes the importance of reaching a protected space. There is great destruction here—fragmented walls and glass.”
District Commander of the Coastal Region, Commissioner Yechiel Bohadana, came to the impact site and said that most of the injured in the barrage were not in protected spaces, and called on everyone to do so during alerts: “If people had obeyed instructions and entered protected areas, we would have had fewer injured.”
Emergency medical technician Ariel Danilovski of MDA said: “When I arrived at the street I saw great destruction in the building whose nearby parking was hit by the missile, and in adjacent buildings. Several injured were in the street while conscious and suffering from bleeding shrapnel wounds.”
Paramedic Ahmad Zeidan said that he was in his home’s protected space during the alert, and after a few minutes heard a strong noise and felt the blast: “When I left the protected space I saw that the windows of my house were broken and many glasses shattered. I reported to 101 about the event and went out to the scene a few dozen meters away from me, with the ambulance I am assigned to as an MDA responder.“I saw thick smoke and great destruction in the building whose adjacent parking was hit by the missile. A 16-year-old boy and a man in his 50s were walking in the area suffering from shrapnel and blast wounds. I started medical treatment and simultaneously with the arrival of more MDA forces to the scene, I urgently evacuated the two seriously injured to the hospital.”
In the south: damage to houses in Be'er Sheva, a fire broke out
In the southern city several impact sites of interception debris were identified, and significant damage to two houses in the area was reported, with no injuries. Fire & Rescue teams reported that Southern district crews are present at the sites. A fire broke out in one of the locations and is being handled. Their announcement requested that the public avoid gathering and blocking roads near the impact areas.
Inbar Zelig Yitzhak, whose home was damaged in the city, told Ynet: “We were preparing to drive to my husband's parents for Friday dinner, the alert caught us on the way. We were in a nearby neighborhood and entered a public shelter. Neighbors said there was an impact here, and we returned.” Inbar and her partner run a local bar called “Giza” near their home.
Another impact site in the south
Scene of impact in Be'er Sheva
“Two homes were significantly damaged.” Be'er ShevaDamage in Judea & Samaria (photo: Fire & Rescue spokesperson)Interceptions over Hebron skies (photo: REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma)Falling shrapnel in the south---"Following the missile barrage from Iran there are interception debris impacts in several places in the area,” said a southern settlement. “As a result of the impacts, there is also significant damage to two houses that were severely hit. No residents in the damaged houses were injured. Security forces are on-site assisting in handling the various impact sites.” link
Woman dies of cardiac arrest during Iranian missile barrage
A 51-year-old woman collapsed and died in a bomb shelter in Carmiel during Friday’s midday air raid sirens triggered by a barrage of 23 missiles launched from Iran. According to Magen David Adom (MDA), the woman suffered cardiac arrest. Despite prolonged resuscitation efforts, emergency teams were forced to pronounce her dead.- IRGC Quds Force official in charge of supplying weapons to proxies killed in Israeli strike
Behnam Shahriyari, a senior IRGC Quds Force official, was killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in western Iran, the military says.
Shahriyari headed the Quds Force’s Unit 190, responsible for the clandestine transfer of weapons to Iran’s proxy groups, especially Hezbollah.
The IDF says he was targeted in a strike while driving in a car, more than 1,000 kilometers from Israel.
Israel has been seeking to target Shahriyari since 2009.
Unit 190 has been in charge of Iran’s efforts to arm Hezbollah in Lebanon, Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen.
“As part of his role, Shahriyari was responsible for all transfers of weaponry from the Iranian regime to its proxies across the Middle East and worked for years to arm various terror organizations in order to directly advance the Iranian regime’s plan of destroying the State of Israel,” the IDF says.
“Shahriyari worked directly with the Hezbollah and Hamas terror organizations, as well as with the Houthi regime and other groups, thereby supplying numerous missiles and rockets that were fired at Israeli territory during the war,” the statement continues.
In addition to weapons, the IDF says Shahriyari “oversaw the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars annually to terror organizations through his unique connections in Turkey and Lebanon, using a network of front companies, currency exchanges, and money couriers.”
The military says his killing is a “severe blow to the ability of the terror organizations surrounding the State of Israel to rearm after having suffered heavy losses at the hands of the IDF during the war.”
- IDF confirms overnight strike in Iran killed IRGC Palestinian Division chief, says he was Oct. 7 architect
Saeed Izadi, head of the Palestinian Division in the IRGC Quds Force, in an overnight airstrike in the Iranian city of Qom, in an image posted June 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)The IDF confirms killing Saeed Izadi, head of the Palestinian Division in the IRGC Quds Force, in an overnight airstrike in the Iranian city of Qom.
“Izadi was eliminated in a safe house in the heart of Iran, following a prolonged intelligence effort,” the IDF says.
The IDF says Izadi was responsible for “military coordination between senior commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian regime, and key figures in the Hamas terror organization,” especially ahead of the October 7 onslaught and during the war.
“Izadi facilitated increased financial support from Iran to Hamas for terror activities against the State of Israel and maintained direct contact with Palestinian terror organizations,” both in Gaza and the West Bank, the army says.
Izadi was “one of the architects” of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, “and among the few who knew of it prior to its execution,” the IDF says.
“During the war, he was responsible for directing Hamas forces in Lebanon… [and] he made it his mission to rebuild Hamas’s military wing and ensure the group remained the ruling power in Gaza,” the statement continues.
According to the IDF, Izadi was “one of the founders and leading figures behind the Iranian regime’s plan to destroy Israel.”
The plan, according to the IDF, “aimed to launch a multi-front attack on Israel in two phases.”
“First, a missile and rocket barrage by the regime and its proxies across the Middle East. Second, a mass invasion of Israeli territory by tens of thousands of terrorists from Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, and Judea and Samaria (West Bank).”
- IDF confirms Iranian drone hit northern city, other one downed over Golan Heights
The IDF confirms a drone launched from Iran struck a home in the northern city of Beit She’an, in the first such case since the conflict began.
Attempts were made to shoot down the drone, apparently a Shahed-136 model, but they were unsuccessful.
Additionally, the IDF says it shot down one drone over the Golan Heights a short while ago and attempted to intercept another. The results of the second interception are still under review.
A drone infiltration siren in the Upper Galilee was a false alarm, and sirens in Eilat and the southern Negev area are still being looked into, the IDF adds.
There was a drone impact in Kibbutz Yotvata in the Arava and drone alerts in the Rotem and Dimona area which is the area of our Nuclear plant (and assumed nuclear weapons), which is an obvious target for Iran - 'Tanks under the hospital': Iran uses fake simulation to justify strike on Israeli medical centerTehran denies targeting Soroka—southern Israel's main medical complex—framing the strike as a legitimate attack on an alleged nearby military intelligence hub and underground tank storage to vindicate its actions
In the hours following the missile strike that caused significant damage at Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva on Thursday, Iranian media issued statements framing the attack as a deliberate strike on an IDF installation rather than a hospital. Iran’s state news agency IRNA claimed the primary target was “the Israeli army’s intelligence and command center” located in the Gev-Yam Negev Advanced Technologies Park near the hospital.According to the report, the facility housed thousands of military personnel, cyber and digital command systems and IDF control infrastructure. IRNA added that the hospital was damaged only by the blast wave and was not directly targeted.Iranian outlets rejected reports of a direct hit on the hospital as “Israeli manipulation,” suggesting Jerusalem was attempting to deflect attention from damage inflicted on what Tehran described as a legitimate military target. Iran's Fake Video of military base under Soroka Hospital - Senior Iranian official to CNN: 'We changed our missile policy - replaced quantity with quality' A senior Iranian official spoke with American network CNN and denied claims that the decrease in the number of missile launches toward Israel is due to a reduction in missile stockpiles. "Iran has changed its missile policy and replaced quantity with quality," he said. "Instead of firing many missiles, Iran is using more advanced precision missiles against sensitive military and security centers." The official added: "We saw that we launched a missile and it easily passed through all defense systems. Israel should not be happy about the decrease in the number of missiles fired."
- 40 Iranian drones fired at Israel downed since last night, IDF says
Since last night, the Israeli air force has shot down 40 Iranian drones launched at Israel, the military says.
One of the drones this morning hit a home in Beit She’an, while another struck an open area near a highway in the south.
Overnight, the IDF reported striking an Iranian truck-mounted drone launcher.
The military says that, excluding the attacks today, it has intercepted 470 drones launched at Israel since June 13, which it says represents a 99% interception rate of drones that posed a threat.
Iran has launched more than 1,000 drones at Israel since June 13, according to the IDF, though many have fallen short or were intercepted by other countries, such as Jordan video
Gaza faces a man-made drought as water systems collapse, UNICEF says
Gaza is facing a man-made drought as its water systems collapse, the United Nations’ children’s agency says.
“Children will begin to die of thirst … Just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder tells reporters in Geneva.- Hamas health officials say Israeli strikes kill 44; IDF says it targeted terrorists but aware others hit
A Palestinian woman reacts while looking at the body of her relative who was killed in an Israeli military strike on Gaza, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)Israeli fire killed at least 44 Palestinians in Gaza today, many of whom had been trying to get food, local officials say.
At least 25 people awaiting aid trucks were killed by Israeli fire south of Netzarim in central Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run local health authority says.
Asked by Reuters about the incident, the Israel Defense Force says its troops had fired warning shots at suspected militants who advanced in a crowd toward them.
An Israeli aircraft then “struck and eliminated the suspects,” it says in a statement, adding that it was aware of others being hurt in the incident and was conducting a review.
A Palestinian boy carries a pot with food collected at a charity kitchen providing hot meals in Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City on June 18, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)Separately, Gazan medics said at least 19 others were killed in other Israeli military strikes across the enclave, including 12 people in a house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, taking Friday’s total death toll to at least 44.
Gaza and the South
IDF carries out a series of strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
The IDF struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as a warning to the terror group not to join the attacks against Israel; IDF chief Eyal Zamir says 'the Iranians forced us to strike and deliver a preemptive blow; Report of an attack near Bushehr airport in Iran
The IDF carried out a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Friday, including military sites housing rocket and missile launchers as well as weapons depots.The strikes come amid the backdrop of three targeted killings carried out by the IDF in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours. These operations were intended both to enforce the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah and to serve as a warning to the terror group not to join Iran in its attacks against Israel.IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Friday that Israel "launched this campaign to remove a threat of such magnitude, and against such an enemy, we must be prepared for a prolonged operation."The Iranian regime has spent years cultivating and building a wide 'ring of fire,' and now it is being turned against it—on its own soil. The accumulation of threats, from the nuclear program to advanced missile and rocket capabilities, compelled us to strike and deliver a 'preemptive blow.' The IDF will not stand by in the face of growing threats. On the contrary, as part of an emerging doctrine, we will act proactively and ahead of time to prevent existential threats and confront any challenge."A barrage of 23 missiles from Iran was launched Friday afternoon toward wide areas of Israel, from north to south. A direct hit in Haifa injured 30 people: two, including a 16-year-old boy, were seriously wounded; two others were moderately injured; the rest sustained mild injuries. Magen David Adom teams evacuated the casualties to Rambam and Bnei Zion hospitals in the city.Magen David Adom teams (MDA), dispatched to the impact site in Haifa, evacuated a 16-year-old boy and two men who were seriously wounded by a missile fired from Iran to Rambam and Bnei Zion hospitals in the city. MDA also reported treating 14 others with mild injuries, most suffering from blast trauma.In addition, three impact sites were reported in the Shfaram area, where two people were lightly injured.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that "Iran is under attack by an entity that has committed genocide in Palestine for the past two years and occupies neighboring countries."An Iranian ballistic missile on Friday hit Haifa, with Magen David Adom (MDA) reporting that emergency teams responding to the strikes were evacuating a 16-year-old teen and a man in his 40s to the hospital in serious condition after being wounded by the barrage."It has assassinated numerous Iranian officials and civilians in strikes targeting public infrastructure and hospitals. Israel has attacked nuclear facilities that are under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran is facing aggression that cannot be justified in any way — and any justification for it amounts to complicity."MDA added that another man was moderately injured and 9 others recieved light injuries—most suffering from blast-related trauma.Direct hits were also reported in southern and central Israel, including in Jerusalem, following Iran's largest salvo against the country since hostilities began a week ago.The IDF reported Friday it was carrying out strikes against Iran, focusing on the country's western and central parts. "The IDF is currently striking military infrastructure in central and western Iran," the statement read.The IDF Spokesperson's Unit reported Friday that Israeli Air Force fighter jets, guided by precise intelligence from the Military Intelligence Directorate, recently struck the headquarters of Iran’s internal security apparatus and its special units, located in the Tehran area."The internal security mechanisms operate as part of the Iranian regime's military apparatus," the statement read.French President Emmanuel Macron issued a sharp condemnation on Friday of the ongoing fighting between Israel and Iran, calling for an immediate halt to strikes on civilian and energy infrastructure.“All attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in the context of the Iran-Israel conflict must stop immediately,” Macron said. He stressed that “priority must be given to returning to negotiations. Iran must demonstrate a willingness to come back to the negotiating table.”Meanwhile, diplomatic sources in Paris, Berlin and London confirmed that the three countries are working on a comprehensive proposal to be presented to Iran soon, aimed at restoring a diplomatic track and preventing further escalation in the regional conflict.Defense Minister Israel Katz held a security assessment Friday morning with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior military officials, after which he instructed the military to intensify strikes on regime targets in Tehran.“We must strike all symbols of the regime and its instruments of repression, such as the Basij, as well as the foundations of its power like the Revolutionary Guards,” Katz said. “The aim is to prompt mass evacuations from Tehran, destabilize the regime and increase deterrence in response to rocket fire on Israel’s home front—alongside continued operations against nuclear facilities and scientists until all objectives of the campaign are fully achieved.”The Iran International news outlet reported Friday that an Israeli drone targeted an apartment in the Gisha neighborhood in central Tehran. A follow-up report on the channel claimed the strike was aimed at a compound used by the IRGC's Basij militia operating in the area.According to reports, the strike's intended target was a nuclear scientist. Israeli sources believe the individual was successfully eliminated.IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ephraim Defrin issued a televised statement on Friday following the intense overnight missile salvo from Iran that hit Be'er Sheva. "Overnight, 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets flew over Tehran targeting weapons and military targets. We will continue to strike Iran using a guided plan," he said.Addressing the direct hit in southern Israel, he added: "The Iranian planned to carry out a more significant launch toward Be'er Sheva, and still hold serious military capabilities. We will continue to combat Tehran until the threats against Israel are removed."Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran will not engage in talks with any party as long as Israeli attacks persist. His word came shortly after reports of Iranian air defenses engaging above Tehran.“Western countries are not condemning Israel’s aggression against Iran, even though they know it violates all international laws and resolutions,” Araghchi stated. “The U.S. is complicit in the Israeli aggression against Iran, even if it’s not participating publicly,” he added.The first rescue ship returning Israelis stuck abroad, overseen by Transportation Minister Miri Regev, docked Friday at the Port of Ashdod. The vessel, Crown Iris, operated by Mano Maritime, brought back about 2,000 Israelis who had been evacuated from Limassol, Cyprus. link- Facility used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in south Lebanon targeted by naval vessel, IDF says
A facility belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in south Lebanon was targeted by an Israeli naval vessel overnight, the Israel Defense Forces says.
The site, in Lebanon’s Naqoura region, was used for the planning of terror attacks against Israeli citizens, and “constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the military says.
The facility was targeted as the result of intelligence-gathering, including the interrogation of a detained Hezbollah operative, the army says.
“The IDF will continue to act to remove any threat to the State of Israel,” the military says.
- Syrian authorities nab cousin of former dictator Assad wanted for drug trafficking
Syrian authorities have arrested a cousin of former President Bashar al-Assad, who is under US sanctions for his alleged role in drug trafficking and support to forces loyal to the ousted government, the Interior Ministry says.
The ministry does not say when or where Wassim Badi Assad was arrested. It says that he was wanted in cases of drug trafficking and other crimes before insurgents toppled the Assad family in December after a 54-year rule.
The US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Wassim Assad in March 2023. It said Wassim Assad had publicly called for the formation of sectarian militias to support the government and was a key figure in the regional drug trafficking network, partnering with high-level suppliers to smuggle contraband, Captagon, and other drugs throughout the region.
Syria’s conflict that began in March 2011 fragmented the country, crumbled the economy, and created fertile ground for the production of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon. Militias, warlords, and the Assad government transformed the production of the drug from a small-scale operation run by criminal groups into a billion-dollar industrial revenue stream.
- Politics and the War and General News
- Netanyahu says he told US in 2003 that invading Iraq would lead to quick fall of Saddam Hussein
Standing in front of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the world-renowned medical research institute was “smashed by a rocket from this evil regime.”
Speaking in English, he accuses Iran of working “to destroy human progress. That’s what this regime is about.”
“They subjugate their own people,” he continues. “They’ve trampled on them for almost 50 years — the long-suffering Iranian people whom we embrace. We understand what they’ve been going through, and we understand what the region has been going through, and what the world has been going through.”
Netanyahu argues that Israel is operating against Iran to save itself from annihilation, “but by doing so we’re saving many, many others.”
On Sunday morning, an Iranian ballistic missile, destroyed two buildings — a life science building and an empty building that was still under construction. Dozens more were damaged.
Established in 1934 by Israel’s first president and prominent scientist, Chaim Weizmann, the Weizmann Institute is a world-leading multidisciplinary research institution in the natural and exact sciences.
He says he told then-US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld ahead of the 2003 Iraq invasion that “you will finish this very quickly. But your primary goal is the Iranian regime. And the Iranian regime is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, even then.”
He says Israel had no evidence that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was trying to develop a nuclear weapon then, apparently contradicting congressional testimony he gave in 2022 in which he said there was “no question whatsoever that Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction.
Netanyahu has been ridiculed by some in the American press over the past week, which has been airing footage of that congressional testimony during which he urged the US to invade Iraq, insisting that it would stabilize the region.
Video of Netanyahu testifying before congress in 2002. Netanyahu has been crying wolf for decades. As a result, he convinced his buddy, Trump in his first administration to back out of the Nuclear agreement signed under Obama. He promised Trump that the Iranians would come on all fours begging for a better agreement. That didn't happen and is the background for Trump 2.0 starting direct negotiations with Iran on a new agreement that was turning out to be a pared down version of the first one plus the fact that Iran had all those years of work on their nuclear program that would have been stopped for 10-15 years if the original agreement was in place. Netanyahu, with all of his years of 'proving' when there was no real proof in place made the world and our region and much more dangerous one, typical for this failed prime minister. There are so many things that Netanyahu does that he spoke against when previous prime ministers were either doing them or Netanyahu claimed that they were going to do them. There are too many examples of this but here are just two. When Olmert was being investigated, Netanyahu was the loudest one calling for Olmert to resign before any charges were brought. Olmert did resign. When Netanyahu is questioned about hsi double standard, as he is on trial with 3 criminal charges, his claim is that there is nothing there so he doesn't have to resign. The second example is actually multi-faceted. On several occasions when there was an opponent of his as prime minister, he was the first to call for a State Commission of Inquiry to investigate, what could be compared to October 7 as minor incidents. He is the only prime minister in history to fight a state commission of inquiry for such a major, in fact the most major event in our history. There are video recordings of every single one of these hypocritical events. He is hypocritical, dangerous, compulsive liar and a blight on Israel.
- The Region and the World
- Personal Stories
Shock and sadness are still evident at the Israeli research institute in Rehovot, which suffered a direct hit from two Iranian missiles; Israel Prize laureate Prof. Dan Yakir is having a hard time facing the destruction of his life's project - the now-destroyed scientific research building: 'A great deal of knowledge was buried in the rubble, which could erase decades of research'
Professor Alon Chen, president of the Weizmann Institute of Science, arrived at the research establishment in Rehovot as a student 30 years ago. On Thursday morning, four days after two Iranian missiles directly struck two of the institute’s research and science buildings, Chen toured the extensive destruction and stated: “The missiles completely erased decades of research; we will need to start from scratch.”
Acronyms and Glossary
ICC - International Criminal Court in the Hague
IJC - International Court of Justice in the Hague
MDA - Magen David Adom - Israel Ambulance Corp
PA - Palestinian Authority - President Mahmud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen
PMO- Prime Minister's Office
UAV - Unmanned Aerial vehicle, Drone. Could be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, or be weaponized with missiles or contain explosives for 'suicide' explosion mission
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