Israel and Iran exchanged another wave of deadly attacks on late Saturday, resulting in overnight strikes that killed at least eight civilians in Israel and targeted the Iranian Ministry of Defense headquarters in Tehran.
Iran launched a massive barrage of missiles on Sunday in retaliation for Israel’s earlier preemptive strike earlier in the week, according to The Times of Israel. The deadly attack has forced scores of people to flee to bomb shelters as missiles rained down. Iran’s latest offensive on Sunday reportedly hit several buildings in Bat Yam, Rehovot, and Tel Aviv, as well as a shopping center in Kiryat Ekron, according to first responders cited by the outlet.
Missiles Raining Down
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A subsequent wave of Iranian attacks that evening claimed the lives of four people in Bat Yam and left around a dozen others injured, with up to 35 people still missing, according to the outlet. Among the dead were two children, aged 8 and 13, as well as two women—one in her 60s and another in her 70s—first responders reported.
Earlier on Saturday, airstrikes killed four Israeli civilians and left 200 others injured, according to The Times of Israel. All four victims were women from the same family.
Manar Khatib, her daughters Hala, 20, and Shada, 13, along with a relative also named Manar were killed during bombings in the city of Tamra, the outlet reported. Throughout the day, around 140 people sustained injuries.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) lifted shelter-in-place advisories just before 3:30 a.m. local time, though alerts remained in effect due to an ongoing drone threat, The Times of Israel noted.
Iranian strikes targeted several key locations, including Israel’s largest oil refinery in the Haifa region, in the country’s north. The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot was also hit, with at least one laboratory building catching fire, The New York Times reported.
The attacks came just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fiery speech promising to unleash the full power of the Israeli Air Force on Tehran. Not long after his remarks, air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel as Iran launched a “heavy and destructive” barrage of ballistic missiles.
No Stopping Israel
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Meanwhile, Israeli forces hit Iran’s central command, inflicting some damage on one of the Ministry of Defense’s administrative offices, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. A separate Israeli attack also reportedly targeted the Organization of Defense Innovation and Research, which operates under the ministry.
Videos circulating on social media showed smoke billowing from the impacted buildings after the Israel Defense Forces carried out the strike.
Iranian state media reported that Israel also hit several key energy sites, including the world’s largest natural gas field in South Pars, the Shahran oil depot, and additional fuel storage facilities in Tehran.
On Saturday, Iran’s largest natural gas facility—the South Pars gas field—caught fire following Israeli airstrikes, while thick smoke was also seen rising from the Abadan oil refinery near the Persian Gulf.
Israel has requested U.S. support in its efforts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but those appeals have been declined, citing two Israeli officials, according to Axios.
Israel’s ongoing “widespread strikes” across Iranian territory have placed the remaining Iranian leadership in a tough position—either escalate the conflict against a militarily stronger Israel or pursue diplomatic solutions.
Meanwhile, next round of nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, scheduled for Sunday in Oman, was called off as global leaders urgently pushed for de-escalation to prevent a full-scale war.
