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Explosions and Buzzing Drones Heard as Israel and Iran Exchange New Wave of Attacks

Aaron Boxerman Reporting from Jerusalem

The New York Times: Israeli fighter jets and drones unleashed destruction and death across parts of Iran on Friday night and into Saturday morning in an attack on Tehran’s nuclear sites and military leadership. The strikes prompted a retaliatory barrage of missiles from Iran, resulting in the deaths of at least two people in Israel and the injury of dozens.

Missiles and drones flew in both directions as Israel said its military campaign, called “Rising Lion,” would continue for days, if not longer.

Iran said Saturday morning that its response was not over, vowing revenge for what it described as an act of war by Israel.

The most intense fighting between the two countries in decades generated anxiety worldwide about the prospect of a widening regional war that could draw in the United States and other major military powers.

Iranian ballistic missiles struck at least seven sites around Tel Aviv on Friday night, hours after waves of Israeli strikes devastated Tehran’s military chain of command and hit critical nuclear facilities. The attacks continued into Saturday morning, with Iran reporting dozens of people killed, and Israel reporting one death and about 20 injuries.

On Saturday, residents in Tehran reported hearing explosions, and the Iran air defense fired nonstop rounds in the Pastour neighborhood.

Precise casualty figures in Iran could not be confirmed. But Iran’s U.N. ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told the U.N. Security Council that Israel’s strikes in Iran had killed 78 people and injured 329 others.

Earlier, explosions were heard in Jerusalem as missiles streaked overhead, while in Tel Aviv, Israeli television showed images of a severely damaged building and many mangled and burned cars from one of the sites hit. Fire officials said several people had been rescued from buildings struck by Iranian missiles. Thirty-four people were taken to hospitals in the area, officials said.

An Israeli police spokeswoman confirmed that one woman had been pronounced dead at the scene after an Iranian missile barrage struck Ramat Gan, a suburb east of Tel Aviv. Officials had previously said a 70-year-old woman was in critical condition after being pulled from the rubble of a building. It was not clear whether the two cases were the same.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, told the U.N. Security Council that Israel’s strike on Iran’s nuclear site near Natanz on Friday had destroyed its aboveground enrichment plant, causing chemical and radiological contamination. But he said the leak was “manageable.”

An American official, who requested anonymity to discuss a continuing operation, said the U.S. military was helping Israel intercept some of the ballistic missiles. The official said that U.S. military assets already in the eastern Mediterranean to help defend American troops in the region had been used to intercept the missiles.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement that it had struck dozens of targets in Israel “forcefully and with precision,” including military and defense sites. The New York Times could not independently verify that claim.

Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, said that Iran had “crossed a red line” by firing missiles at populated areas in Israel, warning that “the ayatollah regime would pay a very heavy price” for its actions.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said earlier that Israel “should anticipate a harsh punishment” for its daylong assault, as some of Israel’s European allies expressed worry that Israel was ratcheting up its military conflict with Iran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who has described the sustained assault as necessary to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, said in a video statement on Friday night that the people of Iran should rise up against their leaders.

“The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them. It has never been weaker,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

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