The pre-dawn assault left buildings collapsed in major population centers, including Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Haifa, and Petah Tikva, with rescue operations continuing throughout the morning as authorities search for additional victims trapped in the rubble.

Home Front Command initially issued protective directives for southern regions and northern communities before expanding the alert to cover the entire country as the missile barrage intensified around 4:09 a.m.

The attack unfolded in waves, with the first missile impacts reported at 4:17 a.m. in various locations across central Israel. In Bnei Brak, three major structures – the Gesharim school, an eight-story residential building, and a synagogue – collapsed from direct hits.

An 80-year-old man was extracted without signs of life from the collapsed building in Bnei Brak, while emergency responders confirmed additional fatalities across multiple impact sites. Magen David Adom paramedic David Suysa, who treated victims at the Bnei Brak site, said, "When we conducted searches in the rubble together with additional Home Front Command personnel, we saw an 80-year-old man trapped and unconscious. We assisted in rescue operations, during medical examinations, we had to determine his death at the scene."

The Iranian missile strikes created complex emergency scenes across the Dan region, with massive fires erupting along entire streets in Tel Aviv where missiles struck between buildings. Emergency crews worked to extinguish fires and conduct search and rescue operations for trapped victims.

In Haifa, a direct hit on a building sparked active fires at the impact site, with reports of multiple casualties, and three people feared trapped in the rubble who have lost contact with rescue teams.

The casualty toll continued mounting throughout the morning as rescue operations progressed. Magen David Adom reported evacuating 95 victims from the overnight attacks, including 32 lightly wounded and four moderately wounded in Bnei Brak, along with one fatality.

Tel Aviv sustained hits at two separate locations, resulting in ten lightly wounded and two moderately wounded victims. Petah Tikva experienced the heaviest toll with 38 lightly wounded, two anxiety casualties, one moderately wounded, two in serious condition, and five fatalities confirmed.

The Carmel region reported two lightly wounded victims, while authorities confirmed three missing persons with grave concerns for their lives.

Dr. Lena Koren Feldman, director of Beilinson Hospital, confirmed the facility treated the largest number of casualties from the attack. "We received a total of 55 wounded following the missile barrage before dawn," she said. "Among the wounded was one woman in critical condition, three in moderate condition, and 51 lightly wounded."

The missile impacts created widespread destruction beyond the immediate casualty zones, with reports of infrastructure damage and power outages affecting multiple neighborhoods. Emergency services established evacuation centers for displaced residents, including a facility at a school on Abramsky Street in Bnei Brak where evacuees are staying on mattresses with minimal provisions.

Evacuated residents complained of receiving inadequate information about their future housing arrangements and lacking basic clothing and necessities. Many arrived wounded and traumatized after their apartments were completely destroyed in the direct hits.

Among the confirmed fatalities was Belina Ashkenazi, a 94-year-old Bat Yam resident, whose husband and son were injured in the attack and hospitalized at Ichilov Hospital. The death toll in Bat Yam reached eight after rescue forces extracted an additional victim's body early Monday morning.

The Iranian assault represents a significant escalation in Operation Rising Lion, with the missile barrage causing the most extensive civilian casualties and property damage since the conflict began. Israeli Air Force intercepted numerous missiles, though multiple projectiles penetrated air defenses to strike populated areas directly.

Foreign networks reportedly broadcast live coverage showing impact locations throughout Israeli territory, contrary to explicit requests from Israeli military spokesman guidelines prohibiting such real-time reporting of strike locations.

The attack prompted massive emergency response operations across multiple regions, with fire and rescue services, police, Home Front Command, and local authorities coordinating rescue efforts at impact sites. Search operations continue as authorities work to account for all potential victims and assess the full scope of damage from Iran's most devastating missile assault on Israeli civilian targets.

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The missile, named Etemad – meaning "trust" in Farsi – was broadcast on state television on Sunday, with officials highlighting its substantial range. According to Agence France-Presse, the Iranian defense ministry described it as their "most recent ballistic missile".

Western nations have increasingly expressed concerns about Iran's expanding ballistic missile program, viewing it as a potential destabilizing factor in the Middle East. The missile's capabilities are particularly notable as it can potentially reach Israel, which Iran targeted twice during the recent Gaza conflict.

Video: Iran's president reviews a missile / Credit: X

President Pezeshkian emphasized the strategic importance of the missile, stating in a televised address that the development of defense capabilities "aims to ensure that no country dares to attack Iranian territory," Agence France-Presse reported.

The unveiling occurred on Iran's national Aerospace Day, just days before the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Republic's establishment on February 10, 1979. This event follows a pattern of military demonstrations that have intensified since the return of US President Donald Trump, who previously pursued a "maximum pressure" approach towards Iran.

Agence France-Presse noted that Tehran has simultaneously signaled openness to restarting negotiations over its nuclear program, a long-standing source of tension with Western countries.

Historically forced to develop its own military equipment after US sanctions following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has constructed a substantial domestic arsenal. Despite being under an arms embargo during its devastating war with Iraq from 1980 to 1988, the country has since developed an extensive range of domestically produced weapons, including missiles, air defense systems, and drones.

The missile's presentation underscores Iran's continued commitment to military self-sufficiency and technological independence in the face of international sanctions and geopolitical pressures.

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On Tuesday evening, a horrific shooting attack took place in Jaffa as two terrorists unleashed a deadly assault on the light rail along Jerusalem Boulevard, claiming the lives of seven residents. Security forces subsequently neutralized both perpetrators. Both attackers are Palestinians from the Hebron area. It was unclear how they entered Israel, and why they were allowed to board the light rail with weapons before firing on bystanders on the platform.

Rom Ela, an emergency medical technician with United Hatzalah first responder organization, provided details of the unfolding situation: "We initially received reports of injured individuals near the train station on Jerusalem Boulevard.

Bystanders then informed us of additional casualties on nearby streets, prompting our teams to expand their response to multiple locations. Some of the victims we treated were unconscious. As of now, we've operated across four different streets." Six people were pronounced dead shortly after the incident, while another one died early Wednesday morning.

Hanan Peretz, head of  division in the police, recounted at the scene of the attack: "Several teams arrived at the location and spotted a terrorist with a long weapon, possibly an assault rifle. As he fled, he was aiming the weapon, but was subsequently neutralized. The inspectors at the scene prevented harm to additional individuals."

Shai Peretz, an eyewitness to the attack, described the harrowing scene: "I saw a tall, thin man with a gunfiring in every direction at anyone who appeared in front of him. He shot two women and another man who was passing by on a bicycle. The man was hit and fell to the ground. We need to conduct a thorough review here."

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Israeli warplanes targeted a Syrian air defense battery from which an anti-aircraft missile was launched toward Israel, an Israeli military spokesman said early on Sunday. The warplanes also attacked other targets in the area, while no casualties were reported from the Syrian missile, said the spokesman, Avichay Adraee.

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Syrian air defenses on Sunday intercepted what it said was an Israeli missile strike across central parts of the country and downed most of the missiles, state media said. An army statement said missiles that flew over parts of Lebanon's capital Beirut hit locations near the city of Homs, resulting only in material damage.

An Israeli military spokesperson said earlier on Twitter that an anti-aircraft missile launched from inside Syrian territory toward Israel exploded in mid-air.  Israel has in recent months intensified alleged strikes on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt Iran's increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Lebanon's Hezbollah

The strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict that has been going on for years with the goal of slowing Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli military experts say.

Tehran's influence has grown in Syria since it began supporting President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that started in 2011. Fighters allied to Iran, including Hezbollah, now hold sway in areas in eastern, southern, and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.

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North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese waters Friday in its second major weapons test this month that showed a potential ability to launch nuclear strikes on all of the US mainland.

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The United States quickly condemned the launch and vowed to take "all necessary measures" to guarantee the safety of its mainland and allies South Korea and Japan. Vice President Kamala Harris will separately meet with leaders of allies who are attending a regional forum in Bangkok to discuss North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch.

"We strongly condemn these actions and we again call for North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilizing acts. On behalf of the United States, I reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances," Harris said at the start of the meeting. "Together the countries represented here will continue to urge North Korea to commit to serious and sustained diplomacy."

The North's ongoing torrid run of weapons tests aims to advance its nuclear arsenal and win greater concessions in eventual diplomacy, and the launches come as China and Russia have opposed US moves to toughen sanctions aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear program.

Video: Reuters

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the ICBM launch from North Korea's capital region around 10:15 a.m. and the weapon flew toward the North's eastern coast across the country. Japan said the ICBM appeared to have flown on a high trajectory and landed west of Hokkaido.

According to South Korean and Japanese estimates, the North Korean missile flew about 6,000-6,100 kilometers (3,600-3,790 miles) at a maximum altitude of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters the altitude suggests the missile was launched on a high angle. He said depending on the weight of a warhead to be placed on the missile, the weapon has a range exceeding 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles), "in which case it could cover the entire mainland United States."

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the launch "needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing" regional security while showing the North's prioritizing of unlawful weapons programs over the well-being of its people. She said President Joe Biden was briefed over the launch.

"Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilizing actions and instead choose diplomatic engagement," Watson said.

Hamada, the Japanese defense minister, called the launch "a reckless act that threatens Japan as well as the region and the international community."

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch "a grave provocation and serious threat" to undermine international and regional peace and security. It said South Korea maintains readiness to make "an overwhelming response to any North Korean provocation" amid close coordination with the United States.

After being briefed over the launch, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered officials to boost security cooperation with the United States and Japan and implement unspecified deterrence steps that were previously agreed upon with the United States. Yoon also ordered officials to push for strong international condemnations and sanctions on North Korea, according to his office.

North Korea also launched an ICBM on Nov. 3, but experts said that weapon failed to fly its intended flight and fell into the ocean after a stage separation. That test was believed to have involved a developmental ICBM called Hwasong-17. North Korea has two other types of ICBM – Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 – and their test-launches in 2017 proved they could potentially reach parts of the US homeland.

The Hwasong-17 has a longer potential range than the others, and its huge size suggests it's designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat missile defense systems. Some experts say the Nov. 3 test showed some technological progress in the development of the Hwasong-17, given that in its earlier test in March, the missile exploded soon after liftoff.

It wasn't immediately known if North Korea launched a Hwasong-17 missile again on Friday or something else.

In recent months, North Korea has performed dozens of shorter-range missile tests that it called simulations of nuclear attacks on South Korean and US targets. But it had halted weapons launches for about a week before it fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday.

Before Thursday's launch, the North's foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, threatened to launch "fiercer" military responses to the US bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.

Choe was referring to Biden's recent trilateral summit with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea's recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence. Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including its nuclear arms.

Choe didn't say what steps North Korea could take but said that "the US will be well aware that it is gambling, for which it will certainly regret."

Pyongyang sees the US military presence in the region as proof of its hostility toward North Korea. It has said its recent series of weapons launches were its response to what it called provocative military drills between the United States and South Korea.

There have been concerns that North Korea might conduct its first nuclear test in five years as its next major step toward bolstering its military capability against the United States and its allies.

North Korea has been under multiple rounds of United Nations sanctions over its previous nuclear and missile tests. But no fresh sanctions have been applied this year though it has conducted dozens of ballistic missile launches, which are banned by UN Security Council resolutions.

That's possible because China and Russia, two of the UN council's veto-wielding members, oppose new UN sanctions. Washington is locked in a strategic competition with Beijing and in a confrontation with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

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Iran likely suffered another failed launch of a satellite-carrying rocket in recent days attempting to reinvigorate a program criticized by the West, even as Tehran faces last-minute negotiations with world powers to save its tattered nuclear deal in Vienna.

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Satellite images from Maxar Technologies seen by The Associated Press show scorch marks at a launchpad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province on Sunday. A rocket stand on the pad appears scorched and damaged, with vehicles surrounding it. An object, possibly part of the gantry, sits near it.

Successful launches typically don't damage rocket gantries because they are lowered prior to takeoff. Iran also usually immediately trumpets launches that reach space on its state-run television channels, and it has a history of not acknowledging failed attempts.

Separate images from Planet Labs PBC suggest the attempted launch likely occurred sometime after Friday. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the U.S. military and the White House.

The rocket involved appears to have been Iran's Zuljanah satellite launch vehicle, said Jeffrey Lewis, an expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies who first noticed the attempted launch with colleagues.

The gantry apparently damaged in the launch resembled another that was previously used in a successful launch last year of a Zuljanah, named after a horse of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a key figure in the Shiite faith who was massacred with his fighters at Karbala in the 7th century.

It remains unclear what could have caused the blast. The first two stages of a Zuljanah are solid fuel, but its final stage is liquid and would have needed to be fueled on the launch pad, Lewis said.

"This just looks like it got interrupted, like something exploded," Lewis told AP.

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The military spokesman for Yemen's Houthi movement, Yehia Sarei, said on Monday that the Iran-aligned group fired ballistic missiles towards al-Dhafra airbase in Abu Dhabi, the second attack in a week that targeted the Emirati capital.

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Sarei said the group had also targeted other vital areas in Dubai using drones, without specifying those targets.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates said two ballistic missiles were intercepted over the skies of Abu Dhabi early Monday.

The missile fire further escalates tensions across the Persian Gulf, which previously had seen a series of assaults near – but never indisputably on – Emirati soil amid Yemen's years-long war and the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.

The attacks threaten the business-friendly, tourism-focused efforts of the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula also home to Dubai. For years, the country has marketed itself as a safe corner of an otherwise-dangerous neighborhood.

Videos on social media showed the sky over Abu Dhabi light up before dawn Monday, with what appeared to be interceptor missiles racing into the clouds to target the incoming fire. Two explosions later thundered through the city. The videos corresponded to known features of Abu Dhabi.

The state-run WAM news agency said that missile fragments fell harmlessly over Abu Dhabi.

The Emirates "is ready to deal with any threats and [was taking] all necessary measures to protect the state from all attacks," WAM quoted the UAE Defense Ministry as saying.

The missile fire disrupted traffic into Abu Dhabi International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Etihad, for about an hour after the attack.

Sarei, the Houthi military spokesman, also warned that the UAE would continue to be a target "as long as attacks on the Yemeni people continue."

"We warn foreign companies and investors to leave the Emirates!" Sarei shouted from a podium. "This has become an unsafe country!"

The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi later issued a security alert to Americans living in the UAE, warning citizens to "maintain a high level of security awareness." The alert included instructions on how to cope with missile attacks, something unheard-of previously in the UAE, a tourist destination home to skyscraper-studded Dubai and its long-haul carrier Emirates.

The Emirati Defense Ministry later tweeted out a black-and-white video that it said showed an F-16 striking the ballistic missile launcher used in the Abu Dhabi attack. The Defense Ministry identified the site as being near al-Jawaf, a Yemeni province around 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) southwest of Abu Dhabi.

The F-16 is flown by both Bahrain and the UAE, but not Saudi Arabia. The ministry did not acknowledge which country flew the mission.

The attack came a week after Houthi rebels claimed an attack on the Emirati capital targeting the airport and an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. fuel depot in the Mussafah neighborhood. That attack on the fuel depot killed three people and wounded six others.

New, high-resolution satellite photographs obtained by the Associated Press from Planet Labs PBC showed repair work still ongoing at the fuel depot Saturday. Emirati officials have not released images of the attacked sites, nor allowed journalists to see them.

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In recent days, a Saudi-led coalition that the UAE backs unleashed punishing airstrikes targeting Yemen, knocking the Arab world's poorest country off the internet and killing over 80 people at a detention center.

The Houthis had threatened to take revenge against the Emirates and Saudi Arabia over those attacks. On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said a Houthi-launched ballistic missile landed in an industrial area in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, slightly wounding a foreigner.

The hard-line Iranian daily newspaper Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, just Sunday published a front-page article quoting Houthi officials as saying that the UAE would be attacked again with a headline: "Evacuate Emirati commercial towers."

In 2017, the newspaper had faced a two-day publication ban after it ran a headline saying Dubai was the "next target" for the Houthis.

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An overnight airstrike attributed to Israel caused massive material damage early Tuesday to buildings at the Syrian port of Latakia, the state-run SANA news reported.

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According to Israel's N12 news site, Syrian reports claimed that the country's air defense intercepted fired by Israeli aircraft.

A Syrian military official announced that at 3:21 a.m. Tuesday, "the "Israeli enemy carried out a missile airstrike from the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, on a container platform at the Latakia trade port."

The strike hit containers in the port, setting off a fire. There were no reports of wounded.

Israel has allegedly carried out hundreds of strikes since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, although it seldom directly acknowledges responsibility for them. Israel says it will not allow a build-up of Iranian influence in the country, including foreign militias funded by Tehran.

Earlier this month, a similar strike hit Latakia, causing fires but no casualties, according to reports. N12 noted that Latakia is considered a stronghold of the family of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Alawite sect in Syria.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the incident was the first attack on the Latakia port since the start of the conflict.

i24NEWS contributed to this report

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Saudi Arabia is allegedly engaged in domestic production of its own ballistic missiles with assistance from China, a report published Thursday said.

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Sources familiar with the matter disclosed to CNN that United States intelligence departments believe Saudi Arabia to be manufacturing missiles at one site, at least.

Two unnamed sources said a number of classified US intelligence briefings revealed that China and Saudi Arabia have traded sensitive ballistic missile technology.

A representative from the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry, when asked for a statement on the matter, told CNN the two countries "have maintained friendly cooperation in all fields, including in the field of military trade."

"Such cooperation does not violate any international law and does not involve the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the Chinese official added.

Satellite images taken of a suspected missile production site near Dawadmi, Saudi Arabia revealed the presence of a burn pit.

The pit is believed to be used in disposal of the solid-propellant left over from missile production.

Analysts from Middlebury Institute of International Studies told CNN that this is "the first unambiguous evidence that the facility is operating to produce missiles."

Though much remains unclear, analysts say weapons produced at the facility could be designed in the same style as China's missiles, given the site was constructed with help from Beijing.

However, Saudi Arabia reached out to a number of other states regarding ballistic missile development, which means the weapons produced at the site could also be of a completely different build.

i24NEWS contributed to this report

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The US Senate rejected a resolution on Tuesday that would have prohibited the proposed sale of advanced medium range air-to-air missiles, missile launchers and other weapons and support to Saudi Arabia.

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The vote was 67 to 30 against the resolution, which was introduced by Republicans Rand Paul and Mike Lee, as well as Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats.

While many US lawmakers consider Saudi Arabia an important partner in the Middle East, members of Congress also have criticized the country for its involvement in the war in Yemen, a conflict considered one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

"Exporting more missiles to Saudi Arabia does nothing but further this conflict and pour more gasoline on already raging fire," Sanders said in a speech urging support for the resolution of disapproval.

They have refused to approve military sales for the kingdom without assurances US equipment would not be used to kill civilians. Backers of the sale noted that US President Joe Biden's administration has already barred US sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia.

"I completely agree with the need to hold Saudi leadership accountable for a variety of actions... but I also believe that it is important that our security partners know that we will uphold our commitments," said Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The weapons package, which was approved by the State Department as well as leaders of the Senate and House foreign affairs committees, would include 280 AIM-120C-7/C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), 596 LAU-128 Missile Rail Launchers (MRL) along other equipment and support.

Raytheon Technologies makes the missiles.

The Biden administration said earlier on Tuesday it strongly opposed the resolution.

Passage "would undermine the president's commitment to aid in our partner's defenses at a time of increased missile and drone attacks against civilians in Saudi Arabia," the White House Office of Management of Budget said in a statement.

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