A missile fired from Iran exploded in an open area in central Israel Thursday after sirens sounded across large parts of the country, authorities said, as fighting between Israel and Iran continued to expand across the region.
The military said one missile crossed into Israel and detonated in an open area. Emergency teams were also dispatched to Moshav Barkat, where debris from an interception reportedly landed in the yard of a home. No injuries were reported.
Air raid sirens had sounded shortly before across central Israel, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, the Sharon region, the Jordan Valley, Samaria and the Shfela. The Home Front Command also warned residents in the Jerusalem area to prepare for possible alerts.
Rescue flights heading to Israel were temporarily delayed in the air during the alerts.
The barrage came after the Home Front Command said launches toward Israel had been detected.
Earlier Thursday, the military said the number of missile launches from Iran appears to be declining, though authorities remain on alert for possible developments involving the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The military also released footage showing an Israeli F-35 fighter jet shooting down an Iranian YAK-130 aircraft over Tehran, describing it as a rare air-to-air interception during the campaign. The air force continues to strike what it called infrastructure belonging to the Iranian terror regime in Iran.
Israeli F-35 fighter jet shooting down an Iranian YAK-130 aircraft
(Photo: IDF)
According to the military, more than 320 Hezbollah terrorist targets have been struck in Lebanon since the start of the fighting, including about 80 in the past 24 hours.
Overnight, air force aircraft attacked a building in southern Lebanon used as a Hezbollah command center after several terrorists were seen entering it, the military said.
Defense Minister Israel Katz also spoke overnight with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, thanking him for Washington’s support. Katz said cooperation between Israel and the United States against Iran was “changing history,” according to a statement from his office.
The United States has also been directly involved in operations. U.S. Central Command said it struck a missile launcher in Iran as part of efforts to destroy mobile launch capabilities.
Officials in Israel estimate that more than 3,000 Iranian soldiers and operatives from the Iranian regime have been killed since the start of the war in joint strikes carried out by the air force and the United States.
Drone strike in Azerbaijan
Elsewhere in the region, media reports described explosions in Qatar and Bahrain and said Iran carried out an attack in Azerbaijan. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard also claimed it struck a U.S. tanker in the Persian Gulf and warned that vessels linked to the United States, Israel or European countries could be targeted in the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier in the morning, the air force began another large wave of strikes on infrastructure belonging to the Iranian terror regime in Tehran.
Satellite images released this week also showed extensive damage to the Iranian missile base in Kermanshah, where most structures and entrances to underground facilities appear to have been destroyed.
Meanwhile, the political-security Cabinet is expected to meet Thursday evening to discuss the next steps in the campaign.
IDF strikes in Beirut
Israel’s Transportation Ministry is also examining the possibility of resuming outbound flights from Ben Gurion Airport early next week, potentially with expedited check-in procedures.
The first rescue flights bringing stranded travelers back to Israel landed earlier Thursday morning from Athens and Rome.
Elsewhere, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the sinking of an Iranian naval vessel near Sri Lanka by a U.S. submarine, calling it an attack in international waters and warning that the United States would “regret the precedent it has set.”
Sri Lankan officials said an Iranian vessel was currently in the country’s territorial waters after being denied permission to dock.
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni also announced plans to send air defense assistance to Gulf states as tensions escalate across the region.