Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
At least 41 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip since dawn today, according to hospital sources in the enclave speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic.
At least 16 Palestinians, including three children, were killed Saturday morning in Israeli shelling and gunfire directed at aid-seekers, according to medical sources.
For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Saturday, go here.
Trump announces 3 US bomb drops in Iranian nuclear sites
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday that the U.S. “completed a successful attack” in Iran.
President Trump announced on Truth Social Saturday the United States had bombed three Iranian nuclear sites, including the Fordow site that is located in a mountainside.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home,” Trump added. “Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!”
The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on Thursday in what they described as a tense phone call.
The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks* that U.S. President Donald Trump presented on Thursday as a deadline for deciding whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump spoke to the nation on Saturday night to announce a “spectacular military success” in the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites earlier that evening.
“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror**,” Trump said, flanked by the vice president, secretary of state and defense secretary.
“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said.
Iran must now enter into peace talks, according to the president. “If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier,” he said.
“I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen,” Trump said. “It will not continue.”
Trump also thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done.”
The strikes were carried out in part by B-2s, which can carry payloads of 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs. Later reports indicated that dozens of bunker busters were used on Fordo and Natanz, and that Navy submarines fired 30 TLAM cruise missiles at the Natanz and Isfahan sites.
Trump praised the “brilliant military minds” who helped plan the successful attacks — “the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.”
He said now there “will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater for Iran than we have witnessed in the last many days,” he added, noting there “are many other targets.”
Adam Weinstein, a Quincy Institute Middle East fellow who served as a combat Marine in Afghanistan, said of the 40,000 US troops stationed in the Middle East, “You’ve put every U.S. troop and embassy in the region at risk and squandered America’s diplomatic leverage—though you’ll likely think you’ve strengthened it.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) said, “The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”
*NOTE: It can not be overemphasized that Israel was behind Trump’s attack. The American people have made clear that they do not want to go to war with Iran, but Israel partisans and the Israel lobby use their massive political clout to bring about whatever is beneficial to Israel – including putting the US military in harm’s way and making America a pariah.
While the IAEA and US intelligence have said that while Iran has not been building a bomb, the American attack could push Iran decide to build one now. The state is already considering withdrawing from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (Israel is not a member of the treaty, and is well-known to possess nuclear weapons, although it has never admitted it outright).
**The use of the word “terrorist” for groups – like Hamas – that resist occupation and oppression is a political, not fact-based choice. In reality, international law supports the efforts of resistance groups against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance. Iran’s support for Hamas points not to Iran’s or Hamas’ criminality, but to Israel’s.
IRAN-ISRAEL-US NEWS SNAPSHOTS:
IRAN CASUALTIES: More than 430 people have been killed and 3,056 wounded in Iran since Israel launched its attack on June 13, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.
WAR MAY LAST MONTHS: On 21 June, Israeli army officials warned that the war against Iran could last for “many months,” abandoning earlier estimates that the so-called ‘Operation Rising Lion’ would be completed within weeks: “After initial estimates indicated that the operation in Iran would end within two weeks,” the Hebrew outlet Yedioth Ahronoth reported, “the Israeli army clarified today that it is still unclear when it will actually conclude.”
ANOTHER US AIRCRAFT CARRIER: A Navy official confirmed on 21 June that the USS Gerald R. Ford will depart from Norfolk, Virginia, for the US European Command area next week, placing three aircraft carriers within striking distance of Iran. The US has also moved several B-2 stealth bombers and refueling tankers to the Pacific.
READY FOR NUCLEAR LEAKS: Iran spokesperson says the health department is preparing to treat any victims suffering from the effects of Israel’s continuing attacks on nuclear facilities: “We are prepared to deal with any nuclear leak in the event that nuclear reactors are targeted, and we hope we do not reach that stage.”
ISRAELIS TRAPPED: Israeli rescue teams are conducting search operations to retrieve Israeli residents trapped under a two-storey building that was bombed by an Iranian drone in a northern Israel town on Saturday. According to Israeli media, rescue authorities are seeking to retrieve and identify those trapped under the building in Beit She’an- which suffered significant damage.
KHAMENEI CHOOSES SUCCESSOR: Wary of assassination, Iran’s supreme leader mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications to make it harder to find him. The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has picked an array of replacements down his chain of military command in case more of his valued lieutenants are killed. He has even named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, as well — perhaps the most telling illustration of the precarious moment he and his three-decade rule are facing.
MORE ON IRAN-ISRAEL-US:
Iranian drones breach Israeli air defenses for first time in direct attack
Israel admitted on Saturday that Iranian drones had successfully penetrated its air defenses and reached targets deep within its territory, in what marks the first official acknowledgment of such an incident.
According to Israeli media, Iran launched a coordinated drone attack in the early hours of Saturday morning, involving several types of unmanned aerial vehicles, including suicide drones. Sirens were activated in multiple areas across Israel as a result.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv also revealed that since the onset of hostilities, Iran has launched approximately 1,100 drones toward Israel. Of these, 300 have been intercepted, including 200 within Syrian airspace. The remaining 700, according to the Israeli military’s assessment, “never reached the Israeli border and fell en route”.
Video clips circulated Saturday showed the launch of interceptor missiles in response to the drone incursion, highlighting the seriousness of what is now an openly acknowledged breach of Israel’s layered air defense network (continue reading here).
IRAN-ISRAEL-US HEADLINES:
Tulsi Gabbard’s Clarification On Iran After Trump’s 2nd Rebuke In A Week
NOTABLE QUOTES:
CIA analyst Ray McGovern, speaking to Al Jazeera about Trump’s policy on Iran:
[Trump seems to be] hell bent on dismissing all intelligence and going ahead with what they intend to do.Tulsi Gabbard is telling the truth. The intelligence community, no matter how bad it has been on Ukraine and other issues, has stayed firm on a judgment made unanimously … in November 2007, that Iran stopped working on a nuclear weapon at the end of 2003.
Ilan Pappe, Israeli historian and professor, on Benjamin Netanyahu’s objective in attacking Iran:
[Netanyahu] is very much interested in not attracting attention to his [corruption] trial and the fact that he’s now in the very difficult part of the trial, where he’s being questioned by the prosecutor.He’s using the excuse of Gaza and the war of Iran to say you have to postpone the trial for two or three years because we’re going to have a long war. So that’s his personal ambition.
The allies are messianic Zionists who really believe that this is a window of opportunity to use force in order to totally change the reality and create not only a Greater Israel over the West Bank and Gaza but even beyond.
They have this dream of what they have read in the Old Testament, the Torah, and the Bible of a great ancient Israeli kingdom that everybody is terrified from in the region and can have even more extended space under its control.
PROTEST NEWS:
‘Thousand Ship Flotilla’ announced to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza
A coalition of Malaysian civil society organizations has announced an ambitious campaign to launch a “Thousand Ship Flotilla” to break Israel’s 17-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, in what is being described as the largest maritime mobilization of its kind.
The initiative, led by the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM), aims to send vessels from across the globe carrying humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave, in defiance of Israel’s naval embargo. Organisers say the flotilla will be “larger and more organised” than the 2010 Freedom Flotilla, which ended with the killing of ten activists by Israeli forces aboard the Mavi Marmara.
Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, MAPIM president Azmi Abdul Hamid said the campaign was a direct response to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. “We cannot remain silent while entire families are being wiped out and starvation is used as a weapon,” he said, adding that “the global community must act when international institutions fail” (continue reading here).
A Harvard Commencement Speaker Mentioned Gaza. The School Refused to Publish Her Speech.
Harvard Divinity School broke precedent by refusing to publish a video of its commencement speech after a speaker went off-script to call attention to the perilous conditions in Gaza, The Intercept has learned.
“There are no safe zones left in Gaza after 600 days and 77 years of genocide,” said Zehra Imam, who graduated from the Harvard Divinity School and participated in the embattled Religion and Public Life program. Imam, who is Muslim, was speaking with two other students from Christian and Jewish faiths who had cleared a draft of their planned remarks with the school — and agreed that Imam should go off-script to address the ongoing genocide.
“I center Palestine today, not just because of its scale of atrocity but because of our complicity in it,” Imam said. “Class of 2025, Palestine is waiting for you to arrive. And you must be courageous enough to rise to the call because Palestine will keep showing up in your living rooms until you are ready to meet its gaze.”
Harvard did not publish a video of the speech on its website or YouTube page, as it did with commencement speeches in past years. When Imam and her co-speakers asked why, the school told them the decision was made due to “security concerns.”
The decision runs counter to the public perception that Harvard is crusading against President Donald Trump’s threats to cut university funding to crush speech, according to seven Harvard Divinity School students and staff who spoke to The Intercept. While the university has been publicly praised for fighting back against Trump, its efforts to censor Imam’s speech and wipe out the civic engagement she took part in have raised concerns among students and staff that the school is actually capitulating to pressure from the White House (continue reading here).
Mahmoud Khalil released from detention
Mahmoud Khalil, speaking at a press conference after his release from detention:
Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this.
Not only if they threaten me with detention, even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine again.
I just want to go back and just continue the work that I was already doing, advocating for Palestinian rights, speech that should actually be celebrated rather than punished.
Whether you are a U.S. citizen, an immigrant or just a person on this land doesn’t mean that you are less of a human. Justice will prevail, no matter what this administration may try to portray [about immigrants].
RELATED: Mahmoud Khalil Won His Freedom Despite the Best Efforts of ICE’s Intelligence Unit
MORE HEADLINES:
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JUNE 21, 2025:
- At least 56,951 Palestinians killed, 140,027 injured – including:
- at least 55,959 killed in Gaza (~16,500 children)
- at least 992 killed in the West Bank (~199 children)
- at least 131,242 injured in Gaza
- at least 8,785 injured in the West Bank
According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.
Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, it has killed at least 5,647 people. 23 Israeli soldiers (most recent June 18) have been killed during the same time period.
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – June 21, 2025: ~1,613 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 428 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 221 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 184 and 281 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
- Mahmoud Khalil released from ICE detention after more than three months
- Why BBC editors must one day stand trial for colluding in Israel’s genocide
- American Committee on Foreign Relations Miseducates Public and Censors Truth-Telling Analysts
- UC San Francisco fired me for speaking out against genocide, but as a physician I could not remain silent
- Is Israel’s favorite US general helping to push us into war?
- Israel blocks its Palestinian citizens from bomb shelters during Iran strikes
- Meet the American military veterans fasting for Gaza
- IAEA report didn’t say Iran is producing nuclear weapons
- BBC coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza ‘systematically biased against Palestinians’
- Zionism Is Not an American Principle
- Massie, Democrats move to block US strikes on Iran
- Professor John Mearsheimer: Israel gets the US to do its bidding
- America Has Betrayed Palestinians. We Will Still Prevail.
- Pure Orwell: Europe condemns Iran for attacks on its own territory
- Israel’s Hidden Front: How Israel’s Military Embeds Itself Among ‘Civilians’
- ‘I Wished for Death’: A Palestinian Man’s Torture at an Israeli Checkpoint
- Trump’s “aid” boss oversees lethal food distribution in Gaza
- The rise of Abu Shabab: Mapping the Gaza militia armed by Israel
- Israel uses antisemitism as cover for Gaza genocide. It’s a trap
