23 Israelis injured in Iran’s latest missile barrage

Iran launched a heavy barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel early Sunday, striking multiple cities and injuring at least 23 people, according to Israeli emergency services. The attack came hours after the U.S. joined the attack on Iran, with strikes on nuclear facilities.

Impacts were reported in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Ness Ziona, and Be’er Ya’akov, triggering large-scale emergency responses. In one central city, rescue teams worked for over an hour to evacuate residents — including those at a damaged elder care facility — after missiles slammed into a residential neighbourhood.

One man in his 30s was moderately injured by shrapnel. The rest of the casualties, including three children, were classified as lightly hurt and taken to hospitals across the country. Ichilov Hospital admitted eight wounded individuals, including two children; Kaplan Medical Centre received three; Bnei Zion Hospital treated five; and Assaf Harofeh Medical Centre reported seven arrivals, including the sole moderate case.

“This is a missile strike in an area of private homes, with extensive destruction,” said Magen David Adom paramedic Adi Antonizzi. “The residents followed Home Front Command instructions and entered protected areas as soon as alarms were heard, preventing more severe injuries.”

Antonizzi added that MDA teams treated victims suffering from shrapnel wounds and bruises and that evacuations to nearby hospitals are ongoing. Some of the wounded may have arrived independently, which could explain discrepancies in injury totals.

However, residents in Haifa reported that no sirens sounded before the missile impact there. The Home Front Command said it is investigating the incident. Anticipating an Iranian response to the US strikes, Israel’s Home Front Command raised the country’s level alert, including bans on educational activities, gatherings, and workplaces, with the exception of essential businesses.

Twenty-four Israelis have been killed in Iranian missile attacks since June 13.

President Donald Trump announced American airstrikes on nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz. Fordow and Natanz are uranium enrichment sites. Isfahan is where raw uranium powder is converted into gas before being sent to one of the enrichment facilities. Isfahan also has several research reactors.

Fordow was too hardened and deep for most conventional weapons. The US has “bunker buster” bombs, 30,000 pound deep-penetrating bombs which are believed to be the only bombs capable of destroying those facilities. Only the US has planes capable of carrying them.

“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror,” Trump said in a brief address to the nation.

“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.”

He added, “Iran, the bully of Middle East, must now make peace. If not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”

Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on June 13, citing intelligence that Tehran had reached “a point of no return” in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. According to Israeli defense officials, Iran has developed the capacity to rapidly enrich uranium and assemble nuclear bombs, with sufficient fissile material for up to 15 weapons.

Israeli intelligence also exposed a covert program to complete all components of a nuclear device. The strikes marked a dramatic escalation in what officials describe as a broader Iranian strategy combining nuclear development, missile proliferation, and proxy warfare aimed at Israel’s destruction.