Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Arye Myers, an emergency paramedic, arrived at the Soroka hospital in southern Israel at 09:00 local time (07:00 BST) to help evacuate patients after it was hit by a missile.

He tells me that cancer patients “came out in wheelchairs and hospital gowns very stressed”.

Some critically ill and intensive care patients were “carried out on stretchers while connected to oxygen tanks”, says Myers, who is part of the Magen David Adom emergency rescue team.

He says patients told him that being inside the hospital when the missile hit was a “terrifying experience – they felt the entire building shake with the impact, and the windows near them shattered”.

“We brought in four intensive care buses to move people in intensive care,” he says, adding that 250 patients have been moved to other hospitals.

Analysing the footage, as Iran says strike on hospital was not a ‘direct hit’published at 15:32 British Summer Time

By Jake Horton

As we’ve been reporting, an Iranian missile has damaged the Soroka hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel this morning.

Israel says the site was directly hit, but Iranian state media has reported that authorities there say a military infrastructure site next to it was struck – and the hospital was damaged “by the blast wave”.

Our team has verified a video of the site’s exterior that shows smoke rising out of its roof which appears to have partially caved in.

We’ve been putting verified video and images of the aftermath to munitions experts and asking them to assess what happened.

Trevor Lawrence, an explosives expert at Cranfield University told us: “The video of the building shows extensive damage to the top but relatively little damage to the sides, which would suggest a direct hit rather than the effect of an adjacent blast.”

Justin Bronk, a senior analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) agreed that it “looked like a direct impact on the roof”.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Iran’s mission to the UN says in a post on X that the country “categorically rejects” Israel’s “false claim” that it targeted the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, Israel.

It says that Iran’s strikes are “precise” and only target “facilities directly involved in and supporting” Israel’s attacks on Iran.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the “blast wave” of Iran targeting an Israeli military command base caused “superficial damage” to the hospital.

Israel has accused Iran of targeting the hospital. Israel’s deputy foreign minister said Iran’s attack was “deliberate” and “criminal”.

Israel’s Ministry of Health says 271 people have been injured following strikes this morning, with 71 injured during the attack on Soroka hospital.

“Most of the slightly injured were injured on the way to the protected area or suffered panic attacks,” the ministry says in its update on X.

The Israeli prime minister’s office said that Iranian missile strikes had killed at least 24 people in Israel since the start of the conflict.

Iranian officials have not given an update on casualties today.

The country’s health ministry said on Sunday that at least 224 people had been killed and more than 1,200 injured in Israeli air strikes since Friday, when the conflict began.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – a Washington-based human rights organisation that has long tracked Iran – says 639 people have been killed in Iran since Friday last week.

Donald Trump has hit back at reports in the Wall Street Journal newspaper that he has approved attack plans for Iran, but was holding off on giving the final order.

The BBC’s US partner CBS News also reported the same yesterday.

In a social media post a little while ago, the US president says: “The Wall Street Journal has No Idea what my thoughts are concerning Iran!”

It’s a federal holiday in the US today so much of Washington DC is quiet.

That’s not the case, however, at the White House where there are a handful of events that we’re watching.

At 11:30 EDT (16:30 BST), Donald Trump will receive an intelligence briefing.

Less than two hours later, at 13:00 EDT, we’re expecting a White House press briefing.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy at 14:00 EDT about the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.

We’ll bring you the latest news from these events as we hear it.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump to step back from military action against Iran.

The prime minister says there was a “real risk of escalation” in the conflict, urging all sides to seek a diplomatic outcome.

He says there have previously been “several rounds of discussions with the US” and “that, to me, is the way to resolve this issue”.

His comments come as Foreign Secretary David Lammy takes the UK’s plea for de-escalation to Washington, where he will meet Trump’s top diplomat Marco Rubio.

Lammy and US Secretary of State Rubio will discuss the situation in the Middle East on Thursday evening.

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

An Israeli spokesperson has told the BBC that no request has been made to the UK for assistance in intercepting incoming Iranian drones or missiles.

Nor has any assistance has been offered by the UK, they add.

Where does Iran’s military capability stand?published at 14:36 British Summer Time

Chris Partridge
BBC News weapons analyst

While Israel and the US heavily focus on air power, Iran’s military might is focused on missiles, hundreds of which have been targeting Israel these past few days.

The Institute for the Study of War has data on the types of missiles available, their fuel systems and ranges.

Israel has placed huge emphasis on knocking out Iranian missile sites, now that the Israeli Air Force has achieved air dominance over a large part of the country.

Tom Bennett
Reporting from Ramat Gan

I’ve just spoken to Jan Kapusniak, 38, who lives close to where an Iranian missile struck the business district of Ramat Gan, just outside Tel Aviv, this morning.

“Even though I don’t agree with the current government, especially their internal politics, when it comes to this operation against Iran, I agree,” he says.

“Because the current conditions under which Israel can hit Iran’s nuclear programme are good. Hezbollah is decimated.”

“From a military point of view, the Israeli operation is something magnificent. What the army is able to do there, especially the first day. It was incredible coordination, unprecedented.”

Jan is not alone. Support for Israel’s attack on Iran is strong across the whole country.

A poll by Hebrew University found that 70% of Israelis back the attack on Iran – including 83% of Jewish Israelis. But, notably, 68% of Israeli Arabs oppose it.

More from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says Israel will “remove” the nuclear threat from Iran.

“By the end of this operation, there will be no nuclear threat to Israel, nor will there be a ballistic missile threat,” he tells reporters at Soroka Hospital.

Netanyahu adds that Israel has already harmed Iran’s nuclear program “very strongly”.

Asked whether Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was a potential target, Netanyahu says “no one is immune”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken to reporters from the site of the damaged hospital in the south of the country.

He praises Israel’s partnership with Donald Trump, which he calls “incredible”, adding that he speaks to the US president “almost every day”.

“I think his resolve, his determination, and his clarity, when he says Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and for that to take place Iran cannot enrich uranium,” he says.

“He gave them the chance to do it through negotiations, they strung him along. You don’t string along Donald Trump.”

Asked about potential US involvement in the conflict, Netanyahu says: “It’s a decision for the president to make but they’re already helping a lot”.

Iran’s foreign minister is set to meet his UK, French and German counterparts, along with the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, in Geneva on Friday, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Abbas Araghchi confirmed the talks in an interview with the agency, following speculation on social media about meetings between Iranian delegations and European foreign ministers.

Araghchi will discuss Iran’s nuclear programme at the meeting, AFP reports.

Responding to Trump’s repeated comments that the conflict could have been avoided if Iran accepted the nuclear deal, Khatibzadeh says they were still negotiating, until Israel “sabotaged” this with its bombardment.

The deputy foreign minister has also been asked whether Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

Earlier, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Iran had amassed enough uranium enriched up to 60% purity—a short technical step away from weapons grade, or 90%—to potentially make nuclear bombs.

“This is nonsense,” Khatibzadeh says. “You cannot start a war based on speculation or intention.” Instead, he blames Israel – saying it has nuclear warheads – for attacking Iran’s nuclear sites. He calls it a “very, very bad move”.

More now from Iran’s deputy foreign minister, who has been speaking to the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet.

Asked what Iran means when it says all options are on the table if Trump brings the US into the war, Khatibzadeh repeats that Iran wants diplomacy – but while the bombardment against his country continues, “no-one can go for negotiation”.

“The moment that this aggression stops, of course diplomacy is the first option,” he says. He adds that this is “not America’s war”, and if Trump does get involved, he will always be remembered as a president who entered a war he doesn’t belong in.

On whether Iran can match US military power, he says there is “national unity” against any foreign aggressor, so it doesn’t matter who has more strength – it’s about resistance.

As mentioned, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has just spoken to the BBC.

Asked about reports that Donald Trump approved a military plan, and what Tehran expects, he says Iran was “on the verge of reaching an agreement” in nuclear talks with the US before Israel launched its offensive to “sabotage the whole process”.

Iran cancelled talks with the US last Sunday, saying they needed to respond to Israel’s attack on Friday.

Khatibzadeh adds they are getting “backdoor messages” from the US saying Washington is not involved and won’t get involved, but Trump’s public messages are “confusing and contradictory” and suggest US involvement.

Khatibzadeh also says Iran has not contacted the Trump administration – Trump said yesterday that Iranian negotiators want to visit the White House.

Asked if there’s a way to end the war, he says Iran is defending itself after being attacked first, with hundreds of Iranian civilians killed.

Israel killed Iran’s top commanders during diplomacy, he adds.

“We are on self defence… and we are going to continue this self defence until the aggressor takes the lesson that it cannot just attack another country.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has told the Iranian people that “if the enemy senses that you fear them, they won’t let go of you”.

In a post on X, he says: “Continue the very behavior that you have had up to this day; continue this behavior with strength.”

On 17 June, Israeli aircraft struck the headquarters of Iran’s state broadcaster in Tehran.

A live broadcast on Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s TV channel was briefly interrupted after blasts were heard and the studio lights went out.

Iranian media reported that at least one staff member was killed.

We’ve just received some images showing the extent of the impact the strike had on the headquarters:

Iran’s deputy foreign minister is now speaking to the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet.

We’ll bring you the key lines from Saeed Khatibzadeh’s interview, which you can also watch live at the top of the page.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter

Internet in Iran has been very unstable since yesterday, leading to fewer videos and photos coming out of the country.

Iran’s Ministry of Communications confirmed earlier reports of internet restrictions.

In a statement, the Ministry accused Israel of “misusing the national communications network for military purposes”.

It’s not just about getting videos and photos. Contacting friends and family has also been very difficult today.

The BBC is not allowed to report from inside Iran, so I speak with people there using secure, encrypted messaging apps.

Accessing these apps in Iran is tough because the government has banned them.

Many people use VPNs to get around the restrictions, but even VPN access has recently become difficult.

Among the Iranian diaspora, anxiety is rising.

“I wish I had never left my family in Iran. I can’t stop thinking about their safety,” says one person.

“First day in more than a year that I can’t call or text my mum in the morning,” says another.