'Very scared': Israelis reel from escalating Iran missile fire

After an Iranian strike early Monday gouged a gaping hole in his apartment building in central Israel, Idan Bar said he feared for his family as the air war between the longtime foe escalated.

A tangle of metal protruded from the charred section of a high-rise building in Petah Tivka near Tel Aviv, as rescuers wheeled elderly residents away from the damage.

One woman’s mouth hung open as she was taken away in a wheelchair.

“My building got bombed from Iran,” Bar told AFP.

“It was very scary while I have four children, four boys. We’re very scared, but everyone is ok.”

Inside the building, first responders in orange helmets scoured the blown-out apartments. Debris from the blast littered the ground below, where plastic patio furniture lay overturned.

Iran unleashed a missile barrage on Israeli cities after Israel hit deep inside the Islamic republic, pressing a major offensive that began in the early hours of Friday.

On the fourth day of the escalating air war, the death toll in Israel rose to 24 after authorities announced on Monday 11 dead. In Iran, officials said the Israeli attacks had killed at least 224 people since Friday.

The scenes of devastation witnessed in Petah Tikva on Monday are relatively rare in Israel, whose advanced air defence systems usually intercept incoming threats.

The country has long been used to rockets and drones fired by Iran-backed militant groups like Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, but volleys of ballistic missiles launched from the Islamic republic have left the population feeling vulnerable.

Since Friday, air raid sirens have sent people across Israel running to bomb shelters on a nightly basis.

The latest Iranian attack followed Israeli strikes in central Iran, which Israel’s military said targeted surface-to-surface missile launchers.

Israel has said that its surprise attack launched on Friday — after decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war — targets Iran’s nuclear programme and military facilities.

The deaths in Iran have included top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to authorities.

AFP images showed fires blazing next to gutted buildings and charred cars in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv, after the military warned people to take cover from incoming Iranian missiles.

Henn, a Petah Tivka resident who declined to give his last name, said he ran to take shelter after hearing sirens.

The 39-year-old said he heard a loud explosion, “and after a few minutes we saw all the damage, all the houses broken”.

Israeli officials said four people were killed in Petah Tivka and some 35 others taken to hospital with injuries.

Families with young children wandered amongst cars whose windows had been smashed by the blast impact.

Despite the destruction, Henn said “we hope for good days”.