Israel, meanwhile, carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, its latest attack on Iran’s sprawling nuclear program. Iranian state television said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever" and that the facility had been evacuated before the attack.

Israel began flying home citizens stranded abroad on Wednesday, launching a phased airlift operation after the country's surprise military strike on Iran left tens of thousands of Israelis stuck overseas.

Israel has said it does not target Iranian civilians, but hundreds have died in the violence, among them a poet and her family, an equestrian and a graphic designer.

China plans to evacuate its citizens from Israel to Egypt via the Taba crossing as the Israel-Iran conflict escalates.

China is planning to evacuate citizens from Israel and send them in groups southward to the border with Egypt beginning Friday, the country's embassy in Israel said Wednesday. The embassy said, "There is huge uncertainty in how the situation may evolve,

China has begun evacuating its citizens from Iran and Israel as tensions grow in the region over the escalating bombardments in both nations. The Chinese foreign ministry called on its citizens to board chartered flights out of Iran and Israel on Tuesday following President Xi Jinping’s call for a cease-fire between the warring states.