Iran closes airspace after 'warning' attacks against Israel

Authorities in Israel have closed crossings into the Gaza Strip as a "security measure" after Iran fired missiles toward Israel.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is a wing of Israel's Defense Ministry that is responsible for implementing Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It said the Kerem Shalom Crossing, the Rafah Crossing and others were being closed "until further notice."

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for deescalation after Iran fired missiles toward Israel in retaliation for Israel's strikes on Lebanon.

"The resumption of conflict between Iran and Israel is in no one’s interest. Both sides must show restraint and deescalate immediately," she said on social media.

"Negotiations must continue toward the lasting settlement that we all need, for peace and stability in the region, and for the full restoration of global trade."

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said its chief of general staff is currently conducting a "situational assessment" with its supreme command body, the General Staff Forum.

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will strike the enemy with determination as soon as the order is given," the Israeli military spokesperson said.

The Israeli military said late on Sunday that Iran had committed a "grave mistake" after it launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel.

"The Iranian terrorist regime has made a grave mistake by once again choosing the path of terror," military spokesperson Effie Defrin said in an address.

US President Donald Trump has warned against further retaliatory strikes between Israel and Iran in a brief interview with online outlet Axios.

"I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate," Trump said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his nickname.

"Each of them had their fun. Israel had its strike, and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one."

Trump went on to say that the Iranian strikes "didn't hurt anybody."

"Hopefully Israel is not going to retaliate. If Bibi strikes them back, it's just gonna keep going like the last 47 years — or the last 3,000 years," Trump said.

He also claimed once again that the US and Iran were "very close" to reaching a ceasefire deal.

Iran has closed the airspace over the west of the country on Sunday following its attacks on Israel in response to the latest strike on Lebanon.

"Due to safety and security assessments... the western part of the country's airspace was declared closed until further notice," said Majid Akhavan, the spokesman for the National Civil Aviation Organisation, in a statement carried by the news agency IRNA.

Neighbors Iraq and Syria also announced closing their airspace as a safety precaution.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Sunday said their earlier attacks on Israel were a "warning" of a broader response.

It threatened with attacks that would encompass all US and Israeli targets in the region if "aggressions" are repeated.

Iran's military central command said Israel's latest strike on the southern Beirut suburbs had "crossed all red lines."

"The Israeli army must stop its attacks on southern Lebanon and the suburbs, and if it expands its attacks to that region or responds to Iran's action, it will face more devastating and regrettable blows," said General Ali Abdollahi, the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya command.

Israel's military said it had successfully intercepted two Iranian missile barrages late on Sunday and warned of further incoming salvos.

"The [Israeli military intercepted all missiles from Iran thus far," it said in a post on the platform X.

It added that it had "identified additional launches fired toward the state of Israel."

"The Aerial Defense Array is currently identifying and intercepting threats,"  it said.

Israel said on Sunday that it had detected incoming missiles from Iran.

The Israeli military said in a post on X it had "identified missiles launched from Iran toward Israel."

"Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the post read.

Minutes later, the military said it had detected another barrage.

They are the first such missile barrages since the United States and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement early in April.

The statement comes after Israel struck Beirut's southern Dahia neighborhood — known as a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia — earlier on Sunday.

Iranian parliament speaker Bagher Ghalibaf vowed Iran would give a "decisive" and "proportionate" response to the Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim ‌Rezaei said ⁠in ⁠a ​post on X ​on ​Sunday ‌that Tehran will ‌deliver a "decisive and painful response" to Israeli strikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut.

"Look at the sky of the occupied territories tonight," wrote Rezaei, who serves as the spokesperson for the Iranian parliament's national security commission.

There was no immediate formal response from Tehran. 

Later, parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of approving the Israeli strikes on Beirut and vowed a "decisive" and "proportionate" response, according to Iranian state media.

He said that the attack turns US and Israeli "bases and assets … in the region into legitimate targets."

"Our armed forces, as always, are free to act," he said.

US President Donald Trump said Iran's highly enriched uranium will end up in the US' hands, whether the two countries reach a deal to end the war between them or not.

"If we make a deal that now we're friendly, we'll all go together. It'll be our equipment," Trump told US broadcaster NBC, saying the uranium will be destroyed.

"Now, if we don't make a deal, then we're going to take (the enriched uranium) out very harshly," the US president said.

Trump also added that any agreement with Tehran will not immediately result in the freezing of Iran's assets.

“Yeah, if they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking," Trump said.

At least five people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a police station in the Gaza Strip, the enclave's civil defense service said.

This comes despite an ongoing US-brokered ceasefire between Israeland Gaza-based militia Hamas, with both sides trading the blame for alleged ceasefire violations.

At least 961 Palestinians have been killed since the October 10 ceasefire went into force, with the Israeli army reporting five military casualties during the same period.

International media outlets are still barred from entering Gaza due to an Israeli government decision, resulting in an inability to  independently verify news coming out of the enclave.

Israel carried out strikes on Lebanese capital Beirut's southern Dahia area, Israeli authorities said. 

The neighborhood is known as a stronghold of Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

"This comes as a response to Hezbollah's shooting towards Israel," ajoint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

The Israeli military described the targets of the strikes as "infrastructure of terrorist group Hezbollah" on its official X account.

This is the first time Israel has carried out strikes in the Lebanese capital since a new ceasefire was announced on Wednesday, with reports saying Israel had wanted to strike Beirut earlier and US President Donald Trump prevented the strikes from taking place.

The Israeli military warned residents to leave the Lebanese city of Tyre and surrounding areas ahead of possible strikes.

The continued clashes between Israel and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah come despite a new ceasefire announced Wednesday.

Earlier today, two projectiles were launched from Lebanon towards Israel's north, with the Israeli army saying both were intercepted.

Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the launches.

A 37-year-old man of Palestinian origin was arrested on the Greek island of Crete for allegedly being a member of Islamist organization Hamasand planning terrorist attacks, according to the Athens police. 

The man, who reportedly arrived in Greece about a year ago and received asylum in the country, is one of three Palestinians who received joint training in the use of explosives abroad, police said, with the investigation still ongoing. The other two were recently arrested in Cyprus. 

Searches in flats in Crete and Athens resulted in the authorities finding several mobile phones, a laptop and bank cards.

Many parts of Europe are still on high alert due to the potential targeting of Israeli and Jewish institutions across the continent in connection with the conflict in the Middle East.