Iran launched several missiles at Israel in the early hours of Wednesday, striking Tel Aviv and other locations and killing at least two people and injuring several others.
The strikes came after the assassination of Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel killed Larijani in ongoing strikes.
The Israel Defense Forces said earlier on Tuesday that it had launched wide-scale strikes on Iranian government infrastructure in Tehran. It later said the attacks had killed Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij volunteer force.
At least three waves of strikes hit Israel including Tel Aviv in the early hours of Wednesday, with several missile fragments landing at the city's downtown Savidor Central railway station and damaging platforms, facilities and carriages.
"This is Savidor Central railway station in central Tel Aviv. In the early hours of Wednesday, fragments from an Iranian missile attack landed inside the station behind me. Local staff told us that emergency cleaning and repairs are still underway inside the station. Because some circuits remain dangerous, journalists are not permitted to enter at this time," said Liang Hui, a China Media Group (CMG) reporter.
"We have noticed that after Israel killed Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and the head of the Basij volunteer force, the Iranian side indicated that it would carry out a very strong retaliatory attack on Israel. We saw many interceptor missiles flying in the skies (over Jerusalem), with the Israeli army successfully intercepting some of them. However, some places were also hit, including the railway station behind me and the Ramat Gan area near Tel Aviv, where a large area of buildings was damaged, and many casualties were reported. The Israeli side has indicated that it will strike further at Iran's top leaders, and we have also noticed that the Iranian side's counterattacks have become more violent than in recent days. Some analysts believe that, following the killing of Larijani and other top Iranian leaders, the current tension between the two sides may further escalate," Liang said.
The escalation came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting Feb. 28, to which Iran and its regional allies responded with attacks on Israel and U.S. interests across the Middle East.
At least 2 killed in Israel by missiles fired from Iran
At least 2 killed in Israel by missiles fired from Iran
