Iran’s Supreme National Security Council still needs to give final approval for move * 7 IDF soldiers killed when armored vehicle hit by explosive in southern Gaza
This handout satellite picture provided by Maxar Technologies and taken on June 24, 2025, shows new airstrike craters at a perimeter installation on Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility, northeast of the city of Qom. (Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies/AFP)
Vehicles drive past an anti-Israeli banner depicting Iranian soldiers heading to attack Israeli territory on Enghelab (Revolution) Square, in Tehran on June 24, 2025 (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
An Iranian woman holds a poster of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, right, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli rally at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) square in downtown Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, left, speaks on stage with fellow candidate Comptroller Brad Lander at his primary election party, June 25, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Top row, left to right: Lt. Matan Shai Yashinovski, Staff Sgt. Ronel Ben-Moshe, Sgt. Ronen Shapiro; Bottom row, left to right: Sgt. Maayan Baruch Pearlstein, Staff Sgt. Niv Radia, Sgt. Shahar Manoav, and Staff Sgt. Alon Davidov. The IDF announced that the seven soldiers were killed amid fighting in the southern Gaza Strip on June 24, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they happen.
IDF spokesman: ‘Too early’ to assess damage to Iran’s nuclear program
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says it is still “too early” to assess the damage to Iran’s nuclear program following the war.
“We met all the objectives of the operation as defined for us, even better than we thought. But it is still too early to determine, we are investigating the results of the strikes on the different sections of the nuclear program,” Defrin says in response to a question at a press conference.
“The assessment is that we significantly damaged the nuclear program, and I can say we set it back by years,” he says.
Last night, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said that, “We have set Iran’s nuclear project back by years, and the same goes for its missile program.”
Rubio: Iran ‘much further away’ from building nuclear weapon after US strikes
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells Politico that Iran is “much further away from a nuclear weapon” after a US strike on Iran’s three main nuclear sites over the weekend.
“The bottom line is, they are much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action,” Rubio tells Politico.
“Significant, very significant, substantial damage was done to a variety of different components, and we’re just learning more about it,” he adds.
It was reported yesterday that a preliminary US intelligence assessment has determined that US strikes over the weekend on Iranian nuclear facilities have set back Tehran’s program by only a matter of months.
The US carried out the strikes after over a week of attacks by Israel on Iran’s nuclear and military sites.
Iran’s parliament backs bill to suspend cooperation with IAEA until security of nuclear sites guaranteed
Iran’s parliament has approved a bill to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, Iran’s Nournews reports.
The country’s Supreme National Security Council would still need to give final approval to the move, the report says.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency, which refused to even marginally condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, put its international credibility up for auction,” Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says, according to state TV, announcing that “the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed.”
It was reported yesterday that a preliminary US intelligence assessment has determined that US strikes over the weekend on Iranian nuclear facilities have set back Tehran’s program by only a matter of months.
Iran, which avowedly seeks Israel’s destruction, has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel says it has recently taken steps toward weaponization.
IDF names 7th soldier killed yesterday when armored vehicle hit by explosive in south Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces names the seventh soldier killed during fighting in Gaza yesterday as Staff Sgt. Alon Davidov, 21, from Kiryat Yam.
Davidov and the six other soldiers named earlier this morning were killed in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, when an armored vehicle they were in was hit by an explosive device.
They all served with the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion. Davidov served as a medic.
According to an initial IDF probe, a Palestinian terror operative planted a bomb on the solders’ Puma armored combat engineering vehicle while they were driving in Khan Younis.
The blast set the vehicle on fire, and efforts to extinguish it were unsuccessful. All the soldiers inside perished in the blaze.
Fire at empty house in Palestinian West Bank village blamed on settlers; no injuries reported
An overnight fire at an empty house in the Palestinian village of Susiya in the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank was caused by settlers, witnesses say.
Nobody was inside the building at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported.
Palestinian media outlets also report that the blaze was an arson attack by settlers.
A resident of the village tells The Times of Israel that an eyewitness who noticed the fire said two individuals fled the scene, heading toward the nearby Susiya archaeological site, which is under Israeli control — a detail that, according to the resident, supports the claim that the fire was an arson attack by settlers.
The source says settlers were filmed last week stealing from that same house.
Herzog mourns 7 soldiers killed in Gaza: ‘Flowers plucked while defending our people and homeland’
President Isaac Herzog mourns the seven soldiers killed in Gaza yesterday.
“A very painful morning in which we learned of the deaths of our dear and beloved sons in battle in Khan Younis. Seven flowers plucked while defending our people and homeland – Matan, Ronel, Niv, Ronen, Shahar, Maayan, and another fighter whose name has not yet been released for publication,” Herzog writes on X.
“The [fighting] in Gaza is tough, the battles are fierce, and the burden is heavier than can be borne. We bow our heads and embrace with pain and tears the bereaved and grieving families,” he says. “We pray for the recovery of the wounded fighters and strengthen all IDF soldiers and their commanders who carry on their shoulders the defense of all our lives.”
Iran to hold state funerals for top commanders, scientists killed in war with Israel
Iran will hold on Saturday state funerals for senior military commanders and top scientists killed during the country’s 12-day war with Israel, official media says.
“The national funeral ceremony for… commanders and scientists martyred in the Zionist regime’s aggression will be held on Saturday from 8:00 am (0430 GMT)” in Tehran, official news agency IRNA reports, a day after the warring sides had agreed to a ceasefire.
IRNA says that Hossein Salami, the Revolutionary Guards chief killed by Israel on the war’s first day on June 13, will be buried on Thursday.
Israel said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
Anti-Hamas protester hospitalized in Gaza after he was beaten by Hamas operatives, activists say
Activists in Gaza say on social media that Ahmad al-Masri, a known figure in the anti-Hamas protests in the northern Strip, was beaten by Hamas operatives and hospitalized in recent days.
In footage and images circulated online, Al-Masri can be seen with injuries to his legs, apparently as a result of the attack.
According to the reports, he was hospitalized at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. His condition is currently unclear.
Al-Masri, a resident of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, had been filmed in recent months holding a sign during protests that read, “Hamas does not represent us,” referring to the people of Gaza.
In another video from a demonstration, he is heard saying: “We don’t want Hamas. Hamas has destroyed us. Enough!”
Palestinian media reports woman, 66, shot dead by cops during East Jerusalem operation
Palestinian media outlets report that a 66-year-old woman was shot and killed by police overnight in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.
According to the reports, Zoheya al-Obeidi was shot in the head during a police operation.
Palestinian outlets report that dozens of Border Police entered Shuafat last night in what appeared to be a large-scale operation in the refugee camp.
Police say they launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the East Jerusalem resident, who they claim was brought to the Shuafat checkpoint with severe injuries.
The woman was pronounced dead by paramedics after reaching the checkpoint, police say.
Violence across East Jerusalem and the West Bank has spiked since the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023.
Schools across Israel are reopening their gates for the first time since fighting broke out with Iran, after the IDF’s Home Front Command announced yesterday that it was removing all restrictions imposed on civilians throughout the conflict with Tehran.
Local authorities must also approve the decision, and schools damaged by Iranian fire, or in areas with damage from a direct impact, won’t be forced to reopen. Some municipalities have decided not to open schools today.
According to Channel 12 news, some 300 educational institutions sustained damage in ballistic missile attacks from Iran.
Additionally, the situation is complicated for children who have had to leave their homes as a result of missile damage, and may not be staying close to their schools.
Israeli schoolchildren have had their education disrupted for prolonged periods of time since 2020, the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to pandemic lockdowns, schools have been shut for rounds of fighting against terror groups in Gaza, as well as for a number of months due to the ongoing war sparked by the October 7, 2023 attacks. The education system also often shuts down due to strikes.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-june-25-2025/.
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