Israeli officials say Iran has fired a second wave of missiles at the Jewish state, with the military’s Home Front Command warning people to move into shelters.
At least two Iranian missiles hit the ground in Tel Aviv during the second round of strikes, the Associated Press reported. At least one woman has been killed and and 20 others injured, police told Fox News.
“The IDF identified that missiles were recently launched from Iran towards the territory of the State of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement earlier on Friday as the first strike targeted Israel. “The defense systems are working to intercept the threat.”
At least one explosion was heard in the distance as air sirens sounded in Jerusalem on Friday evening during the first wave, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, a photo captured by the AP showed Israel’s missile-defense systems intercepting missiles over Tel Aviv. At least five people were injured in the Tel Aviv area, according to Israeli paramedics, including four people who were lightly injured by shrapnel and a fifth person who was said to be in “moderate condition.”
U.S. ground-based air defense systems are helping shoot down missiles from Iran, an unnamed U.S. official told the AP.
The attack comes after Israel launched a wave of strikes on nuclear and military sites across Iran on Friday, killing at least three top military officers and two prominent nuclear scientists.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country would get revenge on Israel for the attacks.
“Don’t think that they hit and it’s over,” he said in a recorded message to the nation delivered as missiles flew at Israel. “No. They started the work and started the war. We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.”
Earlier on Friday, he confirmed the deaths of several Iranian commanders and scientists from the Israeli attacks and promised a “bitter, painful fate” for the “Zionist regime.”
The Israeli strikes killed Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces and Ayatollah Khamenei’s No. 2; General Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guard; and General Gholamali Rashid, deputy commander in chief of the armed forces. The strikes also killed General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace unit, along with most of the unit’s leadership, who were hiding out in an underground bunker, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Two of Iran’s preeminent nuclear scientists were also killed: Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranji, a theoretical physicist and president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
Iran first responded by launching more than 100 drones toward Israel, which the Jewish state began intercepting soon after they launched.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel launched a “targeted military operation” against the threat that Iran poses to Israel’s survival. He said the operation would go on for “as many days as it takes” until the threat is eliminated.
“In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has never taken before. Steps to weaponize this enriched uranium,” Netanyahu said. “And if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year. It could be within a few months, less than a year. This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival.”
Netanyahu addressed the people of Iran in a video statement on Friday, telling them it is there “opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard.”
“The Islamic regime which has oppressed you for nearly 50 years threatens to destroy my country, the State of Israel,” he said. “The objective of Israel’s military operation is to remove this threat – both the nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat — to Israel. And as we achieve our objectives, we’re also clearing the path for you to achieve your objective, which is freedom.”
“As I said yesterday and many times before, Israel’s fight is not with you . . . the brave people of Iran, whom we respect and admire,” he added. “Our fight is with our common enemy: the murderous regime that both oppresses you and impoverishes you. Brave people of Iran, your light will defeat the darkness. I’m with you; the people of Israel are with you.”