At least 30 Iranian ballistic missiles have landed in Israel since the beginning of the recent conflict between Israel and Iran on June 13. Iran has launched more than 370 missiles at Israel since the hostilities started, according to Israel’s Government Press Office. By the morning of June 16, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel, and roughly 600 have been wounded, 10 of them seriously.
Israel launched an attack on Iran on June 13 in the early morning hours, and Iran began its response the same day, launching drones and then barrages of missiles throughout the night of June 13–14. These attacks have followed a similar pattern since the first day of the conflict, with Iran launching dozens of missiles each day.
Israel and Iran have not released full data on drone attacks, but drone alerts have also been activated in Israel throughout each day since June 14. For instance, on June 16, there were six rounds of drone alerts. The drones frequently target the periphery of Israel, such as the southern or northern parts of the country, or the border near Jordan or the West Bank. Most of these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) appear to have been intercepted, as no reports of their impacts have been made public in Israel.
Iran has generally launched its ballistic missiles at night. Israelis receive warning of the launches up to 30 minutes before the projectiles arrive. This multi-layered alert system enables Israelis to enter bomb shelters. In most cases, the warnings have saved lives when impacts hit residential areas. However, a missile directly hit a safe room on the fourth floor of a home in the city of Petah Tikva in the early morning hours of June 16, killing two people.
Israel’s Home Front Command has emphasized that people should continue to go to shelters. In a separate incident, a tall residential building was hit by a missile in the early hours of June 15. The IDF said 180 people in bomb shelters were unharmed by the explosion, but nine people were killed and 200 injured outside of shelters located in the building and the adjacent area.
Overnight between June 15 and 16, eight Israelis were killed and hundreds injured as missiles impacted Tel Aviv and the neighboring cities of Petah Tikva and Bnei Barak. Missiles also struck the northern Israeli city of Haifa, hitting the Bazan oil refinery, where three people were killed. Iran appears to have specifically targeted this site because the location was also struck in a second incident in the first four days of the conflict. Iran continued to target the Haifa area and central Israel on June 16. On June 15, a missile also struck Israel’s Weizmann Institute in the city of Rehovot near Tel Aviv. It was not clear if Iran explicitly targeted the structure.
Iranian missiles have spread destruction when they penetrate Israel’s air defenses. At the impact sites at Bat Yam on June 15 and Tel Aviv on June 16, missiles caused damage over several city blocks. Israel’s Home Front Command, including the Search and Rescue Brigade and various first responders, have helped rescue people trapped in rubble and secured areas after attacks.
According to the current data, air defenses have intercepted around 90 percent of the missiles launched at Israel. Israel uses the Arrow system to intercept ballistic missile threats. It has also reportedly used the David’s Sling medium-range system in the recent war with Iran. In addition, the US has helped defend Israel with Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries and other systems.
Iran has warned Israelis to evacuate Tel Aviv and vowed “harsher” attacks, according to Iranian pro-regime media outlets such as Mehr News. Iran has dubbed its response to Israel’s June 13 attack “Operation True Promise III.” Its two attacks on Israel in 2024 were called “True Promise I” and “True Promise II.”
