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Iran and Israel trade missile strikes as Europe begins negotiations with Tehran

Iran and Israel traded daytime missile attacks to cap a week of relentless bombing as Europe began negotiations with Tehran in an attempt to deescalate the conflict.

Israeli emergency services reported that at least 17 people were injured, including a teenager in serious condition, after Iranian ballistic missiles evaded Israel’s air defence systems and slammed into a building near the port city of Haifa in the early afternoon of Friday.

Israel said it had conducted multiple strikes on Iran earlier that day.

After the attack on Haifa, images from the scene showed the building in ruins as people were stretchered away.

Moments earlier, Iran’s religious ruler, Ali Khamenei, had posted on social media warning that Israel was about to see revenge. “The Zionist enemy is getting his comeuppance; he is getting his comeuppance now,” he wrote on X.

Israel’s military issued a rare nationwide warning on social media following Khamenei’s post as it urged civilians to head for shelters. They later said Iran fired around 25 ballistic missiles. Israeli cabinet secretary Yossi Fuchs said Iran had fired a total of 525 missiles at Israel over the past week. He claimed only 25 of those missiles had breached air defences.

There were reports of additional impacts in southern and central Israel. In Tel Aviv, after authorities gave the all clear, people emerged from bomb shelters into an early Friday evening but to none of the partying for which the city is best known.

That atmosphere has vanished, blown away by Iran’s missiles and, for a minority, the growing horror at what continues to unfold in Gaza where the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to flee Gaza City to “sheltered” areas on the west of the enclave. There are no “sheltered” or safe areas for Gaza’s populations.

Israel said it conducted airstrikes in Iran with more than 60 aircraft hitting what it said were industrial sites to manufacture missiles.

It said it hit the headquarters of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known by its acronym in Farsi, SPND. The US in the past has linked that agency to alleged Iranian research and testing tied to the possible development of nuclear explosive devices.

It also carried out airstrikes targeting the areas around Kermanshah and Tabriz in western Iran, where the military said 25 fighter jets struck “missile storage and launch infrastructure components”. There had been reports of anti-aircraft fire in the areas.

“We are strengthening our air control in the region and advancing our air offensive,” Israeli military spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin told reporters. “We have more sites to strike in Tehran, western Iran and other places.”

Israeli airstrikes also reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea, according to Iranian media.

The Israeli military had warned the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, southwest of the city’s downtown. But with Iran’s internet shut off to the outside world, it’s unclear just how many people could see the message.

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