Iran launched a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported projectiles striking and shrapnel falling in Israel's north and centre, wounding at least 67 people.
Powerful explosions, likely from Israel’s defence systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn, ushering in a fourth day of open warfare between the regional foes. Plumes of black smoke rose into the sky over the major coastal city.
Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv said that Iranian missiles had hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, blowing out windows and heavily damaging multiple apartments. There was no immediate word on the number of casualties from that strike as rescuers searched through the ruins.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said it was treating 67 wounded people evacuated from four different places hit by missile strikes. It said most of the people were in moderate or mild condition.
Iranian state TV said the country fired at least 100 missiles at Israel, signalling that it had no intention of yielding to international calls for de-escalation as it pressed on with its retaliation for Israel's surprise attack Friday on Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme and military leadership.
The latest salvo comes after a weekend of escalating tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran that raised fears of a wider, more dangerous regional war.
Iran on Sunday said Israel struck oil refineries, killed the intelligence chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and hit population centers in intensive aerial attacks that raised the death toll from Israel's campaign to 224 people. Health authorities also reported that 1,277 were wounded, without distinguishing between military officials and civilians.
Israel said Iran had fired over 270 missiles since Friday, 22 of which slipped through the country’s sophisticated multi-tiered air defenses and caused havoc in residential suburbs, killing 14 people and wounding 390 others as of late Sunday.