Iranian missile strikes on Tel Aviv damaged at least 40 buildings, forcing more than 200 residents to evacuate their homes and take shelter in three hotels, Israeli daily Haaretz reported, citing the city municipality.
The strikes came after Iran vowed sweeping retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack.
Missiles were fired at targets in Israel and Gulf Arab states, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to issue stark warnings against further escalation.
Iran confirmed Khamenei’s death, saying he was killed in an Israeli-American airstrike on his Tehran office on Saturday, a development that has cast uncertainty over the future of the Islamic Republic and heightened fears of regional instability.
Iranian state television said the 86-year-old leader’s death at his office “showed that he consistently stood among the people and at the forefront of his responsibilities, confronting what officials call global arrogance.”
Trump described the killing as an opportunity for Iranians to reclaim their country, writing on social media: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead.”
Iran’s Cabinet said the attack was a “great crime” that “will never go unanswered,” while the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned of its “most intense offensive operation” yet, targeting Israeli and American bases. Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a televised address: “You have crossed our red line and must pay the price. We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”
Trump responded online, saying: “Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before,” adding, “THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”
Following the initial strikes, Iran launched missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. The Israeli military said dozens of missiles were fired, many of them intercepted. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service reported that a woman died Saturday night from wounds sustained in a missile strike in the Tel Aviv area.
Air traffic across the Middle East was disrupted as air defense systems activated, with explosions heard over Dubai into Sunday morning. UAE state media said shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital killed one person, while debris from interceptions sparked fires at the city’s main port and damaged the facade of the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel.
The attack marked a dramatic escalation in U.S. involvement, raising the risk of broader conflict and underscoring a major show of military force by an American president who campaigned on an “America First” platform and pledged to avoid “forever wars.”
Khamenei’s killing, the second major U.S.-led strike on Iran during Trump’s current term, is expected to leave a power vacuum, as no clear successor had been named and the supreme leader held ultimate authority over state policy for decades, overseeing both the clerical establishment and the Revolutionary Guard.
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” Trump said.
Iran swiftly formed a governing council to run the country until a new supreme leader is selected. State media also reported that the head of the Revolutionary Guard and a senior security adviser to Khamenei were killed in the airstrikes. Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour assumed command of the Guard after its previous leader was killed in last June’s 12-day war, while adviser Ali Shamkhani was described by IRNA as a long-standing figure in Iran’s security establishment.
As news of Khamenei’s death spread, some residents in Tehran were seen celebrating, cheering from rooftops, blowing whistles and ululating, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to The Associated Press.
Elsewhere, mourners raised a black flag over the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city and a key Shiite pilgrimage site. The government declared 40 days of national mourning and a seven-day public holiday.
Citing unnamed sources, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported that several of Khamenei’s relatives were also killed, including a daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and a grandchild.