Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened on Monday that the residents of Tehran will “pay the price and soon” after Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa before dawn, killing at least eight people.
The latest military exchange between the arch-rivals began when Israel struck Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday, killing top commanders and scientists. Tel Aviv has said it wants to stop Tehran from building an atomic weapon, which the latter has consistently denied, saying its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes.
BREAKING:
🇮🇱🇮🇷 A building collapsed with everyone inside, in Bnei Barak, Israel pic.twitter.com/ufQeLhv41w
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) June 16, 2025
Latest developments:
- 8 new deaths in Israel take toll to 23; Tehran says 224 killed in Iran so far, with over 1,000 injured
- Fire seen at power plant near Israel’s Haifa port; residential buildings destroyed near US Embassy branch in Tel Aviv
- Trump reportedly vetoed plan to target Khamenei
- Netanyahu claims Iran tried to assassinate US president twice
- 3 more Iranian commanders killed; Tehran hangs man on charges of spying for Mossad
Dangers of further escalation loomed over a meeting of G7 leaders in Canada, with US President Donald Trump expressing hope a day ago that a deal could be done but no sign of the fighting abating on a fourth day of war.
The latest fatalities in Israel, reported by Israel’s national emergency services, raised the death toll to 23 since Friday.
Read more: Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, US officials say
Israeli attacks in Iran have killed at least 224 people so far, including 70 women and children, while over 1,200 have been injured, the health ministry was quoted as saying earlier today by Anadolu Agency.
More than 90 per cent of the wounded were civilians, including women and children, health ministry official Hossein Kermanpour said on X.
At least 100 more were wounded in Israel in the overnight blitz, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel’s strikes targeting the nuclear and ballistic missile programmes of sworn enemy Iran.
Search and location operations were underway in the coastal city of Haifa, where around 30 people were wounded, emergency authorities said, as dozens of first responders rushed to the strike zones.
Read more: Israel asked US to join Iran attack – Axios
Fires were seen burning at a power plant near the port, the media reported. Video footage showed several missiles over Tel Aviv and explosions could be heard there and over Jerusalem.
Israel’s military warned of a new missile salvo incoming from Iran. “A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel,” the army posted on Telegram, using the acronym for its official name.
It said its air defences were working to intercept the threat but advised people to “enter a protected space and remain there until further notice”.
Several residential buildings in a densely populated neighbourhood of Tel Aviv were destroyed in a strike that blew out the windows of hotels and other nearby homes just a few hundred meters from the US Embassy branch in the city.
The US ambassador to Israel said the building sustained minor damage, but there were no injuries to personnel.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said that fires were observed at the power plant in the vicinity of Israel’s Haifa port, Reuters reported.
Ambrey said it observed video footage of the Israeli military intercepting the attack, followed by impacts from two hypersonic missiles.
An AFP journalist heard loud explosions in Jerusalem on early Monday, while footage showed Israeli air defences working over the city. Outside Haifa, an AFP journalist saw fires break out following the latest Iranian barrage.