Aerial attacks and missiles fired between Israel and Iran have continued for a fifth day, amid rising death tolls, a sense of panic and deepening fears of a wider conflict.
US president Donald Trump was set to meet his national security team in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the escalating Middle East conflict, fuelling fresh speculation that the US is on the verge of joining Israel’s attack on Iran.
Mr Trump departed the G7 summit early, telling reporters on Air Force One that he was not considering a ceasefire. “We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”
Mr Trump also posted on Truth Social saying “everyone should immediately evacuate Iranian capital Tehran”. It caused widespread panic, with roads were blocked by traffic and fuel hard to source. Around 10 million people live in the city of Tehran, with around 17 million in its greater area.
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He posted that the US was not going to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader “at least not for now”.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
In a joint statement, the G7 leaders said they reiterated their commitment to peace, stability, and support for the security of Israel. “We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself ... Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror.”
Iranians have been pointing out what they see as hypocrisy, including that – while the American intelligence community assessed in March that Iran was not believed to be building a nuclear weapon – Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, something Israel officially does not confirm or deny.
The death toll across Iran is uncertain. Iranian authorities say at least 224 have died, but the Washington-based NGO Human Rights Activists, which has long followed Iran and has a wide range of sources in the country, puts the death toll much higher, with at least 452 dead and 646 injured.
At least 24 people in Israel had been killed by Iranian attacks by Monday and around 500 injured, according to Israeli authorities.
While many Israelis have access to bomb shelters, there have been reports of Palestinians in Israel either not having shelters or being deliberately denied access to them.
In a statement on Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called for de-escalation, respect for international humanitarian law, and decisive political action “to stop the killing and put an end to destruction”.
“We fear that if this conflict intensifies then even more civilians will suffer and the ripple effects will spread far beyond the immediate hostilities in a region that is already seeing so much suffering,” said ICRC regional director Nicolas Von Arx.
Israel has increasingly raised questions around whether it plans to target Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
One video posted by an IDF account this week on social media showed Iranian flag-coloured chess pieces with the faces of assassinated Iranians on them knocked over, zooming across to show one final piece left standing, a question mark on top of it.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that killing Khamenei is “not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict”.
Israel’s military is currently engaged on many fronts. In southern Syria, it is both occupying territory and carrying out incursions further inland. Its forces bulldozed 15 houses this week in Al-Hamidiya village, in Quneitra province, according to local media. The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israeli drones have been audible above Lebanese capital Beirut for days. On Monday, a drone strike killed one person in the southern Lebanese village of Houla, with Israeli forces saying the victim was a Hizbullah member and local media reporting that he was a beekeeper.
The regional escalation comes amid fears that attention is being diverted from the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
[ How the Israel-Iran conflict may developOpens in new window ]
