In a major escalation of the ongoing conflict, Iran launched two large groups of ballistic missiles at Israel early Wednesday. The attack came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that “the battle begins” and called for “no mercy” towards Israelis.

The first group of missiles, around 15 in total, was fired shortly after 12:40 a.m. and triggered warning sirens across many parts of Israel. About 40 minutes later, Iran launched another 10 rockets. These were aimed at central Israeli areas and several communities in the West Bank.

Before the missiles hit, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) warned people through alerts to quickly take shelter. After each missile attack, the IDF informed citizens that it was safe to come out of the shelters.

Thankfully, no injuries were reported, but a fire broke out in a parking lot in central Israel. Several cars were damaged. It is not yet clear if the fire was caused by a missile hitting directly or by falling pieces of missiles intercepted in the air.

Later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed that hypersonic missiles were used in the attack. The IRGC said in a statement on state TV, “The 11th wave of the proud Operation Honest Promise 3 using Fattah-1 missiles” was carried out. They also claimed, “Iranian forces have gained complete control over the skies of the occupied territories.”

During the night, warning sirens were also heard near the Dead Sea because of a suspected drone entering Israeli airspace. Just before 6 a.m., more sirens were heard in northern Israel. The IDF later said they shot down a drone that came “from the east”, a phrase often used to describe attacks from Iran-backed groups in Iraq or Yemen.

Israel strikes back in Tehran after Khamenei's threats

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran had already fired several smaller missile groups. According to the IDF, the size of the attacks was getting smaller, likely because Israeli airstrikes had already damaged many of Iran’s missile systems.

After the second big missile attack early Wednesday, Khamenei posted on X (formerly Twitter), “We must give a strong response to the terrorist Zionist regime. We will show the Zionists no mercy.” He also posted in Hebrew and in Farsi, “the battle begins”, with a reference to Khaybar, an ancient town whose Jewish population was defeated by Muslims in the 7th century. The post included a picture of a man with a sword entering a gate with flames in the sky.

In response, Israel warned residents of District 18 in Tehran to evacuate because Israeli airstrikes were coming. Soon after, the Israeli military began a new round of strikes in the Iranian capital.

Iranian news agencies reported that one of the targets was a university in eastern Tehran linked to the IRGC. Explosions were also reported at the Khojir missile factory near Tehran and in Karaj, a city where Israel had earlier targeted a centrifuge factory.

This is now the sixth day of Israel’s operation in Iran. Israel has said that the goal is to remove what it calls the “existential threat” from Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.

Israel says it is targeting top Iranian military leaders, nuclear scientists, and missile production centres to stop Iran from getting closer to building atomic weapons. Iran has sworn to destroy Israel in the past, which is why Israel believes strong action is necessary.

Since the conflict began, Iran has fired over 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed and more than 500 injured in Israel. In return, Israeli strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran, according to Iranian officials.

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