April 19, 2024 - Iran targeted in aerial attack

There does not appear to be any extensive damage at an air base purportedly targeted by an Israeli military strike, according to exclusive satellite images obtained by CNN from Umbra Space. 

The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images were taken around 10:18 a.m. local time. 

There does not appear to be any large craters in the ground and there are no apparent destroyed buildings. Additional visual satellite imagery will be needed to check for burn scars – which cannot be seen by SAR images -- around the complex.

SAR images are not like normal satellite images. 

The SAR images are created by a satellite transmitting radar beams capable of passing through clouds, like the ones currently preventing satellites from imaging the area. Those radar beams bounce off objects on the ground, and echo back to the satellite.

Iranian news agency FARS said that an army radar at the Isfahan province military base was one of the possible targets, and that the only damage from the attack was broken windows on several office buildings.

The images also show that the Iranian F-14 Tomcats that have been stationed at the air base in the past are not there at the moment. Additional archival satellite imagery reviewed by CNN shows that those F-14 Tomcats have not been there for some time.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged both sides to cease retaliating after Israel carried out a military strike on Iran, a spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. 

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two organizations on Friday for fundraising on behalf of two violent Israeli extremists in the West Bank.

The two groups -- Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich – established crowdfunding campaigns to raise thousands of dollars for Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai respectively. Both of those men were sanctioned by the US in February under a new executive order targeting those perpetrating violence in the West Bank. 

The executive order, issued by President Joe Biden in early February, came amid increased violence in the occupied West Bank in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack. That violence has only continued in subsequent months.

The order angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who complained to the administration, calling it “inappropriate” and “highly problematic,” according to Axios.

Gopstein responded later on Friday, saying: “We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome Biden too,” which is his rephrasing of the commonly used expression said during Israel at Passover: "We overcame Pharaoh; we shall overcome this."

This post has been updated with comment from Ben-Zion Gopstein.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to at least 34,012, following more than six months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Friday.

In the last 24 hours, 42 Palestinians had died following Israeli attacks, the ministry reported.

A further 63 people had been injured over the same time period, taking the overall number of wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began to 76,833, it said.

CNN cannot independently verify the ministry's casualty figures.

A total of 276 aid trucks carrying humanitarian supplies underwent inspection and were admitted into Gaza on Friday, according to a statement from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body that administers Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank.

In addition to ground transportation, 144 pallets containing tens of thousands of aid packages were airdropped into northern Gaza on Friday, COGAT added.

Additionally, COGAT stated that new routes also saw significant activity, with 20 trucks passing through the Jordanian Route and eight trucks of flour arriving via the port of Ashdod in Israel.

Israel last week said it had begun to take several major steps to ramp up humanitarian aid to Gaza amid intense pressure from the United States.

However, humanitarian officials said progress was slow-going and that much more needed to be done, as warnings grew of famine in the Palestinian enclave.

Germany’s Lufthansa airline has canceled its flights to Tel Aviv until Saturday morning and will avoid Iraqi airspace due to the security situation in the region.

LOT Polish airlines, meanwhile, canceled Friday’s flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut. It is not scheduled to fly to Israel on Saturday, and will decide about Sunday flights on Saturday, the airline said.

Lufthansa is scheduled to resume flights to Tel Aviv and plans to again fly through Iraqi airspace from Saturday 1 a.m. ET (8 a.m. in Israel).

The announcement follows the airline’s decision to extend its suspension of flights to the capitals of Iran and Lebanon.

Lufthansa said Wednesday that flights to Tehran and Beirut will remain cancelled and the airline will not use Iranian airspace up to and including April 30.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed Turkish media reports that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will visit Turkey on Saturday. Erdogan said, "What we will speak will be between us for now. And we will take our steps accordingly." 

Regarding the latest escalation, Erdogan appeared to bemoan a lack of international leadership.  

Erdogan also said he was not surprised by America vetoing the United Nations Security Council resolution that would have paved the way for full UN recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday. 

Violence and uncertainty has gripped the Middle East since Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel, and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza.

The war has threatened on several occasions to spill over into an all-out regional conflict, and those concerns have intensified in recent weeks, as Israel and Iran traded missile strikes.

Here's a look at where and how violence has spread.

The United States has not been involved in any offensive operations, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, after a US official told CNN that Israel had launched a strike on Iran.

"What we're focused on, what the G7 is focused on, and again, it's reflected in our statement and in our conversation, is our work to de-escalate tensions," Blinken said.

The US was given advance notification Thursday of an intended Israeli strike in the coming days but did not endorse the response, a second senior US official previously said.