“This confrontation will not end with last night’s limited actions and Iran’s strikes will continue, and this action will be very painful and regrettable for the aggressors,” Fars reported, citing senior military officials.
The Israeli military said its air defence systems were operating.
Emergency and rescue workers inspect a scene of heavily damaged buildings after an overnight strike on Rishon LeZion, Israel.Credit: Getty Images
“In the last hour, dozens of missiles have been launched at the state of Israel from Iran, some of which were intercepted,” it said, adding that rescue teams were working at a number of locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported.
A hospital in Tel Aviv treated seven people wounded in the second Iranian barrage; all but one of them had light injuries. Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services said they were injured when a projectile hit a building in the city. A spokesperson for Beilinson Hospital said one woman was killed.
Australian Olympic medallist and former Labor senator Nova Peris posted on social media from Tel Aviv, calling the experience “extremely frightening and distressing”.
“It’s after 2am here in Israel. I’m with 11 other Australians, including several First Nations brothers and sisters,” wrote Peris, who has been outspoken in her support of Israel and received an award for opposition to antisemitism from an Israeli university last week.
“Like so many here, we’re just doing what Israelis do every day, seeking shelter, staying strong, and praying for peace,” she said.
Hours later, an Iranian missile struck near homes in the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion, killing two people and injuring 19, according to Israel’s paramedic service Magen David Adom. Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said four homes were severely damaged.
Israeli strikes continued in Iran, where sirens and several explosions were heard in Tehran, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency. The sound of explosions and Iranian air defence systems firing at targets echoed across central Tehran shortly after midnight on Saturday.
The Fars news agency, which is linked to the Iranian Republican Guard, said two projectiles hit Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, with flames reported there. The airport is close to Iranian leadership sites and hosts an air force base with fighter jets and transport aircraft.
People look over damage to buildings in Nobonyad Square following Israeli airstrikes on Friday in Tehran.Credit: Getty Images
Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir-Saeid Iravani, told the UN Security Council on Friday that Israel’s attacks had killed 78 people and injured more than 320.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced the start of the retaliatory attack in a recorded message carried by state television.
“We will not allow them to get away with this great crime they committed,” he said. “The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic will deal heavy blows to this enemy.”
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment activities are part of a secret weapons program, although Western countries have long accused Iran of refining uranium to levels suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use.
Threat of war escalates
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack on Iran had been planned since November and strikes would continue until the nuclear threat posed by Iran was removed.
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Israel’s operation “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat”, he said in a television address. “Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time and secured our common future.”
He called for regime change in Iran. “As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom,” he said in a message to Iranians: “Our fight is against the murderous Islamic regime that oppresses and impoverishes you. This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Iran to halt their attacks on one another, while calling for diplomacy.
“Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” Guterres wrote on X on Saturday.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday that the government had confirmed Australia’s officials and a small number of military staff in Iran and Israel were all safe at present. He called for de-escalation from all sides of the conflict in the Middle East and made a direct plea to Iran to temper its actions.
“The government is deeply concerned about events which are unfolding in the Middle East and, specifically, we are concerned about the risks of escalation,” he said. “We specifically call on Iran to exercise restraint in their actions so as not to risk any broader conflict.”
US military defends Israel from missiles
American air defence systems and a navy destroyer helped Israel shoot down incoming ballistic missiles on Friday, US officials said.
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The US has ground-based Patriot missile defence systems and Terminal High Altitude Air Defence systems in the Middle East that are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
A navy destroyer in the eastern Mediterranean Sea also shot down Iranian missiles heading towards Israel, one official said.
The US is shifting military resources, including ships, in the Middle East in response to the strikes.
US President Donald Trump said Iran has a second chance to negotiate a nuclear deal and stave off “even more brutal” attacks being planned by Israel in coming days.
In a series of short phone interviews with US media, Trump indicated he was fully aware of Israel’s operations in advance, and said Iran must make a deal that forbids it from developing a nuclear weapon “before there is nothing left”.
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“We knew everything,” Trump told Reuters of Israel’s attack plans. “I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out. They can still work out a deal, however. It’s not too late.”
The Israeli strikes on Iran and the Iranian retaliation raised fears of a broader regional conflagration, though Iran’s allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been decimated by Israel.
Ayatollah Khamenei accused Israel of starting a war. A senior Iranian official said nowhere in Israel would be safe and revenge would be painful.
Iranian UN envoy Iravani accused the US of being complicit in the attacks and said it shared full responsibility for the consequences.
Israel’s UN envoy, Danny Danon, said intelligence had confirmed that within days Iran would have produced enough fissile material for several bombs. He called Israel’s operation “an act of national preservation”.
Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. The UN nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty.
Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran rejected the last US offer.
The talks are due to resume in Oman on Sunday, but Iran signalled it might not join.
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“The other side [the US] acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday. “You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime [Israel] to target Iran’s territory.”
Reporting by AP, Reuters, Bloomberg, Michael Koziol and Mike Foley
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