Explosions lit up the skies over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday night as air raid sirens wailed across Israel following a barrage of missiles launched from Iran, escalating tensions between the two regional rivals.
According to Israeli military officials, the missiles were fired in retaliation for Israel’s massive airstrikes on Iranian territory, which included an unprecedented assault on Iran’s underground nuclear facility at Natanz and targeted strikes that killed several top Iranian military commanders.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA confirmed that hundreds of ballistic missiles were launched in response to what it called “Israel’s biggest-ever attacks” on Iranian soil.
The Israeli military described its campaign as the beginning of “Operation Rising Lion,” while Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of initiating full-scale war. “They have started it,” he said in a televised address. “And they will receive a bitter response.”
As night fell, Iranian media reported explosions near key locations including Tehran’s northern and southern outskirts, as well as the Fordow nuclear site near Qom, which had initially been spared during the first wave of Israeli strikes.
Additional blasts were heard in Isfahan, where Israel later confirmed it had struck another nuclear facility.
Israel said its forces were actively targeting Iranian missile and drone launch sites.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised address, framed the strikes as an existential defense mission.
“This campaign will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” Netanyahu declared.
“Generations from now, history will record our generation stood its ground, acted in time, and secured our common future.”
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to abandon its retaliation and return to nuclear negotiations.
“I tried to save Iran humiliation and death,” Trump told Reuters in a phone interview, “They can still work out a deal; it’s not too late.”
Though nuclear talks between Iran and the United States were scheduled for Sunday, Trump admitted it was uncertain whether they would proceed given the rapidly unfolding crisis.
Earlier on Truth Social, the former U.S. president posted: “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.”
Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi echoed this sentiment, noting that while military action alone might not dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, it could pave the way for a long-term diplomatic solution.
“Military action won’t destroy Iran’s nuclear program,” Hanegbi said, “but it can create the conditions for a long-term deal, led by the United States.”
As of Friday night, air defense systems remained on high alert in both countries, and regional airlines diverted flights as fears of a wider Middle East conflict loomed.