Israel-Iran latest: Ayatollah speaks on Israel strikes as one dead and dozens injured in bus stop ‘attack’

US Vice President Kamala Harris has said she is not concerned about talks between former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and reiterated her positions on the conflict in the Middle East.

Democratic presidential candidate Harris faces Republican Trump in what polls show to be a tight race for the upcoming US elections.

“No,” Harris said when asked if she felt that talks between Trump and Netanyahu could undermine what the current US government is trying to achieve.

The directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad are seet to meet Qatar’s prime minister in Doha on Sunday to begin negotiations for a new short term Gaza ceasefire deal.

They are expected to discuss and the release of some hostages by Hamas in exchange for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

The talks aim to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza that would last less than a month, with the hope that it would lead to a more permanent agreement, the official said.

The details of which or how many hostages and prisoners would be released as part of the deal is not yet clear, the official said.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet on Monday to discuss Israel’s attack on Iran, diplomats said on Sunday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called on the Security Council to meet over the attack and diplomats said the council was likely to discuss the situation on Monday.

“The Israeli regime’s actions constitute a grave threat to international peace and security and further destabilize an already fragile region,” Araqchi said in a letter to the 15-member council on Saturday.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in alignment with the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and under international law, reserves its inherent right to legal and legitimate response to these criminal attacks at the appropriate time,” he wrote.

Israel claimed attack, launched in three waves in the early hours of Saturday, was a “precise and targeted” response to the Iranian missile attack on the country on 1 October.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon rejected Iran’s complaint at the United Nations, saying in a statement on Sunday that Iran was “trying to act against us in the diplomatic arena with the ridiculous claim that Israel has violated international law.”

“As we have stated time and time again, we have the right and duty to defend ourselves and will use all the means at our disposal to protect the citizens of Israel,” Danon said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed “to all parties to cease all military actions, including in Gaza and Lebanon, exert maximum efforts to prevent an all-out regional war and return to the path of diplomacy,” his spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

One person has now died after a truck rammed into a bus stop at a major intersection near Tel Aviv, in what police said they suspected was a terrorist attack.

Israeli police said about 40 people were injured to varying degrees, including some seriously, and were taken to nearby hospitals.

Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv said one of the victims succumbed to his wounds. Nearly Sheba Medical Center said it treated eight civilians and soldiers.

The attack, in which a truck ran into a bus stop close to a military base, took place around 10 am local time, police said, noting the driver - who had Israeli citizenship - was “neutralised” by gunfire from a nearby civilian.

“All investigative directions are being examined with an emphasis on the suspicion that this is a terror attack,” police said.

“Initial investigations suggest that the truck driver, who was traveling near the Glilot base (north of Tel Aviv) from north to south, veered off course and hit a bus and people waiting at the stop with the truck.”

Israeli media reported that the attacker was an Israeli Arab from Qalansawe in central Israel.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday as efforts to secure a ceasefire in the more than year-long war resumed in Qatar.

The directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency will meet with Qatar’s prime minister on Sunday in Doha, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

The negotiations will seek a short-term ceasefire and the release of some hostages being held by Hamas in exchange for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners, the official said.

The talks aim to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a halt in fighting for less than a month in the hope it would lead to a more permanent ceasefire.

Protesters disrupted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony Sunday remembering the victims of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel last year.

People shouted “Shame on you” and made a commotion, forcing Netanyahu to stop his speech shortly after it began. The major commemorative event is being broadcast live around the country.

Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for the failures that led to Hamas’ October 7, attack and hold him responsible for not yet bringing home the remaining hostages held by the militant group in Gaza.

Israeli military strikes have killed at least 36 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian health officials said.

Twenty people were killed following an airstrike on houses in Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, medics and the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said.

An Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in Shati camp in Gaza City also killed four people and wounded 20 others, many in critical condition, medics said.

At least two people have been killed by an Israeli strike on Sidon in southern Lebanon, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday.

A further 11 people were been wounded in the attack.