The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it detected multiple missile barrages from Iran on Wednesday, along with launches from Lebanon, triggering air raid sirens across Israel.
AFP journalists reported hearing several explosions and repeated sirens in Jerusalem, while alerts were also activated in Tel Aviv, central Israel, Haifa and several northern regions.
“The IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said, issuing the warning four times during the afternoon and early evening.
In a statement released shortly after the first barrage, the military said, "Several launches… from Lebanon toward Israeli territory were successfully intercepted” after sirens sounded in central Israel.
The latest attacks came on the fifth day of the Middle East war, which began on Saturday with joint strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Lebanon was drawn into the conflict on Monday when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah group launched an attack on Israel to “avenge” the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, prompting continuing Israeli air strikes.
Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said two people in central Israel were taken to hospital with minor injuries, including “a man in his thirties with shrapnel wounds and another casualty with blast injuries”.
Police said officers were dispatched to five locations in the Jerusalem area “where various intercepted projectiles had fallen, causing only damage".
The military added that the “majority of the launches” from Lebanon were intercepted.
Excluding Wednesday’s incidents, MDA said that since the beginning of the war its teams had treated 414 casualties, including “10 fatalities, two seriously injured, six moderately injured and 396 lightly injured”.
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