Some 350 Iranian missiles launched at Israel so far, IDF says

Iran has launched some 350 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, the vast majority of which were intercepted, according to fresh IDF statistics.

Some 40 missiles were fired in the latest barrage at around 4 a.m., which struck central Israel and the Haifa area.

There were three major impact sites in the overnight attack, killing eight people and wounding 95. Four were killed in Petah Tikva, three were killed in Haifa, and one was killed in Bnei Brak.

In all, 24 people have been killed in Iran’s ballistic missile attacks since Friday.

Iran’s barrages have consisted of some 30-60 missiles each, according to the IDF. Military officials say that Iran has sought to fire more, hundreds at a time, but Israeli Air Force strikes on ballistic missile launchers in Iran are disrupting their attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed its latest attack employed a new method that caused Israel’s multi-layered defense systems to target each other, but Israel has long acknowledged that its air defense array is not hermetic, with between 5-10% of the missiles “leaking” and impacting Israel, officials say

The total includes missiles that the IDF says it did not try to shoot down “according to protocol,” allowing them to strike open areas without causing damage to any critical infrastructure, as well as missiles it failed to intercept that hit urban areas and caused casualties and damage.

The military has urged Israelis to heed Home Front Command instructions to take shelter in safe rooms and bomb shelters when incoming missile warnings are received.

Most of Iran’s ballistic missile fire has been aimed at Tel Aviv and Haifa — which are densely populated — and to a lesser degree, the Beersheba area. This means that the few missiles that are not intercepted are likely to cause harm.

Reuters contributed to this post.