Casualties on both sides as Iran and Israel exchange waves overnight strikes
The Israeli Defence Forces said "dozens" of Iranian missiles were launched into Israel in multiple waves of strikes in the early hours of Saturday.
Sirens and the boom of explosions, possible from Israeli interceptors, could be heard in the sky over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Israel's paramedic service Magen David Adom says an Iranian missile struck near homes in central Israel early Saturday morning, killing two people and injuring 19 others.
Israel's Fire and Rescue service said four homes were severely damaged.
Local media had earlier reported that one woman had been killed in the Tel Aviv area.
The IDF said "some of the missiles were intercepted," adding that "Search and Rescue forces are currently operating in a number of locations across the country in which reports of fallen projectiles were received."
Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv said it has treated seven people hurt by the second Iranian barrage; six had light injuries and the seventh was moderately wounded. At least 34 people were injured in Tel Aviv during the first wave of strikes.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote that direct hits were reported in central Israel, wounding five people. It said several buildings were hit by Iranian missiles.
The Israeli military urged civilians to head to shelter amid the fresh wave of missiles, but have since permitted them to leave again.
European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen post on X late on Friday that she had called Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and urged "all parties to act with maximum restraint and work to de-escalate the situation."The sound of explosions and Iranian air defence systems firing at targets was also echoing across the centre of Iran's capital, Tehran, shortly after midnight on Saturday.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported a fire at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport, posting a video on X of a column of smoke and orange flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport.
Israel's ongoing attacks on Iranian nuclear sites killed 78 people and wounded more that 320 on Friday, said Iran's ambassador to the United Nations. The strikes killed generals and scientists, but the ambassador told the UN Security Council that 'the overwhelming majority' of victims were civilians.
The ambassador spoke shortly after Iran's first barrage of long-range missiles targeting Tel Aviv, which wounded at least 34 people, according to the Israeli paramedic service.
As Iranian projectiles and Israeli interceptor rockets left trails of smoke and flame across the night sky on Friday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to let Israel 'escape safely from this great crime.'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Iran to halt their attacks on one another, while calling for diplomacy.
'Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,' Guterres wrote on X on Saturday.
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