Live: Iran denounces US-Israel attacks as regional tensions rise

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has threatened to force about a million people in Gaza City to flee south if an Israeli soldier or civilian is kidnapped, citing what he called “various intentions and intelligence”.

Katz made the remarks at an annual memorial ceremony for Israeli soldiers killed in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

“In light of various intentions and intelligence, I warn the terror organisation and its supporters, from Iran to Erdogan: if even one Israeli soldier or civilian is kidnapped, the entire Gaza City’s… one million residents will be evacuated southward,” Katz said.

The threat comes as Israeli forces continue their military operations in Gaza and as the country prepares for elections next month.

Katz has made a series of increasingly genocidal statements in recent weeks.

Foreign flights operated by Iranian airlines will continue as scheduled from the beginning of October, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said, according to ISNA.

A spokesperson said none of the airlines’ foreign flights had been cancelled so far and that all were operating according to their published schedules.

The statement came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Iranian airlines could be shut out of international travel from Wednesday as Washington threatens secondary sanctions against foreign companies that continue servicing Iranian carriers.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation said no instructions had been issued to halt foreign flights and that passengers would be informed in advance of any changes to flight schedules.

More than 230,000 Yemenis could be displaced if fighting intensifies, the UNHCR representative for Yemen warned, raising fears about the humanitarian situation worsening.

As many as 112,000 people have already been displaced due to the latest escalation, UN agencies said, with most of the displacement taking place in the last two weeks along Yemen’s western coast and in Taiz governorate.

The warning comes amid fighting in western Yemen, with government forces saying the Saudi-led coalition carried out heavy air strikes on Houthi positions, gatherings and weapons stores west of Taiz province.

The renewed fighting has also driven thousands of Yemenis across the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to Djibouti.

Iran has reached a stage where its missiles can hit anywhere it chooses, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, Press TV reported.

Ghalibaf said Iran would continue to respond with strength amid what he called a “hybrid conflict” of economic, military and diplomatic pressure.

Iran will not surrender and will not allow the country’s activities to halt, Ghalibaf said, adding that Tehran will continue to respond the way it has in the past.

Iran had deprived its adversaries of their capabilities in various areas, he said.

China has condemned the “illegal” US sanctions against Iranian airlines, a day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Washington could impose measures aimed at shutting down Iran’s airlines worldwide.

Under the weight of US sanctions, “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” within days, Bessent told CNBC on Monday, as the Trump administration seeks to increase economic pressure on Tehran.

“China consistently opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law or authorisation from the UN Security Council,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a news conference.

The dispute comes shortly before US President Donald Trump is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday in the United States.