Explosions over Tel Aviv as Iran launches ballistic missiles towards Israel
|
13 mins ago
Footage of an Iranian ballistic missile hitting downtown Tel Aviv, Israel, moments ago.
pic.twitter.com/i8QOPffg6U
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical)
June 13, 2025
IRAN HAS LAUNCHED a barrage of approximately 100 missiles towards Israel.
Explosions were spotted over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, as the public was warned by Israel's Home Front Command to seek out the nearest bomb shelter to them.
Israel's national ambulance service, Magen David Adom, said that five people have been injured in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and are being taken to hospital.
One is in a 'moderate condition' and the other four have been 'lightly injured' by shrapnel, it said in a statement.
Israel's firefighting service said its teams were responding to several 'major' incidents resulting from an Iranian missile attack, including efforts to rescue people trapped in a high-rise building.
Smoke rises after a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
'Firefighters are working in a high-rise building to rescue trapped individuals and extinguish a fire, as well as responding to two additional destruction sites,' a statement said.
Footage on Israeli television networks showed what appeared to be a building hit by a missile. Huge plumes of smoke can be seen rising around skyscrapers in Tel Aviv.
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Footage also shows the Israeli 'Iron Dome' missile defence system intercepting several missiles above the city.
Bright lights were also spotted over Jerusalem, where the missiles appear to have been intercepted.
Traces are seen over Jerusalem during a missile attack alert.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The Iranian missile strikes are
in response to several Israeli attacks on Iranian sites this morning
, which Iranian sources claim killed 78 people.
Advertisement
Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed this evening that they had launched an attack on a number of targets in Israel.
'The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps… has executed its decisive and precise response against tens of targets, military centres and airbases of the usurping Zionist regime in the occupied territories,' the Guards said in a statement carried by state media.
The announcement of the missile attacks on state TV came shortly after a televised speech by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in which he promised that 'the Islamic Republic will prevail over the Zionist regime'.
In a statement this evening, Iran's military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the missile attacks were 'in response to the aggression and criminal assault carried out this morning by the savage, terrorist, and child-killing Zionist regime'.
They added that Israel's earlier attacks on Iran had killed 'several senior military commanders, prominent scientists, and innocent civilians, especially defenseless children'.
'The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as the defensive and offensive arm of the Iranian nation, has launched a forceful and precise retaliation,' a statement said.
Statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC):
In response to the aggression and criminal assault carried out this morning by the savage, terrorist, and child-killing Zionist regime on areas within the Islamic Republic of Iran—resulting in the martyrdom of several…
pic.twitter.com/CCFnOvvLSK
— Iran Military (@IRIran_Military)
June 13, 2025
'With reliance on divine power, the wise leadership of the Commander-in-Chief (may his shadow be extended), and the united demand and support of the noble Iranian people, the IRGC has executed Operation 'True Promise 3″ against dozens of targets, including military centers and air bases of the usurping Zionist regime in the occupied territories.
'The operation was launched with the sacred call 'O Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS)' on the blessed night of Eid al-Ghadir,' the statement added.
Earlier this evening, Iranian state media said the country's forces downed two Israeli fighter jets during an air raid.
'At least two Israeli fighter jets were shot down in Iranian skies,' the official IRNA news agency reported.
In a video shared to social media shortly after the attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Iranians to unite against what he described as an 'evil and oppressive regime'.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
To the proud people of Iran,
We are in the midst of one of the greatest military operations in history, Operation Rising Lion.
The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for almost 50 years threatens to destroy our country, the State of Israel.
pic.twitter.com/F67bxcDitL
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM)
June 13, 2025
He said that Israel was engaged in 'one of the greatest military operations in history'.
'Iran doesn't know what hit them, they don't know what will hit them. It has never been weaker,' Netanyahu said.
Additional reporting from AFP
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More
Support The Journal
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Israel's Bezalel Smotrich announces West Bank settlement plan to 'bury' idea of Palestinian state
Standing at the site in Maale Adumim, Smotrich said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 scheme, though there was no immediate confirmation from either. 'Whoever in the world is trying to recognise a Palestinian state today will receive our answer on the ground. Not with documents nor with decisions or statements, but with facts. Facts of houses, facts of neighbourhoods," Smotrich said. Israel froze construction plans at Maale Adumim in 2012, and again after a revival in 2020, because of objections from the US, European allies and other powers who considered the project a threat to any future peace deal with the Palestinians. The move could further isolate Israel, which has watched some of its Western allies condemn its military offensive in Gaza in the war with Palestinian militant group Hamas and announce they will recognise a Palestinian state. Palestinians fear the settlement building in the West Bank - which has sharply intensified since the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that led to the Gaza war - will rob them of any chance to build a state of their own in the area. In a statement headlined "Burying the idea of a Palestinian state," Smotrich's spokesperson said the minister had approved the plan to build 3,401 houses for Israeli settlers between an existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem. In Maale Adumim, Smotrich told Reuters the plan would go into effect on Wednesday, without specifying what would happen on that day. The Palestinian foreign ministry called the plan an extension of crimes of genocide, displacement and annexation. Israel has long rejected accusations of genocide and rights abuses and said it is acting in its own defence. Hamas described the plan as part of Israel's "colonial, extremist" policies and called on Palestinians to confront it. Jordan's foreign ministry condemned the move as a flagrant violation of international law. Peace Now, which tracks settlement activity in the West Bank, said there were still steps needed before construction, including the approval of Israel's High Planning Council. But if all went through, infrastructure work could begin within a few months, and house building in about a year. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more 'The E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed," Peace Now said in a statement. HOUSE BUILDING 'IN A YEAR' Palestinians were already demoralised by the Israeli military campaign which has killed more than 61,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, and fear Israel will ultimately push them out of that territory. About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7m Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognised by most countries but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank. The UN and most world powers say settlement expansion has eroded the viability of a two-state solution by fragmenting Palestinian territory. The two-state plan envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area, which it calls Judea and Samaria, and says the settlements provide strategic depth and security. Most of the international community considers all settlements illegal under international law, a position backed by numerous UN Security Council resolutions, including one which called on Israel to halt all settlement activity. Israel rejects this interpretation, saying the West Bank is "disputed" rather than "occupied" territory. Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand imposed sanctions in June on Smotrich and another far-right minister who advocates for settlement expansion, accusing both of them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Smotrich's popularity has fallen in recent months with polls showing his party would not win a single seat if parliamentary elections were held today. His party largely draws its support from settlers.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Israel announces West Bank settlement that ‘could imperil Palestinian state'
Israel's far-right finance minister has announced a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinians and rights groups worry the move will scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts. The announcement on Thursday comes as many countries said they would recognise a Palestinian state in September. Anyone in the world who tries today to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground 'This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise,' said finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. 'Anyone in the world who tries today to recognise a Palestinian state will receive an answer from us on the ground.' Development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades but was frozen because of US pressure during previous administrations. On Thursday, Mr Smotrich praised President Donald Trump and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee as 'true friends of Israel as we have never had before'. The E1 plan has not yet received its final approval, which is expected next week. It includes around 3,500 apartments to expand the settlement of Maale Adumim, Mr Smotrich said. Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks to journalists during a press conference about a new settlement construction in the Israel-occupied West Bank (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP) While some bureaucratic steps remain, if the process moves quickly, infrastructure work could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year. Rights groups swiftly condemned the plan. Peace Now called it 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution' which is 'guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed'. The announcement comes as the Palestinian Authority and Arab countries condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement in an interview on Tuesday that he was 'very' attached to the vision of a 'Greater Israel'. He did not elaborate, but supporters of the idea believe that Israel should control not only the occupied West Bank but parts of Arab countries.
Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Aid groups call on Israel to end ‘weaponisation' of aid in Gaza
More than 100 non-profit groups have warned that Israel's rules for aid groups in Gaza and the occupied West Bank will block much-needed relief and replace organisations with those that serve Israel's political and military agenda, charges that Israel denied. A letter signed by organisations including Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders and Care accused Israel of 'weaponising aid' as people starve in war-torn Gaza and using it as a tool to entrench control. The groups were responding to registration rules announced by Israel in March that require organisations to hand over full lists of their donors and Palestinian staff for vetting. Damaged humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza are scattered on the ground next to the border with the Gaza Strip (Ariel Schalit/AP) The groups contend that doing so could endanger their staff and give Israel broad grounds to block aid if groups are deemed to be 'delegitimising' the country or supporting boycotts or divestment. The registration measures were 'designed to control independent organisations, silence advocacy, and censor humanitarian reporting,' they said. The letter added that the rules violate European data privacy regulations, noting that in some cases, aid groups have been given only seven days to comply. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, denied the letter's claims. It alleged the groups were being used as cover by Hamas to 'exploit the aid to strengthen its military capabilities and consolidate its control' in Gaza. 'The refusal of some international organisations to provide the information and co-operate with the registration process raises serious concerns about their true intention,' it said in a statement on Thursday. 'The alleged delay in aid entry … occurs only when organisations choose not to meet the basic security requirements intended to prevent Hamas's involvement.' Israel has long claimed that aid groups and United Nations agencies issue biased assessments. Displaced Palestinians gather to collect water from a truck during a heat wave at a makeshift tent camp in Khan Younis (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) The aid groups stressed that most of them have not been able to deliver 'a single truck' of life-saving assistance since Israel implemented a blockade in March. A vast majority of aid isn't reaching civilians in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed, most of the population has been displaced and famine looms. UN agencies and a small number of aid groups have resumed delivering assistance, but say the number of trucks allowed in remains far from sufficient. Meanwhile, tensions have flared over Israel and the United States backing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to serve as the main distributor of aid in the besieged territory. The American contractor, meant to replace the traditional UN-led aid distribution system in Gaza, has faced international condemnation after hundreds of Palestinians were killed while trying to get food near its distribution sites. Israel has pressed UN agencies to accept military escorts to deliver goods into Gaza, a demand the agencies have largely rejected, citing their commitment to neutrality. The stand-off has been the source of competing claims: Israel maintains it allows aid into Gaza that adheres to its rules, while aid groups that have long operated in Gaza decry the amount of life-saving supplies stuck at border crossings. Bushra Khalidi, an aid official with Oxfam in Gaza, said: 'Oxfam has over 2.5 million dollars worth of goods that have been rejected from entering Gaza by Israel, especially WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) items as well as food.' Aid groups' 'ability to operate may come at the cost of their independence and ability to speak out,' she added.
