Magen David Adom

Sept. 7 (UPI) — A drone launched by Houthi rebels from Yemen struck the arrivals area of the Ramon Airport in southern Israel Sunday, the Israeli military and airport officials said.

It is the latest in a series of ongoing attacks as the Iran-supported group began targeting Israel as what it is says is a sign of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Houthi-controlled Yemeni Armed Forces issued a warning after the attack that “the airports inside occupied Palestine are not safe and will be continuously targeted,” a statement from the group said. The Houthis said in the statement that the strike caused significant damage to the airport and took responsibility for the closure.

In a social media post, a spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, which is controlled by by the Houthis, said “the airports inside occupied Palestine are not safe and will be continuously targeted.”

The airport reopened after a 90 minute closure.

“There is no indication of a technical malfunction in the existing detention systems,” the military said in a statement on Sunday, adding that an “extensive investigation” is expected, CNN reported. Several other drones on Sunday were intercepted, the military said.

Most of the Houthi-backed drones fired on Israel have been intercepted before striking the country. In this case, the drone was originally not deemed a threat which is why there was no alarm, officials said.

Israel’s emergency response service said it received a report at about 2:35 p.m. that a drone had landed in the Ramon Airport area. Two people received minor injuries, the emergency service, known as Magen David Adom said.

Israel has a complex security system in place to warn of incoming projectiles, but in this case, no alarm was sounded, officials said.

Houthi-backed groups have also targeted shipping traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, among the world’s most important waterways, in the ongoing battle.

June 21 (UPI) — Israel’s military on Saturday killed two more top Iranian military officials during overnight strikes as fighting between the two nations entered a second week.

Iran warned it would be “very dangerous for everyone” if the U.S. intervened in the conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump said he has a maximum two-week timeline given Thursday on whether the United States will strike.

Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestine Corps of al-Quds, which is the foreign branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, was killed in a strike at a home in the city of Qom in central Iran, Israel Defense Forces said. He played a key role in the financing and arming Hamas‘ attack of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to IDF.

Behnam Shahriyari, another senior official, also died in a strike. He was responsible for al-Quds helping finance the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

An Iranian nuclear scientist, Isar Tabatabai-Qamsheh, and his wife, additionally died in an Israeli strike in Tehran, the Mehr News Agency reports.

At the start of the conflict, several leaders died, including Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces. Also killed were Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGC’s aerospace forces, and Ali Shadmani, who was recently appointed as head of the central command.

Early Saturday morning, Iran launched missiles at Israel with at least one building in central Israel catching fire from shrapnel of an intercepted Iranian missile. Later Saturday morning, a drone strike damaged a residential building in north Israel. No casualties were reported from the strikes.

Israel said it deployed 50 aircraft over Iran overnight, hitting Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant for the second time in Qom. Nearby, a strike on a residential building killed two people and injured four others Saturday, according to Iran’s state media.

More than 400 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict began eight days ago, Iran state broadcaster IRIB reported Saturday in citing Iran’s health ministry.

“As of this morning, the Israeli regime’s hands are stained with the blood of 400 defenseless Iranians, and it has injured 3,056 people with its missiles and drones,” the health ministry said.

“Most of the casualties and fatalities were civilians.”

Iranian strikes have killed at least 25 and injured hundreds, according to Israel. Israel has intercepted 99% of the 470 Iranian drones launched since the war began.

Diplomatic efforts

Talks between Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and European counterparts in Geneva, Switzerland, ended Friday night with no breakthrough. Britain, France, Germany and the European Union are involved in the negotiations.

“It is obvious I cannot go to the negotiations with the United States when our people are under bombardment, under the support of the United States,” Araghchi told reporters Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey.

Foreign ministers with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation met there.

Araghchi urged for the “aggression” to end “for us to come back to diplomacy.”

The meetings in Geneva were focused on a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran as part of a cease-fire. The European nations’ proposal includes Iran moving to zero uranium enrichment, restricting its missile program and ending Tehran’s financing of proxy groups.

Trump has wanted Iran to end all uranium enrichment, claiming they are building a nuclear bomb. Iran has said it is for peaceful purposes, including energy plants.

“Israel is doing well, in terms of war, and Iran … is doing less well,” Trump said Friday. “It’s a little bit hard to get somebody to stop.”

Trump said U.S. officials have been speaking to Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday he spoke on the phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, noting that France will “accelerate” negotiations between European nations and Iran.

“Here again, my position is clear: Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and it is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful,” Macron wrote in a post on X. “I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers. To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report on May 31 that Iran had produced enriched uranium to a level of 60%, which was of “serious concern.”

The airstrikes have delayed efforts to build an operational nuclear weapon.

“According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told German newspaper Bild in an interview published and broadcast Saturday.

Also, more than 50% of Iran’s missile launchers were destroyed, an Israeli military official said.

A senior Iranian official told CNN that they are replacing quantity with quality and the nation has been using more advanced precision missiles.

Strikes hit residential areas

Though the attacks have been focused on military and nuclear targets, tens of thousands of city residents have been displaced, particularly those in Tehran.

Esmaeil Baghaei, who is Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Friday that three aid workers were killed, and six ambulances and four healthcare centers.

“The intentional attack on a Red Crescent ambulance in Tehran is a clear example of a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” Baghaei said.

Despite the bombings, residents in Tehran told CNN they are trying to return to normal life.

“The initial shock had passed,” one resident said. “People are trying to go about their lives as best and as normally as they can.”

The resident also said: “Things are fine. Roads are getting busier back into Tehran from other areas because the government has said work begins on Sunday.”

In Israel, a two-story residential building in northern Israel was hit by a drone, the Magen David Adom said in a statement Saturday, Al Jazeera reported. No casualties were reported.

On Friday, an Iranian missile hit Israel’s northern city of Haifa, wounding at least 31 people.

June 13 (UPI) — Amid Israel’s massive airstrikes on Iran and the Islamic nation’s missile response in two barrages Friday aimed at the Jewish state, residents in both nations are on high alert.

Both nations were deserted as shops were closed, public gatherings canceled and flights not taking off and landing one day. Hospitals were relocating patients and preparing to receive wounded, as well.

In Israel, sirens sounded amid a major Iranian ballistic missile attack. Overnight, an estimated 100 missiles were launched from Iran at Israel, according to an Israeli military source. Israel Defense Forces worked to “intercept the threats” and most of the drones were deterred.

Later Friday, a second barrage of missiles were aimed at Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran crossed red lines” by firing missiles at civilian population centers.

In Iran, Tehran’s air defense system has been activated after a number of strikes were carried out across the nation, its state-run Mehr News reported. Iran has 90.6 million residents, including 9.6 million in Tehran.

In the capital, demonstrators called for retaliation after the Israeli strikes.

Residents in Israel, a nation of 9.7 million, were urged to be prepared to take shelter.

“The Home Front Command has now instructed residents across the country to remain close to protected spaces,” the Israel Defense Forces said. ” Movement in public areas should be minimized, and public gatherings must be avoided. Upon receiving an alert, enter a protected space and remain there until an official update is issued.”

IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin urged residents to prepare for “many days of war.”

“We are aware of the enemy’s intentions to harm us, and there will be more attempts of this kind. We still have challenges ahead,” Defrin said.

Life in Israel, Iran

Much of Israel was deserted, except for people stocking up in essentials, with businesses and events canceled.

A Pride Parade scheduled for Friday was called off. Municipal workers dismantled unused stages set up along the parade’s path.

A few people in the area sunbathed, smoked and played soccer on the sand.

Commerce at the open-air Carmel market nearby in Tel Avis was much less than usual traffic on a Friday, the day before the sabbath, when many businesses are closed. Jerusalem is a non-secular, holy city that closes on Saturday.

Some flocked to the few eateries and flower shops that decided to open for business. Most shops, especially for clothing, jewelry and books, appeared shuttered.

“There are no people,” says Victor, who owns a flower shop at the entrance to the open-air Carmel market, told The Times of Israel, which did not publish his full name.

Victor, who has access to a safe room at his business, opted not to close. “Not for a minute. I’m self-employed, I have no choice,” he said.

Supermarkets, however, were crowded as Israelis prepared to be homebound for days.

The Carrefour supermarket chain opened at 6 a.m., an hour earlier than usual.

In Iran, residents in Tehran were awakened to airstrikes.

“Both my husband and I were thrown from our bed,” a resident of the northern Tehran neighbourhood of Kamranieh, told Middle East Eye. “The explosions didn’t stop. We had no idea what was happening.”

The woman discovered an apartment across the street had been bombed. It was the residence of Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, who was among the senior Iranian officials reportedly killed.

Nuclear enrichment plants and launch sites were targeted as opposed to civilian populations.

Government response

Israel has closed its embassies around the world. Officials advised all Israelis abroad to fill out a survey to update the ministry on their location and situation.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all of its staff and their family members to shelter in place until further notice.

There are approximately 40,000 troops in the Middle East, along with Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea

The U.S. Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean. A second destroyer was directed to begin moving forward so it can be available.

Israel has approximately 169,500 active personnel and has called up reservists as they are stationed through Israel, including fighting Hamas on the Gaza Strip.

Hospitals

Magen David Adom, which is Israel’s national emergency service agency, began evacuating patients and premature infants to protected areas amid a special state of emergency.

MDA treats and transports more than 1 million people to hospitals every year.

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa is urging people not to come there unless cases are medically necessary. Also in Haifa, Bnei Zion Medical Center has begun transferring departments to a protected building and designated areas.

A spokesperson for Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv said: “Piece by piece, phase by phase, the hospital is being moved underground. The general intensive care unit is already protected, as is the operating room, and the hospital continues to operate as usual.”

Flights

Airspace was closed over Israel, Jordan, Iran and Iraq on Friday.

That included Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, which is the 117th largest airport in the world.

“The airspace of the State of Israel is closed to takeoffs and landings until further notice,” the Ministry of Transport announced. “The purpose of the closure is to prevent and minimize risks to passengers and aircraft. Passengers scheduled to depart from Ben Gurion Airport today are requested to remain at home and not arrive at the airport.”

Passengers whose flights were in the air after the airspace was closed landed at alternative airports.

Airlines worldwide canceled flights. Airlines offered travel vouchers and waived change fees.

Delta Air Lines on Friday said it was suspending service to Tel Aviv until at least September, a few weeks after resuming flights there.

The city of Tabriz reportedly severely damaged the city’s international airport, according to Ynet News.