On the fourth day of the conflict between Iran and Israel, the exchange of attacks between Tehran and Tel Aviv has intensified, resulting in increased casualties and infrastructure damage on both sides.
Iran’s missile attacks on power plants and critical infrastructure in the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa have so far killed 24 people and injured 592 others.
Israeli officials report that Iran has launched 370 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones towards Israel over these four days of fighting.
Lieutenant Dean Elsdan, spokesperson for the Israeli Police, stated: "In each of these incidents, the targets are residential communities and civilians living in their homes.
Early this morning, our police emergency hotline received a report about a rocket hitting a building. Our rapid response forces and bomb disposal unit immediately arrived at the scene."
Yoram Suki, an Israeli citizen, said: "After we received the alerts during the night, we went into the safe room and waited. The siren went off, and about a minute and a half after that, we heard supersonic explosions overhead very loud sounds and half a minute later, we felt the explosion inside the apartment, inside the building."
A section of the building housing the US Embassy in Tel Aviv was also damaged by the blast waves of the Iranian strikes. However, embassy staff were unharmed.
On the other hand, Iranian sources report 322 fatalities and 684 injuries from Israeli strikes on various parts of Iran.
Today (Monday), Israel targeted a hospital named Farabi in the city of Kermanshah, Iran.
Iranian media also report the deaths of an IRGC commander and a soldier in Israeli airstrikes on the country.
The father of the fallen soldier said: "While dressed cleanly and on his way to the mosque for prayers, this tragedy occurred. My son was the kind of person who went wherever there was an earthquake, wherever there was flooding—he would rush there. When he received orders, he would respond with all his heart and soul, obeying the leader."
The attacks come as Iran's development of nuclear capabilities is in question.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has emphasized that his country does not intend to develop nuclear weapons.
At the same time, he asserted Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology and continued research in the field.
President Pezeshkian stated: "If we didn’t have these missiles today, Israel could easily attack wherever it wanted, every single day. Our scientists are standing firm in defense of the country’s soil and water."
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also announced that members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) are drafting a bill that could lead to Tehran’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
However, a spokesperson for the ministry reiterated that Iran’s official stance remains opposed to the development of nuclear weapons.
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