Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Cairo

Image source, Reuters

In Gaza, reactions to the recent escalation between Iran and Israel are a complex mix of emotions ranging from a sense of vindication at the sight of destruction inside Israel, to deep concern that the crisis could further overshadow their own prolonged suffering.

Some Palestinians admit to feeling a grim satisfaction watching Israeli buildings collapse and civilians trapped under rubble following Iranian missile strikes.

Yet, that sentiment is tempered by fear that the world’s attention is drifting even further from Gaza, where nearly 20 months of war, blockade, and humanitarian catastrophe continue unabated.

Hassan Omar Talba, who lost his brother, wife, and three children in Israeli airstrikes, has expressed frustration at what he sees as Iran’s symbolic support for Gaza.

“Iran has never built a school, a hospital, or even sent a single truck of aid to Gaza,” he says. “They’ve never treated a wounded person. All they did was send rockets and back Hamas, which led us to the edge of the abyss.”

Still, he adds, “I support anyone who targets Israel. Let Israeli civilians experience just for one night what we in Gaza have endured for 20 months straight.”

Alaa Saleh, a father of five, voices similar frustration.

“The war here hasn’t stopped. Death, hunger, and displacement are part of our daily life, but now the world is distracted by what’s happening in Iran. Even the media has stopped covering the war in Gaza.”

He adds: “We know the true cost of war we’ve lived through endless ones for decades. My feelings are conflicted. Iran gave weapons to Hamas, which worsened our tragedy. But I distinguish between the Iranian regime and the oppressed Iranian people, who are victims of their rulers just like we are.”

What is Israel actually trying to achieve here?published at 07:45 British Summer Time 18 June

07:45 BST 18 June

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Ever since Israel launched its attacks on Iran on Friday, a key question has remained unanswered: what is its end goal?

Israeli military officials say this was a pre-emptive attack, to damage Iran’s nuclear programme, as Iran was reaching “the point of no return”.

They have provided no evidence of that. In fact, the latest assessments of the international community, including from the US, have indicated that Iran had not made a decision to weaponise its nuclear programme, something it had abandoned in 2003.

Iran, a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says it has the right to a peaceful nuclear programme, and has consistently denied it is seeking a nuclear weapon.

Israel, which is not a member of the NPT and is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, has always rejected that.

On the eve of Israel’s campaign, the global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in two decades.

There was particular concern about Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons.

The agency also said Iran had enough uranium enriched to 60% purity, near weapons grade, to potentially make nine nuclear bombs.

Israel has attacked key Iranian nuclear facilities, including at Natanz and Isfahan - as well as military and energy infrastructure, government buildings and residential areas.

But it has not struck Fordo, where a major facility is located, buried under mountains. The Israelis do not have the kind of bomb needed to carry out this strike – but the US does.

Iran says this is a war of aggression, and that it has the right to defend itself.

If the Americans decide to have a direct involvement in the war, it has the potential to trigger a wider conflict, as Iran has threatened to strike American military interests in the region - and its proxies in the region, including in Iraq and Yemen, could join in the response.

Image source, Getty Images

A former Israeli ambassador to the US says he fears Iran will force Washington's hand by attacking a US ship or base to drag it into the war.

Michael Oren says there are some in the White House that don't want to see the US enter another war in the Middle East.

"[Iran attacking the US first would] increase pressure on Trump within his own White House, and President Trump would pressure Israel" to then negotiate an end to the fighting, he tells Radio 4's Today programme.

"That's the way the Iranians might think," Oren says. "It's a fear I have."

Oren says Israel needs to keep up its attacks and adds that now is not the time for a ceasefire, as some in the US have suggested.

"Why would anybody want us to stop? Why would anybody not like to see Iran reduced significantly?"

We're hearing reports now that the first plane bringing Israelis who are stranded abroad because of the country's shuttered airspace has landed at Ben Gurion Airport, the airports authority said.

"A little while ago, the first flight landed at Ben Gurion Airport as part of Operation 'Safe Return'," the ministry of transport said in a post on Telegram.

The flight, operated by El Al, landed on Wednesday morning and brought home Israelis who were in Larnaca, Cyprus.

Minister of Transportation Miriv Regev says they aim to "repatriate all Israelis".

Separately, we are also hearing that Polish citizens being evacuated from Israel are returning home. The BBC's Adam Easton reports that Poland has completed the first evacuation of 160 of its citizens from Israel.

It's just gone 9:00 am (06:30 BST) in Tehran, as Iranians face a sixth day of bombardments from Israel and Tehran fires retaliatory missiles.

Here's a recap of what we learned overnight, following news that officials in the US are considering joining Israel's offensive.

• US President Donald Trump is considering entering the war and joining Israel's strikes on Iran. He held a meeting on Tuesday with his national security team that lasted nearly 90 minutes
• One potential target for the US is Iran's Fordo nuclear facility. It is deep underground and only the Americans have a 30,000lb bomb capable of destroying it, writes security correspondent Frank Gardner

• Trump's advisors are divided on the move, which experts say would "completely change" the conflict
• In the past three days, at least 30 US military tanker aircraft used to refuel fighter jets and bombers have been flown to Europe
• Iran has continued retaliatory strikes on Israel since the conflict began - overnight, Tehran fired a Fattah-1 hypersonic missile towards Tel Aviv

Stick with us as we bring you more updates throughout the day.

Image source, MAXAR

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

On the sixth day of conflict, there have been more Israeli strikes on Iran, as Iran has responded by launching more missiles at Israel.

Explosions were heard in and around Tehran around dawn.

Reports say Israeli air strikes hit a key missile production facility and an academy linked to the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Hours earlier, the Israeli military had issued an evacuation order for people in Tehran’s District 18, which includes military buildings and residential neighbourhoods.

In Israel, air raid alerts sounded twice overnight as Iran responded, saying it had used a hypersonic missile, but there have been no reports of casualties.

The scale of the Iranian attacks has diminished, an indication of the impact of the Israeli air strikes on Iran’s military.

In a series of social media posts, one of them in Hebrew, the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Iran would never compromise with Israel, adding "the battle begins".

Centrifuges are machines that enrich uranium, which can be used to make fuel for power plants but also nuclear weapons.

Centrifuges are also fragile, finely balanced machines which spin uranium hexafluoride gas at extremely high speeds using rotors. A small problem - such as a power cut - can send a centrifuge spinning out of control, with parts smashing into each other and damaging a whole cascade.

The Israeli military's post seems to indicate that it struck a site where centrifuges themselves are manufactured – as opposed to operational centrifuges.

It said: "As part of the extensive effort to disrupt the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons development program, a centrifuge production site in Tehran was attacked, intended to enable the Iranian regime to expand the scope and pace of its uranium enrichment for nuclear weapons development."

Image source, Reuters

As we just reported, the Israeli military says it has struck uranium centrifuge production sites and weapons factories in Iran overnight on the sixth day of its unprecedented offensive.

These strikes, carried out by "more than 50 aircraft," targeted "a centrifuge production facility in Tehran" as well as "several weapons manufacturing sites (...) including facilities producing raw materials and components used to assemble surface-to-surface missiles," the military says in a statement.

Israel's army says it struck a centrifuge production site and weapons manufacturing sites in Iran. The BBC has not verified this independently. This is breaking news, we will have more detail soon.

Centrifuges are machines that enrich uranium. Enriched uranium can be used to make fuel for power plants but also nuclear bombs.

Centrifuges at Iran's underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz were likely to have been "severely damaged if not destroyed altogether" following Israeli strikes on Friday, the head of the global nuclear watchdog told the BBC on Friday.

While Israel and Iran have been exchanging fire in recent days, Donald Trump and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have been trading messages on social media.

Let's look back at their latest missives over the last 24 hours.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump used Truth Social to claim "complete and total control of the skies over Iran".

He went on to warn Khamenei: "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."

Stressing "our patience is wearing thin", Trump warned in one final salvo: "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"

There are no signs of that as far as Tehran is concerned.

In a series of posts on X, across different language accounts, Khamenei said Iran "will never compromise with Zionists".

"We will show the Zionists no mercy," a translation of the post reads. In a different post, he says "the battle begins".

From Syria to now Iran, Russia fears another loss in Middle Eastpublished at 04:40 British Summer Time 18 June

04:40 BST 18 June

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor, reporting in Saint Petersburg

Image source, EPA

When Israel's Operation Rising Lion against Iran started, Russian media were quick to stress the potential positives for Moscow.

Among them: a rise in global oil prices which is forecast to boost Russia's coffers, plus the distraction of global attention away from Russia's war on Ukraine.

However, the longer Israel's military operation goes on, the greater the realisation that Russia has much to lose from current events.

"The fact remains that Russia was unable to prevent a mass strike by Israel on a country with which five months ago [Russia] signed a comprehensive strategic partnership," wrote Russian political scientist Andrei Kortunov.

In the last six months Moscow has already lost one key ally in the Middle East, Syria's Bashar al-Assad. The prospect of regime change in Iran, the thought of losing another strategic partner in the region, will be of major concern to Moscow.

Read my full analysis here.

Sirens are blaring in northern Israel, according to Israel Defense Forces, citing a "hostile aircraft infiltration".

The military also shared on X a map showing the alerts:

Image source, Israel Defense Forces/X

The IDF says more missiles were launched from Iran as of very early Wednesday morning local time.

The graphic below does not account for this fresh wave of attacks, but it outlines where airstrikes have been felt so far in both Iran and Israel since the conflict began on 13 June.

Israel has conducted more than 100 strikes on Tehran to date, a city of around 10 million people.

Meanwhile, Iran has struck Tel Aviv and Haifa, both densely populated areas in Israel.

Image source, Getty Images

US President Donald Trump will be meeting with Field Marshal Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan, on Wednesday.

The two are set to have lunch at noon Washington time at the White House. The meeting will be closed to members of the media.

General Munir has been visiting the US since 14 June, and the meeting between the two was already scheduled.

But it comes amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, and concerns that the conflict may spill over to other parts of the region. Iran and Pakistan share a border.

Munir had met the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, as recently as late May, according to Iranian media. Bagheri was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 13 June, the first day of the ongoing hostilities.

Munir is viewed as the most powerful man in Pakistan.

Image source, Getty Images

Israel's main airline says it will start operating flights back to Israel on Wednesday to bring stranded residents home, after receiving the green light to do so from the Israeli government.

These flights are set to depart from Larnaca, Athens, Rome, Milan and Paris, Israel's flag carrier El Al told Reuters News Agency.

Flights leaving Israel, however, are still suspended until 23 June as a result of the ongoing conflict with Iran.

Airlines including El Al had cancelled flights to Tel Aviv after the fighting erupted last week.

El Al said on Tuesday that flights bringing residents back to Israel "will be operated gradually", and asked Israelis stranded abroad to prepare for the possibility of having to stay longer before returning home.

Israel's transportation ministry says there are around 150,000 Israelis abroad - with around 50,000 of them looking to return home. A portal El Al had opened for passengers looking to return had more than 60,000 sign ups, according to the airline.

The airspace between Iran and Israel has been closed to commercial travel since 13 June when the conflict began, impacting neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Syria.

Image source, Reuters

Dr Dara Conduit, a fellow and lecturer in political science at the University of Melbourne, was talking to the BBC News channel a short while ago.

She said that US involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran is a "scary proposition".

US involvement "would completely change the way the war is being waged by Iran," Conduit said.

"It would remove any ability for Iran to back down," she said, adding that Iran would be forced into attacking US interests in the Middle East.

There appears to be division within the Trump administration about whether the US should join strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, according to the BBC's US news partner CBS.

Israel has also targeted the Imam Hossein University on the eastern outskirts of Tehran, Iranian media reported, according to the Reuters news agency.

The university is understood to be affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran again launched missiles at Israel on Tuesday night, as the exchange of fire between the countries entered its sixth day:

Jake Kwon
North America Correspondent

Donald Trump's emergency meeting in the Situation Room of the White House, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes, was held to discuss whether the US should join Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites, our US partner CBS News reports. The report says there isn't a full agreement among Mr Trump's closest advisers.

After days of urging Iranians to return to negotiations, President Trump is considering whether the US should get directly involved in Israel's war against Iran. In yesterday's meeting of the US National Security Council, Trump and his advisers are reported to have discussed the possibility of striking Iran's nuclear sites. One potential target could be uranium enrichment site at Fordo that is deep underground.

Only the Americans have a bomb capable of destroying it. According to CBS News, the president's advisers are still divided about how to proceed. US and Israeli media say Trump followed the meeting with a call to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it is not known what was discussed. In the past three days, at least 30 US military tanker aircraft - used to refuel fighter jets and bombers - have been flown to Europe.

Yesterday, in a flurry of social media posts, Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender".

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded with a series of social media messages of his own last night - insisting his country would "never compromise with Zionists".

Israel is targeting the Khojir missile production facility near the Iranian capital in its latest strikes, Iranian media is reporting, according to the Reuters news agency.

The facility is understood to be important to Iran's ballistic missile-related infrastructure, and was targeted by Israel in its strikes on Iran last October.