Israel At War Thursday June 19

 Israel at war day 622

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1:00am

Five people are lightly injured by the Iranian missile impact in Beersheba, Magen David Adom says.The missile struck just outside apartment blocks, causing heavy damage to the nearby homes.

MDA says it treated five who were lightly hurt by the shockwave, blunt trauma, smoke inhalation, and acute anxiety

- All clear given

Update it was a direct hit by  An Iranian ballistic missile causing damage.

- Authorities investigating if it was a direct hit

- Fragments from interception of missile impacted a parking lot in Beer sheva causing a fire and damage  no reports of injuries.

- IDF: Sirens sounding in southern Israel due to missile fire from Iran

- Trump posts this from Marc Thiessen: "Donald Trump is not an isolationist, but I think some of the Republican isolationists are suddenly discovering that they're out of touch with the MAGA movement and Donald Trump...I have total confidence in Donald Trump. This is the guy who killed Qasem Soleimani. You think he's afraid to take out Forgo? Of course not."

9:15

- IDF: Several drones from Iran were intercepted over Yam Hamelach region tonight 

- NBC: President Donald Trump is increasingly relying on a small group of advisers for critical input as he weighs whether to order U.S. military action in Iran targeting its nuclear program, according to two defense officials and a senior administration official. At the same time, another senior administration official said, Trump has been crowdsourcing with an array of allies outside the White House and in his administration about whether they think he should greenlight strikes in Iran — 

7:30 pm

- British Foreign Secretary David Lamy after a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Washington: "The situation in the Middle East remains dangerous. We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. In a meeting with Rubio and Witkoff at the White House today, we discussed how an agreement can prevent the conflict from deepening. There is now a window of time within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution."Barak Ravid

- FBI increases domestic surveillance over possible "sleeper-cells linked to Hezbollah" in the U.S.  CBS

- Australia has announced it is closing its embassy in Tehran and evacuating all diplomats and their families from Iran.

- Iranian media denies the reports that Israel bombed Khamenei’s hiding place.

- EL AL  rescue flight taking off tonight from JFK to Ben Gurion Airport

-NYT report: US officials believe Iran would pursue nuclear weapon development if Supreme Leader Khamenei were assassinated.

4:30pm

- Iranian opposition sources report that the IDF is currently attacking the Levizan neighborhood in northeastern Tehran (in the mountainous area), where senior Iranian officials are hiding. Possible targeted elimination

- Senior Revolutionary Guards official: Even before the Israeli bombing - we moved all the enriched uranium that was in the nuclear sites to secret hiding places.

- Reports of a possible assassination strike against a senior official earlier in Central Tehran.

Initial Report: Strike Targets Underground Facility in Tehran’s Lavizan District, Rumored to Shelter Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a Bunker.

- El Al will operate special medical emergency flights this shabbos be defined as Pikuach Nefesh-medical emergency flights with approval from the chief rabbis 

the flights will take off for Israel from Larnaca and Athens. 

- The U.S. has not ruled out any strike options to destroy Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, including the use of tactical nuclear weapons, according to a White House official quoted by Fox News.

- CNN Report: Fearing an Iranian attack, the U.S. military has removed from Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar all aircraft that were not housed in designated shelters. Al-Udeid is the largest American military base in the Middle East.

- Ch 14 The defense establishment is preparing for the possibility that the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah will try to exploit the situation and attack Israel.

The attack may include a missile attack from the terrorist group in the north and a simultaneous missile attack from the terrorist group in the south of the Arabian Peninsula. As a result, Israel is preparing for any development, including the possibility that Hezbollah will make a mistake and enter into another conflict with

- Israeli officials are still optimistic about the possibility of Trump joining the campaign. (Dafna Liel)

-Kan 11: The US asked Israel to hold the strike on Fordow until the US has exhausted all efforts at the negotiation table.

President Trump has approved attack plans for Iran, but is waiting to see whether Tehran will scrap its nuclear program before giving the final order. That’s according to last night’s

@WSJ  report, confirming my previous assessment that the president is on the verge of ordering American forces to attack Iran.  I will, however, add a slightly different interpretation to deliberations in Washington. Rather than wrestling with the question of whether to attack Iran, Trump is now focusing on secondary issues, such as evacuating Americans from the region, how effective the U.S. bombs will be, how to deal with an Iranian response, and more. Don’t forget: Even if Trump is set on bombing Fordow, if he doesn’t feel that a satisfactory plan for the day after exists—the attack may be scrapped in its entirety.(A.Segal)

1:30pm

 White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “I have a message directly from the president — based on the fact that there is a chance for substantial negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future — I will make my decision on whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”

- Trump on U.S. military action against Iran: 

- "I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks."

- Netanyahu hints to report that Israel running low on interceptors: "We’re striking Iran’ launchers. It doesn’t matter so much how many rockets they have. What matters is how many launchers they have and we’re already getting there. I think we’ve already passed the halfway mark of the launchers they have.”

- In Israel they are saying that they won’t wait long for Trump, and that if he doesn’t attack, Israel will take care of Fordow. Amit Segal

Revolutionary Guards: Our next attacks will be against military targets and industrial centers related to the military industry in Haifa and Tel Aviv.

Putin warned Israel: Hundreds of Russian nuclear experts are working in Iran, and they’re not going anywhere.

12:00 pm

- Israel expects a U.S. decision on joining Iran war within 24-48 hours — Times of Israel

-Israeli security source tells Israel Hayom: Our estimates indicate that the war with Iran could end within a few days

- Trump has been briefed on both the risks and the benefits of bombing Fordo, Iran's most heavily secured nuclear facility, and his mindset is that disabling it is necessary because of the risk of weapons being produced in a relatively short period of time, sources say. 

Trump is aware of the diplomatic effort being undertaken with EU officials meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Switzerland on Friday. John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, has said in closed-door settings that Iran is viewed as being very close to possessing nuclear weapons, despite the official line from the intelligence community that Iran's leadership hasn't given a formal order to build bombs, according to multiple sources. (Bloomberg reporter)

- Israel’s Head of Military Intelligence: 30 Iranian commanders, including their chief of staff who fled to the mountains, were eliminated at a secret headquarters.

- Israel believes that it has destroyed two-thirds of Iran's missile launchers, leaving the mullahs with around 100 more. Remember: no matter how many missiles Iran has, if they have no launchers with which to fire them at Israeli cities, the missiles are useless.(Amit Segal)

- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued an “evacuation” warning for the area near Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility, according to Iranian media.

- Cleared for publication: A few days ago, an Iranian missile destroyed the cancer research facility at the Weizmann Institute. The newly built chemistry building, which was just about to be inaugurated, was also leveled. Beyond the estimated 2 billion shekels in physical damage, the true loss is immeasurable. Years of groundbreaking research, wiped out. Irreplaceable progress in the fight against cancer, gone in seconds.(Media reports no source)

10 15 am

- There are no immediate reports of impacts in urban areas or injuries in Iran's ballistic missile attack, Magen David Adom says.

At least 10 missiles were fired from Iran in the attack, according to initial IDF assessments.

Sirens had sounded across northern Israel.

- Sirens sounding in northern Israel due to a barrage of ballistic missiles fired from Iran

9:00am

-Trump: "The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!"

The WSJ claimed yesterday that he approved attack plans against Tehran but had not yet given the final order.

- יציאת מצרים continues as thousands heading back home from Israle via Egypt  arranged by Plano Rite travel with coach buses arriving at Taba crossing to Sharm E Sheik Airport with chartered flights to Milan and connecting flights to Europe and US.

-The Home Front Command confirms that one of the missiles launched this morning from Iran was equipped with a cluster munition. It is a missile with a warhead equipped with several small bombs weighing 2.5 kg of explosives. It is a familiar missile, equipped with bombs that are released at an altitude of 7 km in the air, spread over a radius of 8 km, and explode using a percussion mechanism when they hit the ground. The unique missile with the cluster munitions exploded over the city area and fragments were scattered in other nearby areas. The Home Front Command says that some of the bombs this morning were dropped, so it is forbidden to approach them, and that it is critical to call bomb disposal teams to neutralize the danger.(Itay Blumental)

- 20 Israeli aircraft destroyed dozens of missile launchers and other infrastructure in Western Iran.

- Updates: 271 injured people arrived at hospitals this morning, 4 in serious condition, 16 in moderate condition, 220 in mild condition, 24 with anxiety disorders, and 7 whose condition has not yet been determined.

- The stock exchange building in Ranat Gan was also hit by Iranian missiles.

President Trump will convene a meeting in the White House Situation Room today.

- Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz saying "closing the economically important waterway remained an option". — Sky

- The IDF is investigating if the Islamic regime launched a cluster bomb at Gush Dan. A larger missile appears to have dispersed smaller missiles (all unguided) aimed at killing as many civilians as possible.

-  Israeli Defense Minister: Taking out Khamenei is now one of the war  goals.

Israel’s defense minister warned on Thursday that the Israeli military would intensify its strikes on “strategic targets” in Iran, after a barrage of Iranian missiles hit several locations, including a major hospital complex in southern Israel.

-Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed that Iran had targeted Israeli military facilities near a hospital, according to the Fars news NYT

- An open miracle thebold surgical ward  that  was hit in Soroka hospital was evacuated yesterday 

- Some 30 missiles fired in early-morning last barrage, warhead causes extensive damage to Soroka, the main hospital in southern Israel; 6 people seriously injured in Ramat Gan and Holon

- Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed that he will participate in nuclear talks with the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, and the European Union in Geneva on Friday

- The Magen David Adom emergency service said that a man, 80, and two women, both in their 70s, were among six people seriously hurt. Two people were moderately injured, and at least 42 others suffered light injuries from shock waves and shrapnel at the various impact sites. In addition, 18 people were lightly injured as they scrambled to shelter

- The South Without a Medical Supercenter, Preparations to Evacuate Many Patients from Soroka

-Soroka Hospital in Beersheba is being evacuated after a rocket barrage and a direct hit. Dozens of patients are being transferred to other hospitals, including Barzilai, Hadassah Ein Kerem, Sheba and Beilinson. The Ministry of Health has directed early preparation and evacuation of patients. MDA has provided four buses for intensive care for the evacuation operation