Israel and Iran commerce missile strikes as battle escalates

Israel and Iran traded missile strikes on Sunday, as the conflict between the countries raged for a third day.

Israeli police and paramedics said at least eight people were killed and more than 140 injured in the strikes overnight, including four people who were killed when an Iranian missile landed near a residential building in the north of the country.

Another four people were killed when another missile hit a building in Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv, authorities said.

The Israel Defense Forces said it had targeted critical installations in Tehran, including Iran’s defence ministry. Iranian officials said residential buildings had also been hit.

Israeli attacks also hit a major oil terminal in Tehran’s Shahran neighbourhood late on Saturday. Witnesses described a huge explosion at the site, but Iran’s petroleum ministry said the fire was under control.

The two countries’ leaders also exchanged threatening rhetoric overnight. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of attacks that Iran “cannot even imagine”, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it would pursue a “more forceful and expansive” response if Israeli attacks continued.

Israeli first responders work amid rubble following an Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv, on Sunday on Sunday © Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images



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