Iran, Israel warn of intensifying warfare as G7 calls for de-escalation

(AFP/Reuters/Anadolu Agency): Iran and Israel warned on Tuesday of intensifying their attacks against each other as the G7 countries called for de-escalation in the Middle East.

After months of attacking Gaza — flattening homes, targeting hospitals, and starving a besieged population — Israel expanded its assault by launching wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences last week, killing top commanders, scientists and civilians..

Israeli officials have claimed the strikes are part of a broader operation codenamed ‘Rising Lion’ to deter Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, which the latter has consistently denied, saying its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes.

As long-standing foes Iran and Israel continued their air war for a fifth day, both warned of intensifying their warfare.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said a “more powerful” new wave of missiles had recently been launched towards Israel, Al Jazeera reported, citing the official IRNA news agency.

“A new wave of fierce attacks by the armed forces, especially the army’s ground forces, with new and advanced weapons has begun and will intensify in the coming hours,” it quoted Kioumars Heydari, commander of the Army Ground Forces, as saying.

On the other side, Major General Shlomi Binder, chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, said Israel would soon “break ground” in areas of Iran besides Tehran, Times of Israel reported.

“You brought the intelligence that paved the way to Tehran and enabled the strike on the Iranian general staff. Soon, you’ll break ground in additional areas. You’ve proven that you can push boundaries and reach any target,” Binder told officers today, according to an army statement.

Tensions have escalated since Friday, with more than 224 Iranians killed and over 1,000 injured, most of them civilians. Israel says 24 people have been killed, mostly civilians.

Three more people were killed while four others were wounded when an Israeli projectile hit a checkpoint in Isfahan’s Kashan city this morning, local security official Akbar Salehi said, according to a Mehr news agency report quoted by Al Jazeera.

Iranian media reported explosions and heavy air defence fire in Tehran earlier today. Air defences were also activated in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320km away, the Asriran news website reported. A White House aide said it was not true that the US was attacking Iran.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said a missile strike lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv. The State Department had warned Americans not to travel to Israel.

In Israel, air raid sirens wailed in Tel Aviv after midnight and again early in the morning, when several explosions were heard over the city.

There were two direct impacts from those Iranian missiles — one in the Tel Aviv area and one in Herzliya. Israeli reports described the missile strike in Herzliya as having targeted a sensitive site, Al Jazeera reported.

The report added that a sensitive site was code for something of military or strategic significance.

Israel’s military also claimed that it had killed Ali Shadmani, Iran’s wartime chief of staff and the most senior military commander, AFP reported.

It also said it targeted multiple missile and UAV sites in western Iran, including surface-to-surface missile infrastructure, surface-to-air launchers and drone storage facilities, in a statement accompanied by black-and-white footage showing missile launchers exploding.