Iran: Tehran, at least 71 dead in IDF raid on Evin prison. Nyt: key nuclear equipment destroyed in Isfahan. Pentagon: no super bomb used

At least 56 people have been killed in Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip since this morning. This was stated by the Palestinian health and civil defence authorities, who said that several areas were hit in the latest wave of attacks on the coastal territory, with dozens more injured. According to medical sources at the Ministry of Health, 11 people were killed in an airstrike in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, near a former school building. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported a higher death toll, adding that children were among the victims. Civil defence teams in Hamas-controlled Gaza reported 45 more casualties in further Israeli attacks. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.

"The Iranian nation should know that the reason for the conflict with America is that they want Iran to surrender" and "such an event will never happen". This can be read on the Farsi X account of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Senior Israeli officials involved in hostage-taking talks say they do not understand the reasons for the optimism of US President Donald Trump, who told the White House yesterday that a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached as early as next week. Ynet reports.

"Unfortunately, there is no sign of flexibility or change in Hamas' position, nor is there any change in the prime minister's position regarding the end of the war," they said. Trump's optimism would appear to be a kind of 'wishful thinking' to exploit the momentum created after the end of the war between Israel and Iran in order to achieve another diplomatic result. But on the ground, senior officials themselves say, not much has changed. There are behind-the-scenes and intensive contacts led by the Qataris and Egyptians, but there are no results or progress. Reports of an imminent visit by envoy Steve Witkoff are also wrong: there is no information about his arrival in the next few days.

According to the New York Times, Israeli and American air strikes on the Iranian nuclear site in Isfahan destroyed 'essential equipment' for the production of nuclear weapons. The report states that the equipment is used for a process known as metallisation, which converts enriched uranium gas into metal, one of the final steps in producing the explosive core inside a nuclear bomb.

Demonstrations will be held throughout Israel to demand the return of hostages and an end to the war in Gaza, after a two-week pause due to emergency measures imposed during the war with Iran. Released hostages and the families of those still detained in Gaza are expected to take part in the protests. In Tel Aviv, families will gather in Hostage Square during a demonstration near the Israeli Ministry of Defence. There will also be a silent protest in front of the Likud party headquarters in central Tel Aviv, where participants will display pictures of Palestinian children killed in the war. In Jerusalem, demonstrators will march near the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The UN refugee agency reports that more than 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year. More than half from Iran after that country's government set 20 March as the deadline for voluntary departure or expulsion. Many returnees face hunger, fear and uncertainty, particularly women and girls who fear the restrictions imposed by the Taliban regime. Afghanistan's dependence on humanitarian aid is worsening due to funding cuts and opposition to Taliban policies. The Taliban have promised amnesty and support for returnees, while Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans by the end of the year.

Israeli attacks killed at least 62 people in the Gaza Strip overnight and until Saturday, is the update provided by health workers. Three children and their parents were killed in an Israeli attack on a tented camp in Muwasi, near the southern town of Khan Younis. They were shot while sleeping, relatives reported by the AP.

Some 20 Iranian civil and human rights activists, including Nobel laureates Shirin Ebadi and Narges Mohammadi and filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulov, issued a statement condemning the Tehran government's intensification of repression following the 12-day war with Israel. They called for an immediate end to executions and the unconditional release of all political and ideological prisoners.

"Several people have been arrested for 'spying' on behalf of Israel, while evidence has always indicated that, rather than ordinary people, layers of the power structure in Iran have been infiltrated by foreign intelligence services," reads the statement, quoted by Iran International. "Despotic governments always repress people after wars. Wars bring human rights violations and destruction," the activists add, expressing concern over the transfer of prisoners from Evin to other prisons around Tehran after the Israeli attack on the notorious prison. "They are being held in a difficult and inhuman situation," is the complaint. Human rights organisations reported that in the last two weeks alone at least 1,596 people were arrested in several Iranian cities. Several Jews and Bahai have been summoned, interrogated or arrested, as have a number of Afghan citizens.

Iran will no longer allow Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to visit its nuclear sites or the installation of surveillance cameras by the IAEA. This was stated by Hamid Reza Haji Babaei, deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament. Mehr reports. The decision,' he explained, was due to the 'discovery of sensitive data on facilities in documents obtained by the Israeli regime'.

Iran has reopened its central and western airspace to international transit flights, state news agency Nour News reported on Saturday. The closure had been necessitated by the 12-day conflict with Israel.

Confirming that the operation against the sites of Iran's nuclear programme had years of preparation, the Times of Israel today reveals that Israel had agents on the ground as early as 2010. Citing an intelligence source, and confidential documents shared with Western countries, the newspaper reveals that intelligence gathered by these agents showed that since the end of 2024, Iran had switched from research for the military use of nuclear material to experiments to build explosive devices within 'weeks'. According to the cited document, Israeli spies on the ground had provided maps of the Natanz facility before it was attacked and destroyed. Reconnaissance tools had infiltrated other sites, including Isfahan. In addition, Israeli agents had also managed to infiltrate the headquarters of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, who were also hit during the raids.

At least 49 people have been killed in Gaza by yet another Israeli attack since Friday night, according to health officials quoted by the Guardian. The attacks began late last night and continued today, killing, among others, 12 people near the Palestinian Stadium in Gaza City, housing displaced persons, and eight others living in flats, according to Shifa hospital staff. More than 20 bodies were transported to Nasser Hospital, according to health sources.

he Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said that there is a possibility of reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, taking advantage of the truce reached between Israel and Iran. This was reported by the Israeli daily Haaretz. Al-Ansari added that mediators are in contact "with both Israel and Hamas" to try to reach a ceasefire and an agreement on the handover of hostages.

The Mossad spied on Iran's nuclear and missile programme for years and came to the conclusion that Tehran's weapons industry was far more advanced than previously estimated. The British newspaper 'Times' writes this, citing leaked intelligence documents it has seen. According to the papers, the knowledge and components held by the Iranian regime were 'much more advanced' than the activities at the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites. An intelligence source told the Times that Israel has been 'monitoring several sites from the ground for years, using intelligence agents'.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Tehran for the funerals of Iran's top commanders and scientists killed in the 12-day war with Israel. The coffins of the head of the Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, and the head of the missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were carried in a procession through the streets of the capital. Israel targeted Iranian military leaders, scientists and nuclear sites, claiming to have killed 30 commanders and 11 scientists. Iran fired over 550 missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted. The conflict has claimed over 1,000 lives, including at least 417 civilians, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists.

Emirates Airlines has extended the cancellation of all flights to and from Tehran until 5 July due to the 'regional situation', the airline announced as reported by international media. The airline also said that customers connecting via Dubai with final destinations in Iran 'will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice'.

The number of children who have died of starvation and malnutrition in the Gaza Strip has risen to 66. This was reported by medical sources to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, explaining that the deaths are due to the aid blockade imposed by Israel, which has caused a shortage of baby milk, food and food supplements for vulnerable groups.

The US did not drop the 'bunker buster' bomb on the Isfahan nuclear site because it was so deep underground that it probably would not have been effective. This was reported by CNN citing comments made by a senior US general to senators on Thursday. During attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities last weekend, the US instead used submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles to strike the site where US officials say 60 per cent of Iran's enriched uranium reserves are stored. The 'bunker buster' bombs were used at the Fordo and Natanz sites.

New warning from the Israeli Forces (IDF) to the inhabitants of the central part of the Gaza Strip, where Israeli military operations launched in response to the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel continue. "To all the inhabitants of Gaza who are in the areas of Nuseirat, Al-Zahraa and Al-Mughraka, Al-Nuzha, Al-Badi, Al-Busma, Al-Zahraa, Al-Bustanim, Badr, Abu Harira, Al-Ruda and Al-Safa, the Idf are operating with great force to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organisations in those areas." reads a post on X by the spokesman, Avichay Adraee, who insists that the Gazawis, for their "safety", move "immediately to the south, to the al-Mawasi area" with the invitation "not to return to the dangerous combat zones". Similar instructions had already been issued in recent hours.

At least 34 people were killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks from late Friday evening until this morning. This was written by the Associated Press on its website citing medical personnel in the Strip. Among the victims, there are 12 people killed at Gaza City's Palestine Stadium housing displaced people, and eight others in flats, according to staff at the Shifa hospital where the bodies were transported. Another six people were killed in southern Gaza when an attack hit their tent in al Mawasi.

US President Donald Trump is trying to convince Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas over the conflict in the Gaza Strip. "A deal is indeed possible," a source privy to the negotiations told Newsweek magazine, adding, "The president is working very hard to convince the Israelis that the time has come, now that they are done with the Iran issue."

The commander of the Revolutionary Guard Quds Forces, Esmail Qaani, is also among the thousands of people present at the procession parading in Tehran for the funerals of military commanders who died in the 12-day war with Israel. Qaani had been left for dead in the Israeli attack on Iran on 13 June, however a video re-released on social media on 24 June apparently showed the general alive in Tehran, however without official confirmation. Qaani was also presumed dead last October, when it was speculated that he was killed in an IDF raid on Beirut.

"The aggression against the Gaza Strip has not stopped, the suffering for the inhabitants of Gaza is not ending, on the contrary it is getting worse" and "the sirens must not be silenced". This is the threat contained in a post on X by Nasruddin Amer, Yemen's Houthi number two for information, also reported by the Ynet news site after air raid warning sirens went off again this morning in Israel over a missile fired from Yemen.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, called on US President Donald Trump not to disrespect the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, if he wants to reach an agreement with Iran.

"If President Trump is sincere when he says he wants a deal, he should put aside his disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of followers," the minister wrote on X.

According to the Iranian Tasnim agency, there is no shortage of slogans against the US and Israel. Among the people gathered there are also people displaying pictures of Iran's Supreme Guide, Ali Khamenei. The Mehr news agency released pictures showing the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in the crowd. The ceremony is being held after Iran International reported in recent hours - on the basis of testimonies - of 'explosions' allegedly heard in the area of Eslamshahr, west of Tehran, and the 'activation of anti-aircraft fire'.

At least 14 people have been killed since the early hours of today in the Gaza Strip. This was reported by the satellite TV al-Jazeera, which cites medical sources in the Palestinian enclave that ended up in the hands of Hamas in 2007 and has been the scene of military operations by Israeli forces since the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel. Among the victims are six people who died in the south of the Strip. Here, according to TV reports, Israeli forces hit tents of displaced people in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis. According to the station's reporters, at least eight other people - among them a woman and two minors - died in Saftawi, north of Gaza City, in an Israeli raid that hit the Osama Bin Zaid School, where many displaced people took refuge.

People continue to die in the Gaza Strip. There were 72 casualties yesterday, mostly at aid distribution points. Sirens resounded in various parts of Israel about an incoming missile from Yemen.

Explosions were heard in western Tehran at dawn, and anti-aircraft fire was triggered just before the start of the state funeral of 60 prominent victims of the war with Israel.

Just yesterday Donald Trump had spoken of peace on the way with Iran, while maintaining sanctions and exchanging fiery words with Supreme Leader Khamenei. 'We will reach a ceasefire in Gaza within the next week,' Donald Trump said again in the Oval Office, stressing that 'the understanding is close'.