Israel and Iran traded heavy fire for a third straight day on Sunday, with mounting casualties and expanding targets marking a sharp escalation in hostilities between the longtime foes.
Strikes in both countries persisted throughout the day, as the death rose following Israel's large-scale attacks on Friday aimed at crippling Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure, sparking retaliation.
The intensity of the exchanges between the two adversaries has reached new heights, fuel;ing concerns of a drawn-out conflict that could engulf the Middle East, even as world leaders call for restraint and a halt to the violence.
After decades of enmity and conflict by proxy, it is the first time the arch-enemies have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a prolonged conflict that could engulf the Middle East.
Tehran-Washington nuclear talks on Sunday cancelled after Israel strikes targets in Iran
Israel's operation, which began early Friday, has targeted Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing dozens of people including top army commanders and atomic scientists, according to Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to hit "every target of the ayatollah regime", while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned further strikes would draw "a more severe and powerful response".
In Bat Yam, outside of Tel Aviv, Israeli first responders wearing helmets and headlamps combed through the rubble of a building as dawn broke.
Two women, aged 69 and 80, a girl and a 10-year-old boy were killed, while about 100 others were wounded, according to a spokesperson for Magen David Adom (MDA).
In Shfela region, west of Jerusalem, another 37 people were wounded, the MDA spokesperson added.
In the north of Israel, in the Western Galilee, rescuers said a strike late Saturday destroyed a three-storey building, killing three women.
A woman in her 20s also died after an Iranian missile hit a home in the Haifa region, leaving about a dozen people wounded, MDA said.
An MDA spokesman told Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 that around 200 people were wounded in the overnight missile strikes fired by Iran.
Iran's UN ambassador said 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in Friday's first wave of Israeli strikes. Iranian authorities have not provided an updated toll as of early Sunday.
'Nuclear project' sites struck
Israel's military said it had struck Iran's defence ministry headquarters, "nuclear weapons project" infrastructure sites and other targets, including fuel tankers, just before 2:40 am on Sunday.
The targeted sites, including the "headquarters of the SPND (Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research) nuclear project", advanced Iran's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon, according to Israel.
Iranian news agency Tasnim earlier reported that an Israeli strike had targeted the defence ministry headquarters in Tehran and damaged one of its buildings. The ministry did not comment.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the country had struck sites used by Israeli warplanes for refuelling, in retaliation for the strikes carried out by Israel.
"The Iranian armed forces' offensive operations will continue more fiercely and more broadly if the depravity and attacks (against Iran) continue," the Guards said in a statement.
Overnight, Israel stuck two fuel depots in Tehran, the Iranian oil ministry said Sunday.
According to the ministry, the oil depots at Shahran northwest of Tehran and another reservoir south of the city were hit.
An AFP journalist saw a depot at Shahran on fire
Foreign concern
Netanyahu maintained Israel's operation had the "clear support" of US President Donald Trump.
Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in a phone call on Saturday that the conflict between Iran and Israel "should end".
According to a statement from his office, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Washington's "dishonesty" for supporting Israel while engaged in nuclear talks with Iran -- which mediator Oman said would no longer take place on Sunday.
Western governments have repeatedly accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which it denies.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said the Israeli attacks undermined negotiations and were pushing the region into a "dangerous cycle of violence".
Israeli strikes have hit Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant and killed its highest-ranking military officer, Mohammad Bagheri, as well as the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami.
The Israeli military said its strikes had killed more than 20 Iranian commanders.
Iranian media reported five Guards killed Saturday in Israeli strikes, while authorities in one northwestern province said 30 military personnel had been killed there since Friday.
Iran's Red Crescent said an ambulance was hit Saturday in Urmia city, killing two.
Iran called on its citizens to unite in the country's defence, while Netanyahu urged them to rise up against the government.
Highlighting the global unease, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against a "devastating war" with regional consequences, in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Ankara said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that his country was deploying fighter jets and other "assets" to the Middle East "for contingency support", while he also urged de-escalation.
(With newswires)
