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Israel Deploys Iron Drone Batteries in Eilat amid Concerns of Iranian Attack

An Israeli Iron Dome defense system deployed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the border with Syria, on May 7, 2018. (AFP)
An Israeli Iron Dome defense system deployed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the border with Syria, on May 7, 2018. (AFP)
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Israel Deploys Iron Drone Batteries in Eilat amid Concerns of Iranian Attack

An Israeli Iron Dome defense system deployed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the border with Syria, on May 7, 2018. (AFP)
An Israeli Iron Dome defense system deployed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the border with Syria, on May 7, 2018. (AFP)

Israel deployed Iron Drone batteries around the southern Red Sea city of Eilat amid concerns of an attack from the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen.

Military sources said that Tel Aviv takes very seriously the Iranian threats to avenge the killings of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November and Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani a year ago.

The sources predicted several scenarios, including a ballistic attack on Eilat, which is located at a distance of around 1,800 kilometers from Yemen.

They said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard recently provided the Houthis with cruise missiles with a range of 2,000 kms and Israel was ready to strongly respond to any attack.

The Iron Dome is an integral part of Israel’s multi-layered defense system. It is generally used against rockets and mortar shells, but can also intercept small drones and cruise missiles.

Last month, military spokesperson Hidai Zilberman said Israel was tracking Iranian movements around the region, and that Israeli submarines were quietly “sailing everywhere.”

Meanwhile, Israeli sources confirmed that two US B-52 bombers flew over its airspace on their way to the Gulf – the fourth flyover in the past two months – in a sign of deterrence against Iran.

Also, in a show of military strength from Washington in the region, a US Navy nuclear submarine passed through the Strait of Hormuz late last month and entered the Gulf.

Washington had also sent the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which arrived in the Gulf in November.

In December, the head of US Central Command (Centcom) said Washington is “prepared to react” if Iran carries out an attack to mark one year since the killing of Soleimani.

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Security Official: Iran Will Respond Against Israel if Infrastructure Attacked

FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Security Official: Iran Will Respond Against Israel if Infrastructure Attacked

FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran will respond to any attack against its infrastructure, including by striking Israel, the head of the country's top security body said on Friday, as Tehran and Washington have resumed fighting this week.

"Any attack on infrastructure will be retaliated against, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters," Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said in a statement carried by state TV.

Fighting picked up again this week between the US and Iran in the most significant exchange of fire since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, seeking to formalize an April ceasefire and guide talks to conclusively end the war.

The US military carried out heavy strikes overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, saying it targeted 90 military sites.

But Iran accused Washington of also targeting civilian infrastructure in order to detract from the funeral of late supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Bridges and railway links between the capital Tehran and Khamenei's hometown of Mashhad, where he was buried on Thursday, were hit, according to Iran.

Iranian authorities say 17 people have been killed in US strikes.

Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the Israeli prime minister spoke on Thursday with the US president, who informed him of the latest American moves in the Gulf.

Later on Thursday evening, Iranian state media reported a US-Israeli attack on a military headquarters near Bushehr, where Iran's only civilian nuclear plant is located.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, vowing to do so "with even greater force".

World

Kremlin Says Putin Remains Open to Ukraine Talks but is Carving out a Bigger Buffer Zone

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Kremlin Says Putin Remains Open to Ukraine Talks but is Carving out a Bigger Buffer Zone

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

The Kremlin said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin remained open to achieving Russia's objectives through diplomacy, but that Moscow was carving out a wider buffer ‌zone in ‌Ukraine in ‌response ⁠to Kyiv's escalatory actions.

Kremlin ⁠spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about a Reuters article a day ⁠earlier in which ‌three ‌sources close to the Kremlin ‌told Reuters that ‌Ukraine's recent drone strikes on Russia's oil refineries and ports were strengthening Putin's ‌resolve to keep fighting for now.

Peskov ⁠said ⁠Russia believed that Kyiv had no desire for talks at the moments and that Moscow was therefore continuing its military campaign in Ukraine.

World

WHO Official: Congo Ebola Outbreak Still Spreading Largely Undetected

FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo
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WHO Official: Congo Ebola Outbreak Still Spreading Largely Undetected

FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Congolese health workers receive a patient at the Rwampara General Hospital as authorities intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain outbreak in Rwampara outside Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer//File Photo

Four out of every five new Ebola cases in parts of Democratic Republic of Congo have no known link to existing patients, a senior World Health Organization official said, warning that the true scale of the outbreak could be two to four times larger than official data suggest.

The figures underscore the challenges facing health workers as they battle to contain the outbreak in the country's northeast, which has so far infected 1,792 people and killed 625, according to government data released on Thursday.

"Eighty percent of the... new patients confirmed are coming outside of known contact lists” in ⁠the heart of ⁠the outbreak in Bunia, Ituri province, WHO Emergencies Director Chikwe Ihekweazu told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.

In areas with fewer cases, like North Kivu province, almost all new cases are coming from the contact lists, he added, a sign of some progress.

WHO estimates based on modelling and test positivity rates suggest the outbreak, which was declared in mid-May, may be between ⁠two and four times larger than the number of confirmed cases, he said.

About 90% of all reported cases remain concentrated in Ituri province, particularly in the health zones of Bunia, Rwampara, Mongbwalu and Nyakunde, where transmission remains intense. But the virus has also spread beyond the epicenter to North Kivu province, South Kivu province and, more recently, Tshopo province.

In Bunia, Ituri's capital and a city of one million, roughly one in two patients tested for Ebola turns out to be positive, a sign of intense, ongoing community transmission, Ihekweazu said.

Preliminary evidence suggests the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus may cause milder symptoms than other types, reducing ⁠risk perceptions among affected ⁠communities and leading some families to care for sick relatives at home before seeking treatment.

While that appears to improve survival rates among patients who reach treatment centers, it also means infected people may remain in the community longer and continue transmitting the virus.

"Patients are out there much longer than we would like," Ihekweazu said. "The longer patients are outside of care, the more likely they are to transmit this illness."

Community deaths also remain a major concern. An analysis of the first 400 Ebola deaths in the outbreak found that roughly 70% occurred outside treatment centers, he said.

Strengthening surveillance remains the biggest challenge for the response, he said.

Authorities this week began training 21,000 community health workers to conduct house-to-house visits, identify suspected cases and encourage people with symptoms to seek care.