Verifying images from the Israeli hospitalpublished at 13:44 British Summer Timepublished at 14:44Richard Irvine-BrownBBC Verify journalist
Since first thing this morning we’ve been authenticating footage and images showing the aftermath at a hospital damaged by an Iranian missile in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.Israel says the hospital took a direct hit from the missile, while Iran says its target was a nearby military site and that the hospital was affected by a “blast wave”. As usual we reverse image-searched the photos to check they hadn’t been posted online at an earlier date. We did not find any matches when we ran checks on all three of them below.The first verified image you can see was taken from a video showing smoke billowing from the roof of the hospital. We confirmed this image using reverse search and weather analysis.The next image shows the damage inside the hospital, which we matched to historic images of the hospital’s interior we found on Facebook.The bottom one shows people evacuating the hospital following the strike. We identified the location by matching the distinctive purple, white and yellow flower acrylics on the wall with images of the hospital’s interior on Google Maps.
New record low for planning permissionpublished at 12:57 British Summer Timepublished at 13:57Daniel WainwrightBBC Verify
Another story being followed by BBC Verify today is the latest data on planning permission for housing in England - which has fallen to another record low.There were 7,027 permissions for housing granted by local authorities between January and March. This is down more than 10% on the same months in 2024 (7,870). Each permission granted can refer to anything from a single home to a large housing development.However, the proportion of housing applications refused is at its lowest since 2013 with 23.5% turned down. A year earlier, it was 30%.Data published by the government, external shows the number of individual homes granted permission in the year ending March 2025 also fell below one million for the first time since 2015.Not all homes granted permission actually get built.Planning permission is one of the earliest indicators of whether housebuilding in England can ramp up enough to deliver the 1.5 million homes the Labour manifesto promised by the end of this Parliament.And the overall number of planning applications received by councils in general was up 6% in a year - although this is not broken down into homes and other types of use.You can see the figures for your area in our interactive housing tracker.Image source, 2025
Internet restrictions remain, but some Iranians turn to Starlinkpublished at 12:14 British Summer Timepublished at 13:14Matt MurphyBBC Verify senior journalist
Image source, NetblocksIran’s communications ministry announced yesterday that it had restricted internet access across the country, alleging that Israel had been using the "communication network for military purposes". Analysts at the internet monitoring organisation Netblocks said that the near complete blackout has continued on Thursday morning, with restrictions on access now approaching 20 hours.Isik Mater, Netblocks' director of research, told BBC Verify that a limited amount of access has been maintained, but said it was unclear who was able to use it.Mater also said that the group has had contact with some internet users in Iran who have been evading restrictions by using Starlink - the satellite technology company controlled by Elon Musk.Starlink provides internet services via a network of satellites, allowing subscribers to bypass restrictions on domestic networks. However, users need to have access to a dish - or terminal - to connect to the satellite array.While Tehran has formally banned Starlink terminals, analysts have estimated that thousands of units may have been smuggled into the country by Iranian citizens in recent years.
Assessing the damage at hospital in Israel after Iranian missile blastpublished at 11:44 British Summer Timepublished at 12:44Jake HortonBBC Verify
We’ve been assessing footage showing the aftermath of what the Israeli military says was an Iranian missile strike at a hospital in southern Israel this morning.Israel says the Soroka site was directly hit - but Iranian state media has reported that authorities there say military infrastructure next to it was struck and the hospital was damaged “by the blast wave”.We’ll be putting verified video and images of the aftermath to munitions experts and asking them to assess what happened.Our team has verified a video of the site’s exterior that shows smoke rising from the roof which appears to have partially collapsed.There are also images coming in from picture agencies and the BBC is deploying reporters to the scene who will be sending us more footage of the site.Once we have expert analysis of what exactly the damage tells us about the strike we’ll bring it to you.
Verifying video of the damage to Tel Aviv by Iranian strikespublished at 11:14 British Summer Timepublished at 12:14Peter Mwai and Richard Irvine-BrownBBC Verify
Image source, XAs well as images from Soroka Hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel, we’ve been looking at the moment of strikes and their aftermath in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, about 60 miles (100km) to the north.One video shows multiple trails and explosions over the very identifiable skyline of the city before smoke rises from an impact among the skyscrapers.Other videos, filmed at street level and a residential balcony, show the degree of damage to several buildings on Zeev Jabotinksy Street, including the Twin Towers.In every instance, the buildings we can see were matched to images already online to make sure of the location, and each video had frames reverse-searched - essentially asking Google to tell us every copy it has cached of videos with those frames - to make sure they are from this morning. Image source, X
A visual guide to Iran’s secretive nuclear sitepublished at 09:54 British Summer Timepublished at 10:54
Image caption, A satellite image showing part of the Fordo facility visible above groundThe Fordo nuclear facility is an enrichment plant hidden away in a mountainside south of Tehran. Iran insists Fordo is for civilian purposes only but Israel says it threatens its survival. The site is vital to Iran’s nuclear ambitions - and Israel’s attempts to dismantle them. The plant is believed to be deeper underground than the Channel Tunnel connecting the UK and France. For this reason it’s remained out of reach of Israel’s weaponry and only the US is considered to have a bomb that might be powerful enough to destroy Fordo - a move that could dramatically widen a Middle East war.Our team has put together a visual guide of the secretive site, mapping its location in the mountains and what’s believed to be the layout inside the facility. You can scroll through the guide here.
Verifying video from Israeli hospital damaged after Iranian missile strikepublished at 09:21 British Summer Timepublished at 10:21Kayleen DevlinBBC Verify senior journalist
Image caption, This image - taken from a video we verified earlier - shows a large smoke cloud in the background with the hospital buildings in frontWe’ve been verifying videos posted on social media after the Israeli military said an Iranian missile hit the Soroka Hospital in the city of Beersheba earlier this morning.Israel says it was a direct hit on the hospital, but Iranian state media reported the main target was a nearby military site. It added that any damage to the hospital was caused by the blast wave. We’re working to verify that statement. We’ve authenticated videos uploaded from within the hospital which show smashed glass inside the building as well as fallen ceiling tiles and broken doors. We were able to match some of the design features seen in today’s footage with older images available online of the hospital interior. In one video posted this morning the interior decoration and shape of the walls matched an image taken from inside the medical complex in 2023.We’ll continue to verify videos that come in throughout the day.
Work under way to gather and verify Israel hospital footagepublished at 09:02 British Summer Timepublished at 10:02Rob CorpBBC Verify Live editor
Welcome to BBC Verify Live - our daily page bringing you
updates on the work of the BBC's specialists in verification, fact-checking,
tackling disinformation and data journalism.Since first reports began emerging that an Iranian missile
had hit a hospital in southern Israel the team has been checking through online
sources for verifiable information about the impact of the strike.Looking through what's been seen so far we know that the
strike has caused extensive damage to the Soroka facility in Beersheba - so
we'll be assessing the scale of the damage and which parts of the facility have
been affected.The state-run Iranian national news agency has said the
missile was aimed at a military complex near the hospital and any damage was
the result of the blast wave. We will be working to check this claim.Despite a near-total internet blackout in Iran we'll also
be looking into overnight attacks there by the Israeli Air Force which says it
targeted elements of the country's nuclear programme.