Iran fires several small missile barrages throughout the day, causing minor injuries

Iran launched several barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel throughout the day on Tuesday, some of which slammed into central areas of the country, including the city of Herzliya, causing a few light injuries and sending millions rushing to shelters.

The barrages came on the fifth day of Israel’s major offensive against Iran’s nuclear program, as the Islamic Republic appeared to signal that it was interested in a negotiated ceasefire and ahead of US President Donald Trump’s top-tier security meeting in Washington about the situation.

The barrages were notably smaller than those fired in recent days, which the IDF said it believed was due to Iran’s capabilities having been degraded by Israeli strikes.

On Tuesday morning, at around 8:30 a.m., some 20 ballistic missiles were launched at Israel by Iran, according to initial Israel Defense Forces assessments.

The attack set off air raid sirens across large swaths of the country, from the north down to areas of the Negev in the south. Sirens were triggered in the Jerusalem area, although not in the capital itself, where explosions from air defense interceptors were heard.

Police in central Israel said officials were dealing with three impact sites, and reported that there was some material damage.

“Our focus now is on making sure there are no sites or incidents or injuries that we do not yet know about,” Yarkon District head Tzachi Sharabi told reporters.

The aftermath of an Iranian missile strike seen in central Israel, June 17, 2025. (Eli Katzoff)

Reports said one missile hit a storage shed near Herzliya, setting it on fire, and another hit a parking lot, where an empty bus went up in flames.

Magen David Adom reported that five people were lightly injured in that incident. Firefighters rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze.

There were also scattered reports of damage from falling shrapnel.

In addition, the military said it shot down a drone that was launched at Israel, apparently from Iran. The attack sounded sirens in Ramat Magshimim in the Golan Heights.

Hours later, shortly after 5 p.m., sirens again sounded across central Israel following the launch of another round of ballistic missiles.

An initial IDF assessment indicated that fewer than 10 missiles were launched in the attack, although that number was later amended down to just two.

One of the missiles was intercepted, the IDF said, while the second struck an open area, “according to policy,” as it was not going to hit any critical infrastructure or urban areas.

Less than two hours later, the IDF said it had again detected the launch of ballistic missiles, this time toward areas in southern Israel. Then, just before 10 p.m., sirens sounded across northern Israel as a fresh round of missiles was launched at Israel.

In both instances, there were no reports of impacts in urban areas or injuries, and according to initial IDF assessments, only a small number of missiles were launched in each attack. It did not provide an exact number for the early evening attack, but said just two missiles were fired in the attack shortly before 10 p.m.

The shrinking missile barrages were acknowledged on Tuesday evening by the IDF, which said that Iran had been launching smaller salvos over the past two days because its capabilities had been degraded by Israeli strikes.

According to IDF assessments, Iran is not trying to conserve missiles for a longer war, but rather, its forces are struggling to coordinate larger attacks.

The majority of Iran’s top military leadership has been eliminated in strikes, and some 40% of its ballistic missile launchers have been destroyed, according to the IDF.

On top of that, the IDF said it has been “hunting down” missile launchers and thwarting the attacks, reducing the strikes to just a handful of missiles at a time. In the first days of the conflict, Iran was launching dozens of missiles at a time. However, the smaller attacks have been more frequent than the larger barrages.

Due to the smaller missile attacks, the Home Front Command made the decision to remove its pre-launch alert — issued following IDF identification of preparations by Iran roughly 15-30 minutes before launch — which had instructed civilians in areas potentially under threat from Iranian ballistic missiles to be prepared to head to bomb shelters.

The Home Front command said it would still aim to provide an early warning upon launch, around 10 minutes before sirens sound.

The decision to stop sending pre-launch alerts was announced after the Home Front Command had given much shorter early warnings for Iran’s overnight ballistic missile attacks than it had previously.

The missiles came in three overnight attacks targeting central and northern Israel: just after midnight, then at 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.

In all three attacks, Home Front Command issued an alert to civilians’ phones just 2-3 minutes before the actual sirens sounded, and didn’t send a pre-launch alert at all.

All in all, fewer than 10 ballistic missiles were launched from Iran at Israel overnight, according to IDF assessments.

The IDF said its air defenses acted to intercept the missiles. There were no reports of impacts in urban areas or injuries.

The Israeli Air Force also shot down some 30 drones launched at Israel overnight, all apparently from Iran, the military said. Many of the drones were intercepted beyond Israel’s borders. Several were shot down over the Golan Heights, according to the military.

The military released footage of one of the interceptions by an IAF helicopter.

״נפלה, התפוצצה, המטרה הופלה״: במהלך הלילה – חיל האוויר יירט כ-30 כטב״מים ששוגרו לעבר מדינת ישראל pic.twitter.com/E2rr2bouA0

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 17, 2025

Eight people were killed Monday in impacts in Petah Tikva, Haifa, and Bnei Brak, and a day earlier, nine people were killed in Bat Yam and four in Tamra.

Taking the offensive, the air force carried out several waves of strikes in western Iran, destroying anti-aircraft launchers, ballistic missile launchers, and drones, the IDF said. Later on Tuesday morning, the IDF said that it had killed senior Iranian general Ali Shadmani in a strike on Tehran.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its longtime adversary from getting any closer to building atomic weapons. At the beginning the campaign on Friday, it said the situation had become an immediate existential threat to the Jewish state.

Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded.

Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 224 people, according to Iranian officials.