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Civilians across Israel took shelter as air raid sirens sounded across the country, as Iran launched a barrage of missiles in a major escalation.
Explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley as Israelis could be seen piling into bomb shleters with reporters on state television laying flat on the ground during live broadcasts.
In a post on social media, the Israel Defence Forces shared a graphic showing the location of projectile targets, with the caption: “Approx. 10 million civilians are the targets of Iranian projectiles.”
Israeli army radio claimed that 200 missiles had been sent from Iran, with a spokesperson for the IDF saying that they were not aware of any injuries as a result of the attack. Less than an hour later, people were told they could leave the protected spaces.
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had launched tens of missiles at Israel, and that if Israel retaliated Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous”.
An order to launch hundreds of missiles at Israel was made by the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, who remains in a safe location, the Reuters news agency has been told.
An official added that Tehran is “fully ready for any retaliation”.
Earlier, the military had announced that any ballistic missile strike from Iran was expected to be widespread and told the public to shelter in safe rooms in the event of an attack.
The Independent understands that Sir Keir Starmer is making a series of calls to international leaders in the Middle East as well as US president Joe Biden and European allies before issuing a statement.
He has already spoken to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the King of Jordan.
Other calls are ongoing as the US is understood to be leading efforts to help Israel defend itself against the Iranian missile attack. UK assets in Cyprus are also understood to be on standby.
Iran has vowed to retaliate following attacks that killed the top leadership of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
The firing of missiles came after Israel said its troops had launched ground raids into Lebanon, though it described the forays as limited. The Israeli campaign in Lebanon is the biggest escalation of regional warfare since fighting erupted in Gaza a year ago.
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to help Israel defend itself from Iranian missile attacks.
“We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region,” Biden said on X about a meeting held with Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House national security team earlier in the day.
