Death toll rises in Israel-Iran conflict after fresh exchange of air strikes

Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Friday.

On Friday (13 June) Israel launched what it called pre-emptive strikes on Iran as announced by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz

The statement said: “Following the State of Israel’s pre-emptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future.

Iran did indeed fire back, and have not let up since, targeting a range of targets across Israel.

The conflict has since entered its fourth day and following fresh strikes over night, the death toll has risen again.

Five people were killed in Israel in the latest overnight strikes while dozens more were injured.

The cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa have been targeted primarily with the death toll across Israel rising to 19 since Friday.

Meanwhile, The Iranian Health Ministry said late on Sunday that 224 people have been killed since Israel’s attacks began as per the BBC.

Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said on social media that 1,277 other people were hospitalised. He asserted that more than 90% of the casualties were civilians.

Israel defence minister Israel Katz has warned that the residents of Tehran will "pay the price and soon", after Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa before dawn.

Tensions have been rising in the middle East, notably over Iran’s failure to comply with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, producing almost weapons grade uranium, which it is forbidden from doing.

However, Iran have maintained it has no intention to produce nuclear weapons, and was in fact looking to get rid of its enriched uranium.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains transfixed on this matter though.

Speaking to Fox News he said: "The issue here is not de-escalation. The issue here is not ceasefire. The issue is to stop those things that threaten our survival."