From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 15, 2025
Interceptors and safe rooms protecting Israelis, but casualties and devastation grow as Iran targets civilian areas
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Iran has fired some 280 ballistic missiles at Israel in several barrages since the IDF began its operation against Tehran’s nuclear program early Friday morning, according to the military.
Most of the missiles were intercepted by air defenses at interception rates similar to those in Iran’s April and October 2024 attacks on Israel, the IDF says.
The military says dozens of missiles were not intercepted, “according to protocol,” allowing them to strike open areas without causing damage to any critical infrastructure.
Several missiles, though, have made it through air defenses, striking residential areas in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Rishon Lezion, Bat Yam, and Rehovot in central Israel, and Haifa and Tamra in the north, causing casualties and damage.
The military has routinely emphasized that, as good as Israel’s multilayered air defenses are, they are not hermetic. It has urged Israelis to heed Home Front Command instructions to take shelter in safe rooms and bomb shelters when incoming missile warnings are received.
In all, 13 people have been killed and hundreds have been wounded in missile impacts. All of those killed and seriously wounded were not in bomb shelters, according to the Home Front Command.
The scenes of devastation at the sites of impact are largely attributed to the large explosive warheads that the missiles carry. The military estimates that Iran’s ballistic missiles have a 500-kilogram (1,100-lb) warhead, the same kind it fired at Israel in April and October 2024.
However, unlike in the Iranian attacks in 2024, which mostly targeted the Nevatim Airbase in the Negev desert — a sparsely populated area — the latest barrages have focused on the Gush Dan area in central Israel, and to a lesser degree the Haifa area in the north, which are far more densely populated. This means that missiles that are not intercepted are more likely to cause harm.
The military says that all of its bases, including air bases, are operating as usual with no harm to their functionality.
Dozens of drones launched from Iran have also been shot down by the Israeli Air Force and Navy.
The Times of Israel Community.