New Delhi:
One of the 180-odd ballistic missiles Iran fired last night landed near the Tel Aviv headquarters of Israeli intelligence service Mossad. A video that has emerged on social media shows a massive crater near the Mossad headquarters after Tehran’s missile offensive.
CNN geolocated the video and found it was shot from a high-rise apartment building in Herzliya, less than 3 kilometers from Mossad headquarters.
The video shows the huge crater in what appears to be a parking lot. The missile strike threw up dust and several vehicles parked nearby were covered in soil. This crater is a few hundred metres away from a cinema complex.
Air raid sirens rang through Israeli cities and about 10 million rushed to take refuge in bomb shelters last when after Iran launched a barrage of missiles.
The Israel Defense Forces have said most of the missiles were intercepted by the country’s advanced defence systems Iron Dome and Arrow. But some penetrated the shield, leading to minor damage.
The missile offensive was in retaliation to the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Israeli military strikes.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Iran made a “big mistake” and warned that it “will pay for it”.
Guy Nir, spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in India, told NDTV that Tehran would get an appropriate response. “If he (Iran leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) plans to initiate a full-scale war with Israel, it will be a mistake for them (Iran). Israel’s response is going to be strategic and pin-pointed, and not a full-scale war. I don’t think any side wants that.”
Iran’s Ambassador to India Iraj Elahi has warned that Tehran will strike Israel again if it doesn’t de-escalate tensions. “If the Hitler of our time (Netanyahu) stops his brutality and hostility, his country won’t have to face the consequences,” Mr Elahi told NDTV.
Israel’s all-weather ally US has warned Iran, saying that the missile strike marked a “significant escalation”. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan pledged that the US would stand by Israel and support any retaliatory measures.