Iran launched a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities early Monday, after Israel hit military targets deep inside Iran, with both sides vowing additional devastation.
Trump has urged the adversaries to “make a deal” but told reporters Sunday that “sometimes they have to fight it out” first.
AFP photographs showed burnt residential structures in Tel Aviv and burning fires outside the coastal city of Haifa after Israel’s army advised residents to seek shelter from oncoming Iranian missiles.
In Jerusalem, an AFP journalist heard huge explosions, and images showed Israeli air defences lighting up the night sky.
After decades of animosity and a long shadow war fought through proxies and clandestine operations, Israel’s unexpected attack on Iran last week sparked the most fierce combat yet, raising worries of a protracted conflict that might engulf the Middle East.
Israel claims its attacks have targeted military and nuclear sites, killing many top commanders and atomic experts – but a senior US source revealed Sunday that US President Donald Trump urged Israel to abandon plans to murder supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Monday’s Iranian missile launch came after Israeli strikes in central Iran, which Israel’s army claimed targeted surface-to-surface missile installations.
In a statement quoted by the official IRNA news agency, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced Monday that they had “successfully” struck Israel and promised “effective, targeted, and more devastating operations” to follow.
The Magen David Adom emergency agency in Israel reported five deaths and 92 injuries as a result of the latest Iranian attack.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since the hostilities broke out Friday, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slamming Iran Sunday for allegedly targeting civilians.
“Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children,” he said while visiting a residential building struck by a missile in the coastal city of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv.
Since Friday, Iranian strikes have killed over a dozen people in Israel.
According to Iran’s health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed at least 224 people and injured more than 1,200 others since Friday.
