Chilling vid shows Israeli school bus blown to bits by Iranian missile in madcap Ayatollah's death-throw retaliation
THIS is the chilling aftermath of a huge ballistic rocket blast by Iran which blew up a line of Israeli school buses.
A 30-foot crater sat just yards from the charred
hulk
of the bus laid bare the destructive power of the Iranian missiles
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One of the buses was left decimated in the missile blast
Credit: Doug Seeberg
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Sun Foreign Editor Nick Parker stands in a 30ft crater left by an Iranian missile in a school bus depot
Credit: Doug Seeburg
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The charred remains of the inside of one of the buses
Credit: Doug Seeberg
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Iran blitzed 10 school buses in total worth hundreds of thousands of pounds
Credit: Doug Seeburg
The rocket was fired more than 1,000 miles and armed with a tonne of explosives.
It narrowly missed dozens of
homes
before thundering into a bus depot site.
Locals cowering in shelters nearby felt the earth move as the blast delivered a fireball coupled with a shrapnel shockwave which wiped out ten buses at 8.48am on Tuesday.
The fanatical Iranian terror state has launched at least 370 similar missiles - including a hypersonic one - and hundreds of drones at its arch enemy.
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These attacks have left the normally bustling metropolis of Tel Aviv a virtual ghost town as citizens braced for the
next
phase of this fast-moving conflict.
The Sun's team in Israel was taken to the crater in the suburb of Herzliya, around 10 miles from the port city's centre overnight.
Locals were still reeling from the shock of the attack little more than 24 hours earlier - and counting the cost of 10 wrecked school buses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Ahron Gablan - who owns seven buses smashed during the blitz - said: 'They had been parked there because classes had been stopped because of the war.
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'But God knows what would have happened if the children and their families hadn't been in shelters.
'It exploded at 8.48am on a weekday when streets would usually be busy - when families would have been taking kids to school.
Trump gives 2-word warning to Ayatollah if he refuses to surrender…& reveals Iran blinked first in secret talks
'I was in a synagogue nearby when the explosion shook the building - I have never felt or heard anything like it.
'The sound was terrifying.'
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Mr Gablan, a 67-year-old father-of-five from Herzliya added: 'My buses have been wrecked and I don't know how I'll recover from this.
'This is what happens when one of the missiles gets through but - thank God - it hit open ground
next
to the depot.
'Everyone is worried about where this war is going and what will happen next. We want it all to end.'
Israel and
Iran
are now in a deadly 'race to the bottom' as their stocks of offensive and defensive missiles were drained by the six-day conflict.
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Iran
still has a mammoth stockpile of just under 3,000 missiles - the largest in the Middle East.
But Israel says it has so far knocked out more than a third of the nation's ballistic launchers and is racing against time to hit more before further attacks are mounted.
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Coach boss Ahron Gablan whose fleet of buses was destroyed by an Iranian missile in Herzliya near Tel Aviv
Credit: Doug Seeburg
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The explosive smashed in the glass of several of the buses
Credit: Doug Seeberg
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A drone photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv
Credit: Reuters
Their urgency has been ramped up as rockets continued to fly forcing Israel to launch costly barrages using its high tech Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow rocket arsenals.
Analysts now say victory may now
hinge
on which side runs out of missiles first.
US sources last night said Israel is beginning to run low on Arrow rockets - the most vital ballistic missile defender - which could mean
rationing
defensive actions later this week.
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At least 24 Israelis have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded since the start of the conflict - but locals fear
casualty
rates will rocket without a missile shield.
A local dad-of-two called Ismail said as he picked over wreckage near the crater site in Herzliya shrugged last night: 'We know we are not safe and in a fight to the finish.
'Without the Iron Dome missiles like this would finish us and we are praying the Iranians will be stopped before it is too late.'
It comes as the war looks set to escalate into a global disaster with the
strikes
on Iran.
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Donald Trump gave a clear warning to Iran's Supreme Leader as he urged him to consider an "unconditional surrender".
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The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv on Wednesday
Credit: AP
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Evidence of Iran's terrifying missile attacks can be seen scattered across Israel including the remains of a ballistic missile
Credit: Reuters
Ayatollah Khamenei vowed Tehran will "never surrender" as he warned against any US intervention in the conflict.
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In his first statement since the escalation of bombings over the last few days, Khamenei said: "The battle begins."
He warned that the US will face hell if it enters the war and drops a single bomb.
Trump held a crisis meeting in the White House Situation Room on Wednesday, discussing whether to enter the war.
After the 80-minute gathering, US officials indicated that the next 24 to 48 hours would be crucial in determining whether diplomacy could be achieved with Iran,
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This would likely include an ironclad agreement to dismantle Iran's whole nuclear programme.
But if such commitments from Iran aren't agreed, Trump may resort to military action against Iran instead.
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Smoke rises following an Israeli attack in Tehran this morning
Credit: Reuters
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President Donald Trump is said to deciding if he will join Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran
Credit: Reuters
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Irish Examiner
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