Tel Aviv: Israel claimed it targeted military sites in Iran and killed a senior commander in fresh strikes on Tuesday, prompting Iran to fire missiles in retaliation on the fifth day of escalating clashes between Israel and Tehran.
The international news agency AFP reported that explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the morning, shortly after air raid sirens sounded across parts of Israel following missile launches from Iran that hit Mossad headquarters in the Israeli capital.
Iran’s General Kioumars Heidari, commander of the army’s ground forces told state television that it destroyed strategic targets in Israel overnight using drones, as intense strikes between the arch-foes raged for a fifth day on Tuesday.
“Various types of destructive drones, equipped with precise destruction and targeting capabilities, destroyed strategic positions of the Zionist regime in Tel Aviv and Haifa,” he said.
The air force was “operating to intercept and strike where necessary to eliminate the threat”, the Israel military said.
About 20 minutes later, it said people could leave shelters as police reported debris fell in the Tel Aviv area and the fire brigade said it was tackling a blaze in the surrounding area.
The Israeli military said it killed senior Iranian commander Ali Shamdani in an overnight strike on a “command centre in the heart of Tehran”, four days after he replaced Golam Ali Rashid, who was killed in an Israeli strike.
It also said it targeted multiple missile and drone sites in west Iran, including infrastructure, launchers and storage facilities, with black-and-white footage showing some of them exploding.
Despite mounting calls to de-escalate, neither side has backed off from the missile blitz that began Friday, when Israel launched an unprecedented aerial campaign targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities.
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A new wave of Israeli strikes on Tehran — including a dramatic hit on state television headquarters that the broadcaster said killed three people — prompted both sides to activate missile defence systems overnight.
Iran has responded with multiple missile salvos. The Revolutionary Guards vowed Monday night the attacks would continue “without interruption until dawn”.
State television said the Tel Aviv headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was among the Guards’ targets.
Trump has insisted Washington was not involved in the initial strikes and has repeatedly declined to say whether the United States will support the Israeli military action.
After earlier calling for talks, Trump issued an extraordinary warning on his Truth Social platform: “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” He then left a Group of Seven summit in Canada early to return to Washington.
On his arrival back in the United States, Trump said he was aiming for a “real end” to the conflict, and not just a ceasefire. “I’m not looking for a ceasefire, we’re looking at better than a ceasefire,” Trump told reporters, adding that he wanted a “complete give-up” by Iran.
