President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will decide within two weeks whether to involve the U.S. military in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, citing a “substantial chance” of renewed negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. The announcement came as both nations traded strikes for a seventh consecutive day.
Speaking through White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump revealed he is considering a direct strike on Iran’s heavily fortified Fordo uranium enrichment facility—an underground site considered impervious to most conventional weapons, except for America’s powerful “bunker-buster” bombs.
The conflict took a deadly turn earlier on Thursday when Iranian missiles struck a hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel, and hit residential areas near Tel Aviv, injuring at least 240 people. In a stern warning, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz directly threatened Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying, “This man absolutely should not continue to exist.”
In response, Israeli fighter jets carried out fresh airstrikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking from the damaged Soroka Medical Centre, said, “I can tell you that [the U.S. is] already helping a lot,” and expressed confidence that Trump would act in America’s best interests.
Meanwhile, a potential diplomatic breakthrough is emerging. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to meet officials from the European Union, the UK, France, and Germany in Geneva on Friday. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed a meeting at the White House with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff, saying in a social media post that “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.”
The conflict, which began last Friday with a surprise Israeli airstrike campaign, has so far claimed at least 657 lives in Iran—263 of them civilians—according to a U.S.-based Iranian human rights group. Iran has responded with over 450 missiles and 1,000 drones aimed at Israel, most of which have been intercepted. Still, at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds more injured.
With violence escalating and the threat of broader war looming, all eyes are now on diplomatic efforts in Geneva—and Trump’s upcoming decision.
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