Middle East crisis live: Iran supreme leader speaks on Israeli attack; people injured after truck hits bus stop in Israel

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has been speaking at a memorial ceremony in Jerusalem. He was quoted by Reuters as having said that Iran is no longer able to effectively use its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group it backs, against Israel.

“Over the past year, the security establishment led by the Israel Defense Forces turned the tide of the war and had unprecedented achievements in all arenas of fighting,” Gallant said.

Gallant said Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, was no longer functioning as a military network in Gaza, while Hezbollah’s senior command and most of its missile capabilities had been wiped out. He said both groups “are no longer an effective tool” to be used by Iran.

The Israeli military has urged residents of 14 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately and move north of the Awali river, which flows from the western Bekaa valley into the Mediterranean.

In a post on X, Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed that Hezbollah elements, facilities or weapons are nearby, and those who stay risk being killed.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has repeatedly issued evacuation orders during its assault on Lebanon over the last month.

“For your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Awali River. To ensure your own safety, you must evacuate without delay,” Adraee wrote in the post on X.

“You are prohibited from going south. Any movement south could be dangerous to your life. We will inform you in due time to return to your homes as soon as the conditions are right.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has commented on Israel’s airstrikes on Iran, which the IDF said targeted missile factories and other sites near Tehran and western Iran on Saturday morning.

In a speech, Netanyahu said:

The air force attacked throughout Iran. We hit hard Iran’s defence capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed at us.

The attack in Iran was precise and powerful, and it achieved all its objectives.

The Israeli airstrikes on Iran killed four Iranian soldiers, Iran’s army said. As my colleague Patrick Wintour writes in this story, a debate has been set off inside Iran on whether the attack, more limited than some had predicted, warrants a military response and if the country will be seen as weak if it does nothing.

Israel’s airstrikes were in retaliation for the 1 October attack by Iran, which fired about 200 missiles at Israel, though most were intercepted by the country’s air defences.

“Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of ballistic missiles and this attack failed,” Netanyahu added.

World leaders have called for restraint after the first open Israeli airstrikes on Iran were launched in the early hours of Saturday.

The Israeli airforce struck about 20 military bases across Iran, including missile and drone manufacturing sites and air defence systems. Here is what we know about the attack (you can read the full story here):

• Israel struck military sites in Iran early on Saturday, saying it was in response to “months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the state of Israel”. The strikes were widely expected after Tehran’s attacks on Israel this month. The Israeli public broadcaster Kan said dozens of fighter jets were involved.

• The attack killed four Iranian soldiers, Iran’s army said.

• The Israeli military said on Saturday morning it hit missile manufacturing sites and aerial defences in several areas and had completed its “targeted” air attacks, and that its planes had safely returned home. Israel’s public broadcaster said three waves of strikes had been completed.

• The UK and US have warned against further escalation, while nations including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan have all condemned the attacks.

• Israel bears “full responsibility” for the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, the Pakistan foreign ministry has said, adding that the Israeli strikes “undermine the path to regional peace and stability”.

• Iran is “entitled and obligated to defend itself against external aggressive acts”, its foreign ministry has said. The ministry called the Israeli attack a violation of international law and said Tehran “recognises its responsibilities towards regional peace and security”.

• Iran said its air defence system successfully countered Israel’s attacks on military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam, with “limited damage” to some locations. A semi-official Iranian news agency vowed a “proportional reaction” to Israeli moves against Tehran.

Israel’s medical service Magen David Adom has reported dozens of injuries after a suspected attack on a bus station in Glilot, central Israel, near Tel Aviv. Police say that officers are heading to the scene after a truck rammed into members of the public waiting at a bus stop, according to reports. The exact circumstances around the incident – which is under investigation – remain unclear. We will bring you the latest as we get it.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has made his first public comments since the Israeli airstrikes on his country. He said that Israel’s attack on Iran this weekend “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” though he stopped short of calling for retaliation. Here is some of what he said in a meeting with the families of the four members of the armed forces who were killed in the attack:

• “The evil committed by the Zionist regime (Israel) two nights ago should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated”, IRNA cited Khamenei as saying.

• He described the Israeli airstrikes as “malignant”.

• “The calculation error of the Zionist regime must be disrupted. They do not know Iran, its youth, its nation. They have not yet been able to fully comprehend the power, capabilities, initiative and will of the Iranian nation, we must make them understand it,” Al Jazeera quoted the Iranian supreme leader – the ultimate authority in Iran – as saying.

• “It would be wrong for us to say that it was nothing and it did not matter,” Khamenei said, adding that Israel has tried to exaggerate the impact of the airstrikes.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is expected to speak on Sunday about the airstrikes by Israel that saw waves of IDF fighter jets and drones attack military sites across the country, the New York Times reports.

Saturday’s attack focused on air defence, radar sites, and long-range missile production facilities and marked the first time Israel has openly attacked Iran after decades of shadow warfare. Four soldiers were killed, Iranian media said.

At least 40 Palestinian people were killed and 80 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on several houses in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya on Saturday, Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Sunday, citing medical sources.

The attack targeted a block of at least five homes near the western roundabout in Beit Lahiya, according to Wafa journalists. Officials say it means that about 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the renewed assault on northern Gaza launched by the Israeli military at the start of October.

Here is a summary of the latest developments:

• “I hope this is the end,” the US President Joe Biden told reporters on Saturday after the Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Biden said Israel gave him a heads up and it appeared “they didn’t hit anything but military targets” in their attacks. Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, hailed the US – Israel’s biggest arm supplier – as his country’s “true ally” after the airstrikes. The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, denied a report that Israel initially planned to strike Iran’s oil and natural gas facilities, but changed its plan to focus on Iranian military targets after pressure from the US.

• Four soldiers were killed in the Israeli airstrikes on Iran, Iranian media said. Iran said the airstrikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, causing “limited damage”. Iran’s mission to the UN said Israeli warplanes attacked several Iranian military and radar sites from Iraqi airspace, and blamed the US for what it called its “complicity”. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, described the Israeli attack as “reckless and cowardly”, adding that his country was determined to defend itself.

• The Israeli strikes reportedly hit Iranian facilities used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles. Satellite images obtained by Reuters appear to confirm that the Israeli attacks hit buildings that Iran used for mixing solid fuel for ballistic missiles. Israel struck Parchin, a massive military complex near Tehran, as well as Khojir, a sprawling missile production site near the Iranian capital, the news agency reported, citing two US researchers. Israel hit 12 “planetary mixers” used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, which make up the bulk of Iran’s missile arsenal, Israeli sources told Axios. The UN’s nuclear watchdog (IAEA) said Iran’s nuclear programme was not affected by Saturday’s strikes.

• Iran’s military suggested it would prioritise an agreement to end Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon over any retaliation against Israel. The carefully worded statement released on Saturday night suggests at least parts of Iran’s government want to avoid further escalation. Iran’s foreign ministry said it had a right to self-defence after Saturday’s attack. The statement said Iranian radar sites were damaged but some were already under repair, and added that Israel used so-called “standoff” missiles over Iraqi airspace to launch it attacks. They had lighter warheads to travel to targets inside Iran.

• The strikes were restrained enough for Iranian officials to belittle the scale and effectiveness of the incursion and for Israeli hardliners to denounce their government for timidity. Israel’s military could have “exacted a higher price”, opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post on X after the bombing ended. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Saturday’s attack was “an opening blow” and strikes on the country’s strategic assets “must be the next step”.

• Israel’s military announced it was easing some safety restrictions for residents in areas of northern Israel on Saturday, a possible indication that it does not expect any immediate large-scale attack from Iran or its proxies in the region. The decision followed a “situational assessment”, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Saturday.

• Israeli troops withdrew from the Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalia on Saturday, after storming the medical facility and detaining dozens of its staff. Israeli forces seized 44 of the 70-strong team at the hospital, only 14 have since been released. Almost all male staff at the hospital had been taken away by Israeli forces, the head of the World Health Organsation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, describing the situation in the area as “catastrophic”. Among those missing is Dr Mohammed Obeid, an orthopedic surgeon working for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which said it was “deeply concerned” about his safety.

• The UN’s acting humanitarian chief, Joyce Msuya, called for an urgent halt to the devastating Israeli assault on north Gaza, attacks on health facilities and mass detentions there. “The entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying,” she said.

• Israeli media reported that a drone attack – targeting a factory producing aviation components – in Karmiel in the north of the country has injured two people. The Israeli military said the drone was launched from Lebanese territory.

• The UN security council is expected to convene on Monday at the request of Iran to discuss the recent Israel airstrikes.