Israel's Opposition leader condoles death of civilians in Beersheba

Tel Aviv, June 24 (IANS) Israel's Leader of Opposition, Yair Lapid, on Tuesday expressed grief over the death of civilians when an Iranian missile struck an apartment complex in Beersheba.

Four people died, and several others were injured when Iran launched a series of missile strikes on Israel hours after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the two.

"A difficult and painful morning with the murder of civilians in Beersheba in the missile barrage from Iran. My heart goes out to the families. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured and strengthening the rescue and recovery forces. Heroes who save lives," said Yair Lapid in a post on X.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that defensive systems were activated in response to the fresh attack and that a ballistic missile struck a building in Beersheba.

The ongoing war, now in its 12th day, erupted after Israel launched "Operation Rising Lion," targeting Iranian military and nuclear assets. In retaliation, Iran has fired multiple waves of ballistic missiles at Israeli territory.

Later in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel has accepted a ceasefire proposal with Iran, marking the end of 12 days of intense hostilities between the two regional rivals.

In an official statement released by the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu declared that Israel had met all strategic goals of its military campaign, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, and even exceeded expectations.

"Israel had achieved all the objectives of Operation Rising Lion and even far beyond that. Israel has removed a dual immediate existential threat - both in the nuclear domain and in the ballistic missile domain," the statement read.

According to the statement, the IDF had "achieved complete air superiority over Tehran's skies, struck a severe blow to the military leadership, and destroyed dozens of central regime targets in Iran."

"In the past 24 hours, the IDF has struck hard at targets of the regime in the heart of Tehran, eliminated hundreds of Basij operatives -- the oppression mechanism of the terror regime and eliminated another senior nuclear scientist," Netanyahu's office said.

Netanyahu expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump and the United States for their role in supporting Israel's operations and for "participation in eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat."

"In light of achieving the operation's objectives, and in full coordination with President Trump, Israel has agreed to the President's proposal for a bilateral ceasefire," he added.

However, just before the ceasefire came into effect, Iran launched a final barrage of ballistic missiles toward Israel.

One of the missiles struck a residential building in Beersheba, resulting in the deaths of four civilians. Iranian state media later clarified that the missiles were launched prior to the formal implementation of the ceasefire.

Netanyahu's office also warned of serious consequences in case of any future violations of the ceasefire, stating, "Israel will respond forcefully to any violation of the ceasefire."

--IANS

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