Background on Key Players and Context
The recent escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran has brought the world to a standstill, as both nations engage in intense military actions. At the heart of this conflict is Israel’s longstanding commitment to neutralize Iran’s nuclear program, which it views as an existential threat.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, has pledged to carry out the most extensive military operation in Israel’s history against Iran until its nuclear program is dismantled. Netanyahu insists that the “tyrants” in Tehran will pay the “full price” for their actions.
Israel Katz, Israel’s Defense Minister, stated that the military has been instructed to intensify attacks on strategic targets in Tehran to eliminate the threat against Israel and destabilize the “regime of the ayatollahs.”
Iran has consistently denied any intention to build nuclear weapons, claiming its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, Israel is believed to possess its own nuclear arsenal, though it neither confirms nor denies this.
Israeli Attacks on Iranian Nuclear Sites
On Thursday night, Israel targeted key nuclear facilities in Iran, including the partially constructed water-heavy reactor in Jondab near Arak. These reactors produce plutonium, a material that can be used in the creation of an atomic bomb, similar to enriched uranium.
Iranian media reported that two missiles struck near the nuclear site, with no radiation threats mentioned. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, confirmed that the under-construction water-heavy research reactor had been hit but contained no radioactive material. There was no information that a separate facility producing water-heavy material had been attacked.
Israel also claimed to have struck a location in the Natanz area, which it asserts contains specialized components and equipment advancing nuclear weapon development.
Iranian Missile Attacks on Israel
On Thursday morning, several Iranian missiles targeted populated areas in Israel, including a hospital in the southern part of the country.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed that their targets were military and intelligence installations near the Soroka medical center in Beerseba, southern Israel.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, several people suffered minor injuries, and there were limited damages to the emergency room and other hospital buildings that did not affect its operational capacity.
This attack occurred four days after an Israeli missile damaged a hospital in Iran’s western Kermanshah province.
This week of missile exchanges marks the first time in decades of shadow war and power struggle that a significant number of Iranian-launched projectiles have penetrated Israel’s defenses, killing civilians in their homes.
The missile trails and intercepting efforts were visible in Tel Aviv’s skies, with explosions heard as incoming projectiles were intercepted. Emergency services reported five people suffered severe injuries and dozens more in three separate locations. Some individuals remained trapped in a building in southern Tel Aviv.
Ramat Gan, a major commercial hub with high-rise towers, sustained severe damage following a direct attack on a residential building in the eastern part of Tel Aviv. The explosion caused significant damage to nearby residential buildings and shattered windows across the area.
“It’s Terrifying”
Yaniv, a 34-year-old resident near the affected building, described the experience: “Hearing that deafening explosion shook my apartment tower. It’s terrifying.”
Global Implications and Diplomatic Efforts
This conflict, the most intense in history between the regional powers, has raised concerns that it might draw global powers and further destabilize the Middle East.
Investors face fears of a broader conflict that could disrupt crude oil supplies. Israel, with the most advanced military in the Middle East, has effectively fought on multiple fronts since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza War. It has targeted Iran’s regional allies—the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Yemeni Houthis—with fierce military campaigns and assassinations of their key leaders, as well as bombardments.
On the sidelines of the White House, President Donald Trump refused to disclose any decisions on joining Israel’s aerial campaign against Iran. He stated, “I might do it. I might not. Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Trump has shifted from advocating for a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting that the US might join it. He has taken to social media, calling for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and later demanding Iran’s unconditional surrender.
In an attempt to resume negotiations, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, and the UK plan to hold nuclear talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abás Araqchi in Genebra on Friday, according to a German diplomatic source.
