Israel-Iran update 2
Iran confirmed the deaths of four high-profile figures in Friday’s Israeli airstrikes.
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief General Hossein Salami, senior IRGC officer General Gholamali Rashid, nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi, and academic leader Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.
General Salami, who led the IRGC since 2019, was a central architect of Iran’s regional military strategy and known for his aggressive rhetoric toward Israel and the U.S. General Rashid held senior roles in both military command and strategic infrastructure, overseeing operations at the IRGC-linked Khatam al-Anbiya conglomerate.
Abbasi, a key figure in Iran’s nuclear program and former head of its atomic energy agency, was previously targeted in a 2010 assassination attempt. Dr. Tehranchi led the Islamic Azad University system and held influence in Iran’s scientific and political circles.
Maj.-Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes. Rashid headed Hatem al-Anbiya, the IRGC’s engineering firm and a major contractor in various construction projects, particluarly in Iran’s defense sector.
Hospitals across Israel have been placed on the ‘highest alert’ as they ready for an influx of emergency patients.
A statement from the Ministry of Health commented: “All hospitals have been placed on the highest level of alert.
“Hospitals will not conduct outpatient and non-urgent (elective) activities. There will be no activity in health fund clinics and milk droppers except for essential activities, such as dialysis.
“The Ministry of Health has instructed hospitals to discharge patients who do not require hospitalisation. Patients will be discharged to their homes or to institutions for continued hospitalization.
“The Ministry of Health asks the public to avoid coming to hospitals in non-urgent cases.”
Individual hospitals warned patients to stay away unless urgent.
The Tel Aviv Ichilov Medical Centre said in a statement that they: “…opened the underground emergency hospital and began lowering wards in accordance with a systematic protection plan that was prepared and practiced in advance.”
They went on to say: “We emphasize that the emergency room and other emergency services of the hospital are open and operating as usual.”
A Spokesperson at Rambam Medical Centre in Haifa said, “The underground parking lot has been closed to vehicles as part of the state of emergency in the country.
“We emphasise that the emergency room is open and operating as usual, as is the entire Rambam medical care system – operating and available to the public.
“At the same time – the public is urged not to come in cases that are not medically necessary. We will update later if and when there is a change in ongoing activity”
J-Wire’s correspondent in Israel, Michael Kuttner, reports: “As I write this Israelis are in lockdown. The sound of planes can be heard and emergency alerts are flashing on everyone’s mobile devices.
We are bracing for Iranian retaliation with instructions to stay close to protection. The US has denied any collusion, which won’t help them avoid Iranian retaliation if it materialises.
The UN will condemn as usual.
No sleep for Israelis as everyone instructed to stay alert.”
