 "Iranian barrage hits Israeli residential area; fears grow of wider conflict in West Asia")
Israel’s military said several sites were hit by the latest Iranian missile barrage on Sunday, with a residential building on the country’s Mediterranean coast reportedly struck, according to firefighters.
In response, Israel said it began targeting dozens of surface-to-surface missile sites in western Iran, as the two arch-enemies exchanged direct fire for a third consecutive day, a dramatic escalation following years of covert and proxy warfare.
The intensifying conflict marks the first time in decades that Iran and Israel have traded blows so openly, stoking fears of a prolonged confrontation that could engulf the wider West Asia.
Residential areas in both countries have suffered deadly strikes since hostilities began two days ago. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of deliberately targeting civilians.
“Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children,” he said during a visit to the site of a missile strike on a residential building in the coastal city of Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv.
The remarks came hours after Iranian missile fire targeting Israel killed at least 10 people overnight, according to authorities, pushing the death toll up to 13 since Iran began its retaliatory strikes Friday, with 380 reported injured.
Iran activates air defences in Tehran
Iran activated its air defences in Tehran and western parts of the country on Sunday, media reports in the Islamic republic said, as Israel intensified its attacks.
“A few minutes ago, the Kermanshah air defence system was activated,” the Mehr news agency said. The official IRNA news agency said air defences were also activated in the Iranian capital.
Impact Shorts
View AllIsrael ‘got’ Iran intelligence chief, Netanyahu tells Fox News
Prime Minister Netanyahu strongly suggested that Israel has killed Iran’s intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi in an aerial attack, as the arch-foes ramp up their conflict.
“Moments ago, we also got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran,” Netanyahu told Fox News in an interview from an undisclosed location in Israel, adding “our brave pilots are over the skies of Tehran, and we’re targeting military sites, nuclear sites.”
Israel claims it hit a refuelling aircraft in the deepest strike yet inside Iran
Israel’s military claimed to have attacked an Iranian refueling aircraft in Mashhad in the country’s northeast, saying it was the deepest strike yet inside Iran and the farthest carried out from Israel.
Videos circulated Sunday afternoon of black smoke rising in the city, which is home to the Imam Reza shrine, a site of pilgrimage for Shiites.
The Israeli military said the aircraft flew a distance of 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) from Israel.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
With inputs from agencies
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