"Neither the region nor the world can afford more war," United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned Sunday, calling for "maximum restraint" as the Security Council met to discuss Iran's weekend attack on Israel. The announcement came as Israel hailed its defence capabilities, with the Israeli military saying that 99% of some 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
- The Israeli military said Sunday that Iran's attack had been "foiled", with 99 percent of the drones and missiles being intercepted overnight. US, French and British forces contributed to Israel's defence but the US will not participate in any offensive action against Iran, an official said.
- Iran's armed forces chief of staff said the attack on Israel had "achieved all its objectives". The offensive marked a major escalation of hostilities between the regional foes. Israel had said that it was bracing for a possible Iranian attack after an air strike killed two Iranian generals in Syria last week. Iran blamed Israel for the air strike and vowed revenge.
- Iran says it has summoned the French, British and German envoys over their reactions to the attack. The UN Security Council met on Sunday after Israel requested the council condemn Iran's attack and designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7, held a video meeting of G7 leaders on Sunday to discuss Iran's attack on Israel.
- Iran's allies in the region joined the attack, with Yemen's Houthi rebels also launching drones at Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah firing at Israeli positions in the annexed Golan Heights.
- The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has rejected a latest Israeli ceasefire proposal. Israel wants to secure the return of hostages seized by Hamas in its October 7 attack but says it will not stop its offensive until Hamas is destroyed as a military force.
- At least 33,729 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 76,371 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks that sparked the war and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Commandos from Iran's Revolutionary Guard rappelled onto a container ship "linked to Israel" near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel on Saturday, Iran's state news agency reported, adding that the ship was being transferred to Iran's territorial waters. An Israeli military spokesperson warned that Iran "will bear the consequences for choosing to escalate the situation any further".
- Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Friday said it had fired dozens of rockets at Israeli artillery positions in response to Israeli strikes in the south.
- The United States said Friday it was sending reinforcements to the Middle East amid growing fears that Iran will launch an attack on Israel in retaliation for what it claims was an Israeli air strike last week on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus.
- France on Friday warned its citizens against travelling to Iran, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories due to heightened tensions following last week’s attack on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Syria.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
