Iranian Missiles Hit Tel Aviv: 80 Wounded, 2 Killed

Iran launched several barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel Friday night and early Saturday morning, sending Israelis across the country rushing to shelters as the skies were filled with streaks of light and fireballs from incoming projectiles and Israeli interceptions.

Some 80 people were reported hurt in the strikes, including two people who were critically wounded and later succumbed to their wounds. According to Magen David Adom, at least one more person was seriously wounded. The rest were lightly to moderately injured or suffered acute anxiety.

Iranian media claimed hundreds of missiles were fired in the first barrages late Friday, while the Israel Defense Forces estimated that the actual number stood at less than 100.

Four waves of attacks overnight each consisted of dozens of missiles, according to the IDF, which declined to provide a specific number.

Several missiles impacted central Israel, with large explosions heard in the Tel Aviv area and smoke seen rising over several impact locations.

Home Front Command soldiers rescued a civilian from one of the buildings in the Tel Aviv area that was hit by a ballistic missile, the IDF said.

A large fragment from an intercepted missile hit a town in northern Israel, causing damage, police said.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said most of the missiles were intercepted by air defenses or fell short before reaching the country.

“There are a limited number of impacts on buildings, some were caused by interception fragments,” he said.

An American official said the US assisted Israel in defending against the missile attacks.

“I can confirm that the US is assisting in shooting down missiles targeting Israel,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. No detail was given on the extent of the US role.

The IDF called on the public not to publish the locations or footage of missile impacts. “The enemy monitors the footage to improve its attack capabilities,” the military said.

Phone alerts had been sent to Israelis shortly after 9 p.m., some 10 minutes before the first missiles hit, and sirens sounded shortly before their arrival in the specific locations under threat. The IDF’s Home Front Command advised people to remain in shelters until told it was safe to come out, rather than the usual 10 minutes when projectiles are fired from Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. The all-clear was eventually given around 10:10 p.m.

Another salvo of missiles was fired after 1 a.m. Saturday morning, with Israelis given the all-clear to leave their shelters some 25 minutes later.

A few more barrages were fired several hours later, with the first triggering sirens in the north and the other two activating alerts across the country.

A ballistic missile in the latter salvo directly struck a building in central Israel, causing extensive damage to numerous homes and injuring some 20 people, including a man who died of his wounds.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA claimed hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched in retaliation for Israel’s biggest-ever attacks on Iran, blasting Iran’s huge underground nuclear site at Natanz and other nuclear and military sites, and wiping out its top military commanders.

The Revolutionary Guards said they carried out attacks against dozens of targets in Israel.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a statement that Israel had initiated a war and said it would not be allowed to do “hit and run” attacks without grave consequences.

“The Zionist regime will not remain unscathed from the consequences of its crime. The Iranian nation must be guaranteed that our response will not be half-measured,” Khamenei said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran had “crossed red lines after it dared to fire missiles at civilian population concentrations in Israel.”

“We will continue to defend the citizens of Israel and ensure that the ayatollah regime pays a very heavy price for its heinous actions,” he added.

Channel 12 quoted an unnamed Israeli political source as threatening Iran with escalated strikes.

“Iran will pay an unbearably heavy price for firing at civilian areas,” the source was quoted as saying. “We know what Israel hit [in its attacks on Iranian targets today],” and we know what Israel decided not to hit. And that’s the next step.”

The remark appeared to be a reference to potential Israeli strikes on Iranian energy and infrastructure targets.

Earlier, Khamenei warned Israel faced a “bitter and painful” fate in response to the attack launched overnight against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Tehran launched 100 drones toward Israel in its initial response, but all were shot down by Israeli and other regional air defenses en route.

Israel had alerted citizens on Friday morning that Iran had launched more than 100 drones, which would take several hours to arrive, telling people nationwide to remain near bomb shelters. Three hours later, the IDF Home Front Command lifted its instruction to Israelis to remain near shelters without a single siren sounding in the country.

The IDF said late Friday morning that it had “control over the situation.”

Israel “opened its wicked and blood-stained hand to a crime in our beloved country, revealing its malicious nature more than ever by striking residential centers,” Khamenei said, in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency.

The comments came after Israel launched a deadly wave of attacks that killed the Iranian armed forces’ chief of staff, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, top aerospace officials, and senior nuclear scientists.

“With this crime, the Zionist regime has set itself up for a bitter and painful fate, and it will definitely receive it,” Khamenei said.

Iran said Israel’s actions underscored the Islamic Republic’s need to advance uranium enrichment and missile capabilities.

“One should not speak to such a predatory regime except in the language of power,” the Iranian government said in a statement. “The world now better understands Iran’s insistence on the right to enrichment, nuclear technology, and missile power.”

The United States underlined Friday that it was not involved in the Israeli action and warned Tehran not to attack its personnel or interests.

But Tehran said the United States would be “responsible for consequences” as Israel’s operation “cannot have been carried out without the coordination and permission of the United States.”

Iranian armed forces spokesperson Abolfazl Shekarchi told state TV that Israel and the United States would pay a “heavy price” for the attacks.

Israel said early Friday that it had no choice but to attack Iran, adding that it had gathered intelligence that Tehran was approaching “the point of no return” in its pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

The Israeli operation was expected to last several days at least, according to military officials, who added that the Israel Defense Forces was preparing for heavy fire from Iran, but asserted that “at the end of the operation, there will be no nuclear threat” from the Islamic Republic.