Barrage of ‘hundreds' of Iranian missiles lights up Tel Aviv sky & blasts heard in Tehran in huge Middle East escalation
STRIKING BACK Barrage of 'hundreds' of Iranian missiles lights up Tel Aviv sky & blasts heard in Tehran in huge Middle East escalation
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
IRAN overnight launched scores of ballistic missiles targeting Israel as the Ayatollah's vengeance edges the Middle East towards all-out war.
At least three Israelis have been killed and dozens injured after ballistic missiles tore through the skies of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
7
An explosion as a ballistic missile strikes in Tel Aviv
Credit: AP
7
Israeli air defence systems do battle with Iranian missiles in the skies
Credit: AP
7
Rescuers outside a missile strike site in Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv
Credit: Reuters
At least three rounds of missiles and sporadic drones descended on the civilian population across the country. The strikes managed to severely damage some neighbourhoods in Tel Aviv.
Tehran branded them revenge strikes after Israel smoked nuclear facilities across Iran and decapitated the regime's top military leadership.
Israel also managed to kill at least two top nuclear scientists who worked to help Iran inch towards producing nuclear weapons.
Both sides have warned more is yet to come, with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing to inflict "heavy blows".
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Iran that "more is on the way" and warned "the regime does not know what will hit them".
The country's defence minister Israel Katz said Iran "crossed red lines after it dared to attack the civilian population" and will now "pay a heavy price for it".
Netanyahu also appealed directly to "the proud people of Iran", urging them "stand up and let your voices be heard" as Israel undertakes "one of the greatest military operations in history".
But his calls were offset by jubilant scenes on the streets of Tehran, where crowds gathered on Friday night to revel in the regime's show of defiance.
Earlier on Friday, Iran's war machine stood in ruins following a ferocious Israeli blitz which killed top generals, destroyed nuclear facilities, and shattered missile bases.
Israel, with its unmatched air force, powerful missile defences, and intelligence reach, demonstrated its ability to hit Iran at its core.
Iran, while weakened, still commands regional proxy networks like Hezbollah and the Houthis - forces that could be unleashed in asymmetric retaliation.
Iran described Israel's multifaceted offensive as a "declaration of war", and said it considers the US to "share full responsibility" - despite the Americans absolving themselves of collaborating in the strikes.
Iran's representative to the UN said that 78 people had been killed and more than 320 others injured by the Israeli attacks on Tehran.
7
Israeli Prime Minister appealed to the Iranian people to rise up
Credit: AFP
7
The first strikes hit Tehran in the early hours of Friday
Credit: AP
7
People pick through rubbled buildings in Nobonyad Square in Tehran following Israeli airstrikes
Credit: Getty
7
Stay up to date with the latest on Israel vs Iran with The Sun's live blog below...
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
16 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Netanyahu's race against the clock to go ‘full Hezbollah' on Iran
'I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.' So said Golda Meir, one of Israel's founders and its first and only female prime minister. Now, some 50 years later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may have realised her insight. Indeed, they have taken the clock and blown it to smithereens, neutralising its power to contain them once and for all. For the mullahs of Iran, this could spell curtains, or at least a long and painful 'Hezbollah-isation' stretching over weeks and months. The clock has always been central to Israeli military planning, with its strategists at the Kirya in central Tel Aviv long regarding it as important as guns and manpower. There are two big drivers. First, the IDF is reliant on reservists, so once a war starts there is an immediate social and economic imperative to move quickly. But much more influential – since the Yom Kippur war of 1973 and the global oil crisis it sparked – has been the 'diplomatic clock' and Israel's reliance on the US and its allies for military and diplomatic support. Once any new conflict started, the clock of international opinion would start ticking, with the US generally moving to bring things to a close as soon as possible. The prospect of the Middle East going up in flames and oil prices spiking ruinously has always trumped Israel's longer term security interests. Even after the Oct 7 massacre, Israel's military establishment feared it had only a limited window to deal with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in the north. Manuel Trajtenberg, then executive director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, told The Telegraph at the time that the IDF was racing against 'several different clocks, all of them ticking down'. 'There's the military clock itself in terms of manpower and capacity but also the hostages, international pressure and even economic pressures,' he said. Looking back now, it's hard to determine what the worry was. While the 1967 Arab-Israeli War was famously wrapped up in six days, the latest conflict has been raging for nearly two years. Hamas has all but been blasted to extinction, ditto Hezbollah in Lebanon. The IDF is acting at will against anything it judges a threat in Syria and moves with impunity over Yemen. Now Iran – 'the head of the octopus' – is firmly in its sights. Part of what's changed things is the psychological shock of Oct 7 and the sense of existential crisis in Israel it has created. 'The diplomatic clock is a fraud, and Israel's leaders must see through it', urged Nave Dromi, director of the Israel Victory Project in the wake of the massacre. 'There can be no specific time limitations on responding to the murder, rape and butchery of 1,200 people, the wounding of thousands of others and the vicious kidnapping and humiliation of 240 Israelis and foreigners'. But as important in the destruction of the clock is Benjamin Netanyahu and his willingness to take on US presidents – a theme since he confronted Barack Obama over his 2015 nuclear deal with Iran from the floor of the US Congress. The Israeli prime minister then tied Joe Biden in knots over Gaza, and then Lebanon, for the final 15 months of his term. And he has now almost certainly cocked a snook at Donald Trump, who, by most accounts, wanted more time to renegotiate a nuclear deal with Tehran. 'Trump had sought additional time from Netanyahu for nuclear talks, and Netanyahu did not give it to him,' said Daniel Shapiro who served as US ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017, in an interview with Foreign Affairs magazine on Friday. For Iran, Netanyahu's great foe of more than 30 years, this could be very bad news indeed, with nothing obvious to stop Israel's bombing campaign against it grinding on for weeks and months. Sima Shine, a senior researcher at INSS, said there was 'no significant international pressure' to wrap things up – quite a thing for a former Mossad official and Iran specialist who spent decades battling the clock. 'There is little sympathy for the Iranian regime', she said. 'Everyone recognises its negative role in the war in Ukraine, its involvement in the Middle East conflicts, its brutal suppression of protesters – especially women – and the fact that no one wants to see it possess nuclear weapons.' At a briefing for journalists on Saturday, a senior IDF official turned things around 180 degrees, conjuring up a very different figurative clock. 'We are prepared for more … an aerial road to Tehran has effectively been opened', he said. 'Our goal in these operations is to remove an existential threat; to remove a ticking time bomb.'
ITV News
34 minutes ago
- ITV News
With no sign of an end to fighting, what moves will Israel and Iran make next?
It is the war that has been feared for the best part of five decades. Now it is here, there's nothing in the language emanating for Tehran or Tel Aviv to suggest any hope of it ending quickly, despite the potentially parlous consequences for both sides, the region and beyond. World leaders, near and far, are calling for restraint but their words are being lost in the rush to rearm and attack once more. Israel warns 'Tehran will burn' while those in Tehran warn they will 'open the doors of hell' - both could be absolutely right and both share the same goal, victory and survival. After Gaza and Lebanon, Israel is emboldened. For the same reasons Iran is enfeebled, no longer able to rely on the strength, real or perceived, of Hamas or Hezbollah and aware the Israel has penetrated deep into its society and security. Israel also knows it has, should the going become excessively tough, the support, weaponry and military might of the United States to fall back on. Keir Starmer has also said RAF aircraft, including Typhoon fighter jets, have been sent to the Middle East region for 'contingency support', although the prime minister refused to say under what circumstances jets would be scrambled. Iran has less surety as to the support it might receive from Russia, China and others who have offered support or supply of weaponry. However it is still very much in the fight and could remain there. So where could this go now? The attacks by both on the other's territory can and will continue. Iran could block the Strait of Hormuz, where a quarter of global oil passes through. The impact of that would be felt globally quickly. It could also expand or shift its focus to American military assets in the region. Proxy support would help that effort, though going for the bases would likely bring the US directly into the war, it might be a gamble Iran is willing to take. There is also the question, at the heart of this whole war, as to how close to a nuclear weapon Iran is and whether even under attack they can speed one through and provide themselves with the very best defence. Israel too has its nuclear option - literally and metaphorically. Literally it is a nuclear power, metaphorically it could chose to take its fight right to the top Iran's power structure and attempt to take out the Ayatollah. That one move could lead to end of the Iranian regime. Those with everything to lose or nothing left to lose are dangerous adversaries. For sure brutal days lie ahead.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
More UK jets being sent to the Middle East as Starmer calls for de-escalation
The Prime Minister said further military assets are being deployed to provide 'contingency support' across the region amid escalating hostilities between the two long-time foes. Additional refuelling aircraft have been deployed from UK bases and more fast jets will be sent over, it is understood. The UK already has RAF jets in the Middle East as part of Operation Shader. Speaking to reporters travelling with him on a visit to Canada, Sir Keir declined to rule out intervening in the conflict entirely but made clear he would continue pressing for de-escalation and said the 'intense' developments over the weekend would be discussed in detail at the G7 summit. 'These are obviously operational decisions and the situation is ongoing and developing and therefore I'm not going to get into the precise details, but we are moving assets, we've already been moving assets to the region, including jets, and that is for contingency support across the region. So that is happening,' he said. Sir Keir added: 'Our constant message is de-escalate, and therefore everything we're doing, all discussions we're having are to do with de-escalation.' Asked whether he would rule out UK involvement, he said: 'I'm not going to get in to that.' Britain last announced it had deployed fighter jets in the region in last year, when the Government said British aircraft had played a part in efforts to prevent further escalation. It comes after Iranian state media said Tehran had warned it would target US, UK and French bases in the region if the countries help Israel thwart Iran's strikes, according to reports on Saturday. Iran launched missile and drone attacks on Israel overnight after a series of Israeli strikes on the heart of Tehran's nuclear programme and armed forces. Tehran's UN ambassador said 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded in Israel's attacks, while its response was said to have killed at least three and wounded dozens. A Cobra meeting of high-level ministers was convened on Friday afternoon to discuss the situation. The same is not expected on Saturday but Whitehall officials were expected to be meeting. The conflict was ignited by early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases on Friday. Israel said the barrage was necessary before Iran got any closer to building a nuclear weapon, although experts and the US government have assessed that Tehran was not actively working on such a weapon. Iran retaliated with waves of drones and ballistic missiles, with explosions lighting up the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Both the UK and the US have insisted they were not involved in the Israeli strikes and that the country acted unilaterally. Sir Keir would not be drawn on whether the UK was given notice of Israel's attack after reports that the country was not forewarned following the Government's decision to sanction two far-right Israeli ministers last week. 'In relation to Israel, I had a good and constructive discussion with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, and that included discussions about the safety and security of Israel, as you would expect, between two allies,' he said. Asked if Britain had been told in advance of Israeli's military plans, the Prime Minister said: 'I'm not going to go into what information we had at the time or since. 'But we discuss these things intensely with our allies. But I'm not going to get into precisely what we knew, because it's a constant flow of information between our allies, and between us and the US.'
