Netanyahu says 'changing face of Middle East' as Israel, Iran trade blows

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Monday that Israel's campaign against Iran was "changing the face of the Middle East", as the two countries traded heavy strikes for a fourth day.

The remarks came hours after a dramatic attack on an Iranian state TV building, which forced a presenter to flee mid-broadcast and prompted a threat of retaliation against Israeli news channels.

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a surprise aerial campaign against targets across Iran, saying they aimed to prevent its arch-foe from acquiring atomic weapons, an ambition Tehran denies.

The sudden flare-up in hostilities has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with US President Donald Trump urging Iran back to the negotiating table after Israel's attacks derailed ongoing nuclear talks.

While Trump has maintained that Washington has "nothing to do" with its ally's campaign, Iran's foreign minister said Monday that the US leader could halt the attacks with "one phone call".

Israel's strikes have so far killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities.

Netanyahu told a press conference Monday evening that Israel was eliminating Iran's security leadership "one after the other".

"We are changing the face of the Middle East, and that can lead to radical changes inside Iran itself," he said.

Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation for Israel's attacks, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards boasting Monday evening that the attacks would continue "without interruption until dawn."

Inhabitants of Tel Aviv were told to seek shelter early Tuesday, though the alarm was soon lifted. Air defenses in Tehran were put on alert.

Earlier, the live feed of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) was interrupted when an Israeli strike hit its Tehran building on Monday.

The presenter was in the midst of lambasting Israel when an explosion rocked the facility, causing the monitors behind her to cut out and sending debris raining from the ceiling.

Video released by the Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website later showed the building in flames.

Israel had previously issued an evacuation warning for the neighbourhood where IRIB is located, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying before the strike that Iran's "propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear".

IRIB resumed its broadcast shortly after the strike, with a senior official at the service saying "the voice of the Islamic revolution... will not be silenced with a military operation".

Iran later "issued an evacuation warning for the N12 and N14 channels of Israel", state TV reported, calling the order a "response to the hostile attack" on IRIB.

Separately, the Iranian Red Crescent said Monday that an Israeli air strike in northwest Tehran killed three of its rescuers as they were tending to the wounded from earlier attacks.

Agence France-Presse