Iran lauds 'new method' as missiles hit Israel's Tel Aviv and Haifa

Japan Times

14 hours ago

Iranian missiles struck Israel's Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa on Monday, destroying homes and fueling concerns among world leaders at this week's Group of Seven meeting that the battle between the two old enemies could lead to a broader regional conflict.
Israel's national emergency service said three people were killed in the country's center, while dozens more were wounded in the overnight strikes, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel's preemptive strikes targeting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs that began Friday.
Search and location operations were underway in Haifa, where around 30 people were wounded, emergency authorities said, as dozens of first responders rushed to the strike zones. Fires were seen burning at a power plant near the port, media reported.
Video footage showed several missiles over Tel Aviv and explosions could be heard there and over Jerusalem. Several residential buildings in a densely populated neighborhood of Tel Aviv were destroyed in a strike that blew out the windows of hotels and other nearby homes just a few hundred meters from a U.S. Embassy premises in the city.
Guydo Tetelbaun was in his apartment in Tel Aviv when the alerts came in shortly after 4 a.m.
"As usual, we went into the (shelter) that's right across the street there. And within minutes, the door of the (shelter) blew in," the 31-year-old chef said.
"A couple of people came in bloody, all cut up. And then when we came to the apartment, after it quietened down, we saw there wasn't much of it. ... Walls are caved in, no more glass," he added.
"It's terrifying because it's so unknown. This could be the beginning of a long time like this, or it could get worse, or hopefully better, but it's the unknown that's the scariest.'
The predawn missiles struck near Shuk HaCarmel, a popular market in Tel Aviv that typically draws large crowds of residents and tourists buying fresh fruits and vegetables, and to popular bars and restaurants. A residential street in nearby Petach Tikva and a school in ultra-Orthodox Jewish city Bnei Brak were also hit.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel's multilayered defense systems to target each other.
"The initiatives and capabilities used in this operation, despite the comprehensive support of the United States and Western powers and the possession of the most up-to-date and newest defense technology, led to the successful and maximum hitting of the missiles on the targets in the occupied territories," it said.
Missiles launched from Iran are intercepted over Tel Aviv on Monday. |
REUTERS
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. Israeli officials have repeatedly said the defense system is not 100% and warned of tough days ahead.
At least 13 people in Israel, including children, were killed in earlier strikes, according to authorities there.
The Iranian death toll in four days of Israeli strikes, carried out with the declared aim of wiping out Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, had reached at least 224, with 90% of the casualties reported to be civilians, an Iranian health ministry spokesperson said, adding that more than 1,200 had been wounded.
G7 leaders began gathering in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday, with the Israel-Iran conflict expected to be a top priority.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his goals for the summit include for Iran to not develop or possess nuclear weapons, ensuring Israel's right to defend itself, avoiding escalation of the conflict and creating room for diplomacy.
"This issue will be very high on the agenda of the G7 summit," Merz told reporters.
Displaced Palestinians stand outside tents as they watch trails of Iranian missiles targeting Israel, from Rafah's Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. |
AFP-JIJI
Before leaving for the summit on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked what he was doing to de-escalate the situation. "I hope there's going to be a deal. I think it's time for a deal," he told reporters. "Sometimes they have to fight it out."
Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications said Sunday.
Explosions shook Tel Aviv on Sunday during Iran's first daylight missile attack since Israel's strike on Friday. Shortly after nightfall, Iranian missiles hit a residential street in Haifa, a mixed Jewish-Arab city, and in Israel's south.
In Bat Yam, a city near Tel Aviv, residents braced on Sunday evening for another sleepless night after an overnight strike on an apartment tower.
"It's very dreadful. It's not fun. People are losing their lives and their homes," said Shem, 29.
Images from Tehran showed the night sky lit up by a huge blaze at a fuel depot after Israel began strikes against Iran's oil and gas sector — raising the stakes for the global economy and the functioning of the Iranian state.
A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while gathering with others during a rally in solidarity with the government against Israel's attacks on Iran at Revolution Square in Tehran on Saturday. |
AFP-JIJI
In Washington, two U.S. officials said that Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
When asked about the report, Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday: "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I'm not going to get into that."
"We do what we need to do," he told Fox's "Special Report With Bret Baier."
Israel began the assault with a surprise attack on Friday that wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will escalate in coming days.
The intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy were killed in attacks on Tehran on Sunday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said.
Iran has vowed to "open the gates of hell" in retaliation.
Smoke billows following an explosion in central Tehran on Sunday. Iranian media said an Israeli strike hit police headquarters in the city center on Sunday as the two foes traded fire. |
AFP-JIJI
Trump has lauded Israel's offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the U.S. has taken part and warning Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include U.S. targets.
Two U.S. officials said on Friday the U.S. military had helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed toward Israel.
The U.S. president has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but which Western countries and the IAEA nuclear watchdog say could be used to make an atomic bomb.
The latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S., due on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it would not negotiate while under Israeli attack.