Air raid sirens sounded across the Negev and the Dead Sea area in southern Israel on Friday afternoon after missiles were launched from Iran.
The IDF announced shortly after that the threats were intercepted by air defenses. The Home Front Command said residents could leave protected areas. There were no reports of injuries.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported explosions in the cities of Qom and Ilam.
On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force struck the Parchin complex, one of Iran’s largest and most sensitive defense industry sites. The facility houses major military industries, including the production and storage of warheads, engines and various systems used in Iran’s missile and munitions programs. It also contains facilities for the repair and maintenance of equipment used in the country’s heavy military industry.
The strike is considered a significant blow to Iran’s military industry, as the site serves as a central hub for the development, production and maintenance of strategic components for Tehran’s weapons systems.
The alert came several hours after an earlier Iranian missile barrage triggered sirens across large parts of central Israel, the Sharon region and parts of Judea and Samaria, ending an 11-hour lull in attacks. Loud explosions were heard as Israeli air defenses intercepted the missiles.
Emergency responders reported minor damage to several buildings in Tel Aviv and nearby Givatayim caused by interceptor debris, while two women were lightly injured in separate incidents in Beit Shemesh and Givatayim, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service. Police said officers were handling several sites involving weapons fragments across the Tel Aviv district.
Meanwhile, near-constant sirens sounded across northern Israel as Hezbollah continued launching rockets and drones toward communities along the Lebanese border. Alerts were triggered along the northern coastal strip — from border towns through Acre and the Haifa Bay area to the city of Haifa itself — after a drone infiltrated from Lebanon. The IDF said the drone was intercepted after a pursuit in northern skies.
Defense Minister Israel Katz held a security assessment at the military’s underground command center at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv. “No residents of the north should have to leave or move from their land or their communities. Our mission is to ensure and guarantee their safety and security,” he said at the end of the meeting.
Katz added that the IDF has reinforced its forces inside enemy territory and expanded to additional positions it has taken. “We will continue doing this until Hezbollah is defeated one way or another,” he said.
The defense minister said the military has also strengthened the contact line along the border. “The concept that we defend the communities and the border from within enemy territory is clear, including inside Lebanon,” he said. “There were five positions, and these positions have now expanded significantly. In addition, our forces are pushing forward so that the soldiers and the army serve as the shield protecting the communities from direct anti-tank fire.”