Dramatic footage captured the moment Israel’s air defense systems failed to intercept some of the estimated 180 ballistic missiles fired by Iran, as police say gunmen killed six in a suspected terror attack on a light rail in Tel Aviv.
People in clips posted to social media could be heard gasping in horror as missiles were seen overhead and sirens blared.
Video shared by the American journalist Jim Sciutto showed the missile strikes that prompted him to leave a Tel Aviv rooftop and abandon his live report on CNN.
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“Oh God, OK guys, we’ve to get off the roof,” he said while on air. “These are coming down right next to us here. They’re coming down. One just about—we gotta go inside.”
Israel’s military confirmed that some missiles weren’t stopped by defense systems, adding that they landed in central and southern Israel.
“We carried out many interceptions,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement to CNN. “There are a few impacts in the center and some more in the south. At this stage, we are assessing the situation. We are not aware of injuries.”
While Iran’s missile barrage appeared to have been mostly repelled, Tuesday was still a deadly day in Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported that at least six were killed and 17 were wounded, including a child, in a suspected terror attack at a light-rail station in Jaffa, an ancient seaport in southern Tel Aviv.
Volunteers from the Zaka Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish emergency response team move away a body from the scene of a shooting attack at the Ehrlich station of the Tel Aviv Light Rail in Jaffa south of Tel Aviv on Oct. 1, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images.Dramatic images showed two gun-toting men exiting the train station before they reportedly opened fire. The attackers fled on foot and were shot dead by security forces and civilians using pistols, officials said.
Israeli police said terrorists were behind the shooting spree, which took place minutes before missiles rained on the country.
Israeli defense systems intercepts missiles over Ashkelon, Israel, on Tuesday.
Amir Cohen/ReutersIsrael’s missile-defense system has three tiers: The Iron Dome, a short-range air defense system; David’s Sling, a midrange system designed to tackle ballistic missiles; and Arrow, which is designed to intercept missiles flying outside Earth’s atmosphere.
The systems are reportedly designed to allow some projectiles through if their trajectory shows them striking empty desert—something that’s done to allow for more capacity to stop rockets potentially headed toward civilians or military targets. It’s unclear which of Israel’s defense systems failed on Tuesday and if the missiles which made it through struck anything of significance.
Israeli border police take position at the site of a fatal shooting attack in Jaffa, Israel, Oct. 1, 2024.
Itai Ron/ReutersPres. Joe Biden canceled a virtual appearance to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with members of the Jewish community on Tuesday just as Iran launched its attack. He was called into the situation room alongside Kamala Harris, the White House said.
Tensions in the Middle East have reached a fever pitch in recent days despite Biden’s public pleas to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end hostilities in Gaza, Lebanon, and elsewhere.
Attacks abroad on Hezbollah, whose leader was assassinated Friday, prompted Iran to threaten Israel—retaliation that appeared to take place Tuesday, on the eve of the Jewish New Year.
Israel, Iraq, and Jordan all temporarily shut down their airspaces on Tuesday. Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador the United Nations, promised in a statement that Iran should “expect a severe response.”
Biden has said its one of his final priorities as president to bring an end to Israel’s war with Hamas and bring home the remaining Israeli hostages still in captivity in Gaza.
There’s been multiple instances where Biden has said he believed a ceasefire agreement was close to being reached but never came to fruition. The latest example came just last week when U.S. officials signaled they were confident a truce would be implemented “in the coming hours.”
That truce never came to fruition, however, and the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed a day later, on Friday. On Monday, the Israeli military announced it’d began “limited ground operations” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon—something Israeli opponents in the Middle East likened to an invasion.
