Since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran at least 13 Israelis have been killed and 1,929 others injured in Iranian retaliatory attacks on Israel, the Israeli Health Ministry revealed on Sunday, as the spiralling conflict unleashes growing devastation.
A ministry statement said that 157 people were injured in Iranian attacks in the last 24 hours.
The ministry explained that 112 people are still hospitalised, including nine in serious condition.
It urged Israelis to rush to shelters “with caution,” noting that several people were injured while running to shelters.
Regional escalation flared up since Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28, killing more than 1,200 people, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and injuring over 10,000 others.
Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets.
In Iran, at least 1,332 people have been reported killed in US-Israeli attacks as a new wave of intense bombing struck the Iranian capital within the past 24 hours.
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Iran pledged to intensify its offensive operations against Israel and the United States as of tonight, an Iranian military official said following a massive strike on an oil facility which plunged huge areas of Tehran into darkness amid a huge ongoing fire on the site.
“The escalating brutality by the US and Israel against the interests of the Iranian people will lead to a significant increase in offensive operations by the armed forces,” the Fars News Agency said, citing the official.
He said the Iranian army will double its use of strategic missiles carrying heavy warheads, along with intensified use of drones.
“This step has been taken to provide overwhelming deterrence against any military adventure that threatens our country’s interests and citizens,” the military official added.
Death toll rises in Lebanon
Elsewhere, two Israeli soldiers were confirmed killed in an attack in southern Lebanon on Sunday, according to the Israeli military.
The army said in a statement that one of the dead soldiers was a heavy machinery operator in the 91st “Galilee” Regional Division’s combat engineering unit.
No details were given about the circumstances of the deaths.
Israel has expanded its military campaign in Lebanon since Monday, following rocket fire and drone attacks by Hezbollah.
According to Lebanese authorities, at least 394 people have been killed and 1,130 others injured in Israeli attacks since Monday.
Israel has killed more than 4,000 people and wounded 17,000 during an offensive in Lebanon that began in October 2023 and escalated into a full-scale war in September 2024.
Ali Larijani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who was considered one of late Leader Khamenei’s top aides, has made several explosive remarks about President Donald Trump and American deaths in Iran.
On Saturday night, he shared unverified claims that several American soldiers have been captured and are being held in prisons amid the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
The US military, however, quickly refuted the claims with its own statement.
“The Iranian regime is doing everything it can to peddle lies and deceive. This is yet another clear example,” said US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins in response to Larijani’s post.
A spokesperson from US Central Command (CENTCOM) echoed Hawkins’s denial in a statement to Al Jazeera Arabic.
“The Iranian regime’s claims of capturing American soldiers are yet another example of its lies and deceptions,” the spokesman said.
