Iran launches barrage of missiles at Israel following attack
This still from a video shows strikes in Tel Aviv
By Michael Rios, Nechirvan Mando, Catherine Nicholls, Eugenia Yosef and Dana Karni, CNN
(CNN) — Tehran launched retaliatory strikes against locations across Israel on Friday, following Israel’s attacks on Iranian military and nuclear targets.
Iran said Friday evening local time that it had fired “hundreds of various ballistic missiles” towards Israel, in what it called the “beginning” of its “crushing response.”
“Moments ago, with the launch of hundreds of various ballistic missiles toward the occupied territories, the operation of decisive response to the savage attack of the Zionist regime has begun,” Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, reported.
Iran claimed that it struck Israeli military-industrial centers used for producing missiles and other military equipment, adding that “field reports, satellite imagery and intercepted intelligence indicate that dozens of ballistic missiles effectively hit strategic targets.”
Following the barrage, Israel’s military claimed that Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles toward Israel and only landed a “few hits.” Some of those hits were from interception debris, Effie Defrin, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said in a video statement.
The United States helped Israel to intercept Iranian missiles on Friday evening, two Israeli sources have told CNN. Other countries in the region also supported Israeli air defenses, one source said, in a similar way to how they had done in previous Iranian attacks on Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said late on Friday that Iran had “crossed red lines” by firing missiles at civilian population centers and vowed it would pay a “very heavy price” for its actions.
Smoke and explosions in Tel Aviv
During the attack, CNN’s teams in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem could hear large explosions, and video from Tel Aviv showed incoming rockets and smoke rising amid the city’s skyscrapers.
At least 34 people have been injured in Gush Dan, according to the Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA). At least one woman is in critical condition and a man has been seriously injured, MDA added.
Gush Dan, which includes Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan, is Israel’s largest metropolitan area.
Information on injuries from individual hospitals across the country suggests that there could be dozens of injured people in hospitals, some of which have not yet been included in the MDA’s figures.
About an hour after the strikes began, authorities told Israelis they could leave their bomb shelters.
A CNN journalist took shelter with her neighbors approximately 100 meters from where a missile landed. As the projectile made impact, her group heard a noise similar to a jet engine, then a large explosion followed by a smaller one.
Images and video released by MDA showed civil defense workers surveying mangled cars and collapsed building facades in central Israel.
The Iranian barrage came after Israel launched a massive two-pronged attack on Iran early Friday morning local time, with strikes aimed at destroying Iranian nuclear sites and decapitating its military leadership in Tehran.
Israel’s attack culminated years of threats and days of heightened speculation – but was executed without the blessing of Israel’s closest ally: the United States. The Trump administration has stressed that Israel acted unilaterally and that Washington was “not involved.”
In a speech posted Friday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke directly to Iranians, saying that “Israel’s fight is not against the Iranian people,” but rather its government.
“More is on the way. The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them. It has never been weaker,” Netanyahu said.
In April 2024, Iran launched more than 300 projectiles – including around 170 drones and over 120 ballistic missiles – toward Israel, but “99%” of them were intercepted by Israel’s aerial defense systems and its “partners,” according to the Israeli military.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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