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Dozens wounded as Iran’s missiles hit Tel Aviv area in response to Israeli attacks

Iran has fired around 100 missiles at Israel

Israelis are staying close to bomb shelters Friday evening after at least one Iranian missile fell in Tel Aviv amid a barrage responding to Israel’s early-morning attack on Iran’s nuclear program. Israel killed several major military commanders and nuclear scientists in the attack.

Iran fired around 100 missiles at Israel in a first barrage, officials said, and a second wave followed. Sirens sounded across the entire country.

The United States has been helping Israel shoot down the missiles, according to multiple media reports. Israel is home to hundreds of thousands of Americans.

President Trump called Israel’s attack “excellent,” and told Axios’ Barak Ravid it “likely improved the chances of a U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement.”

“I gave Iran 60 days, today is day 61,” Trump told Ravid. “They should have made a deal.”

There were reports of people injured in Israel by the strikes, with three hospitals treating about two dozen wounded, according to The New York Times. Videos circulated on social media showing the impact of Iran’s strikes, but many were deleted early in the attack amid exhortations by Israeli leaders to shield location data that could aid the Iranians.

Israeli authorities had warned that it was possible that some missiles and drones could evade the country’s air defense systems, which have largely deflected missiles sent on earlier occasions by Iran and more recently and regularly by Iran’s proxies in the Middle East.

The attack came as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave a televised address. “Today, we must give a strong response to the evil, despicable, terrorist Zionist identity,” he tweeted simultaneously. “God willing, we will respond with strength, and will show no mercy to them.”

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America, said in a statement released just before the attack began, “The Iranian regime’s stated policy has long been to destroy Israel and Jewish communities around the world. I have long said that Israel has a right to defend itself and that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Ensuring they never obtain one must remain a top national security priority.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s attack on Iran could take several days.

JTA contributed to this report.

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