Israel widened emergency measures as Iran launched repeated salvos after U.S.-Israeli strikes.
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — An Iranian missile struck the Tel Aviv area on Saturday after appearing to slip through Israel’s air defenses, killing a woman in her 50s and injuring at least 20 others as sirens sent residents rushing to shelters during waves of attacks.
The hit rattled Israel’s commercial center hours after Israel and the United States launched a major attack on Iran, triggering a swift retaliatory response from Tehran. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, declared a nationwide state of emergency and ordered sweeping restrictions, including closing schools and limiting public gatherings. Hospitals moved some operations into fortified underground areas, and police urged people to avoid nonessential travel as emergency crews fanned out to missile impact sites and shrapnel strikes. Israel’s military said many incoming projectiles were intercepted, but officials acknowledged that not all were stopped.
The missile that reached the Tel Aviv area came amid a daylong rhythm of alerts, interceptions and explosions that forced civilians repeatedly in and out of protected rooms, public shelters and underground parking garages. Residents said warning times were short, leaving little more than a minute to get inside before impacts or interceptor blasts overhead. Video from the city showed bright streaks from interceptors cutting across the sky, followed by a flash and a rising plume from the point of impact. In central Tel Aviv and nearby communities, first responders searched damaged streets for the injured, checking apartments and stairwells and moving people away from windows as additional sirens sounded. Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency rescue service, said one person was in serious condition, two were moderately hurt and 17 suffered light injuries in the Tel Aviv strike, in addition to the woman who died. Officials said more minor injuries were reported elsewhere, including people hurt while running to shelters.
Israel’s air defenses are built in layers designed to counter different threats, from short-range rockets to longer-range ballistic missiles. The system includes Iron Dome for many rockets and drones, David’s Sling for heavier, longer-range threats, and the Arrow systems meant to intercept ballistic missiles at higher altitudes. Even with those defenses, Israeli officials have long said the network cannot guarantee a perfect shield, especially in heavy salvos. On Saturday, that limit became visible on a day when Iran launched repeated barrages and Israel’s interceptors fired again and again over central Israel. Emergency workers described the attack pattern as waves that left little time to recover between alarms. In addition to the Tel Aviv impact, Israeli police and local officials reported multiple sites where debris or shrapnel fell, damaging buildings and vehicles and sending residents into the street to look up at the sky as the next alert blared.
The strike also exposed sharp gaps in shelter access that have worried Israeli officials and residents for years. Newer buildings are required to include reinforced safe rooms, but many older apartments, especially in poorer neighborhoods, do not have protected spaces. In Jaffa, a mixed Arab-Jewish area of Tel Aviv, residents packed into a public shelter beneath a park, crowding alongside families with small children, religious students from a nearby seminary and people who arrived carrying pets. Some spread mattresses on the floor and shared snacks as they refreshed phones for updates after each alert. The barrage fell during Ramadan, and some Muslim residents broke their daily fast at sundown inside the shelter while sirens echoed outside. “I want it to end as soon as possible, it’s a nightmare,” one resident said, describing exhaustion after spending the day moving back and forth from home to shelter.
Israel’s government moved quickly to prepare for more strikes. Katz’s emergency declaration expanded guidance from Israel’s Home Front Command, and the military announced tens of thousands of reservists were being called up, including to reinforce borders. Israel closed its airspace to civilian flights, though land crossings with Egypt and Jordan remained open. In Jerusalem, residents were seen rushing to buy supplies and withdraw cash as the sound of interceptions carried across the city. At Sheba Medical Center, a major hospital near Tel Aviv, staff began shifting wards and services into protected underground areas, describing the move as a preparedness step after the start of the Iran operation. Israeli leaders framed the attacks on Iran as necessary to remove what they called an existential threat, while warning that more Iranian missiles and drones could follow.
In the hours after the Tel Aviv impact, rescue teams and military units trained for disaster response were sent to assist with searches and to secure damaged buildings. Authorities said engineers would assess structures hit by blast pressure and shrapnel, and that some residents could face temporary evacuation if apartments were deemed unsafe. Police asked the public to keep roads clear for ambulances and bomb-disposal teams. The military did not immediately describe the specific reason the missile reached the Tel Aviv area, and officials cautioned that investigations after such incidents can take time, examining radar tracks, interceptor launches and whether the incoming missile maneuvered or broke apart. Defense analysts note that heavy barrages can strain any system, and that ballistic missiles travel fast enough to compress warning windows even when detection works as intended.
On the ground, the day’s violence played out in brief, tense scenes that repeated across the city: cars stopping in intersections as sirens rose, people sprinting barefoot toward stairwells, and neighbors guiding strangers into public shelters. Some residents tried to keep routines intact between alerts. A few people walked along the seaside promenade earlier in the day, saying they trusted the defenses, while others stayed close to shelter entrances and kept bags packed for quick moves. In shelters, conversations drifted from immediate safety to longer fears about a regional war and the strain of living under frequent alarms. Parents tried to distract children with cards and phone games, and older residents leaned against walls, resting between sirens. After the Tel Aviv missile hit, smoke drifted above the skyline as emergency lights flashed below, and the thud of distant interceptions signaled that the next wave might already be on the way.
By late Saturday, Israel remained on high alert, with restrictions still in effect and officials warning that additional Iranian launches were possible overnight and into Sunday. Emergency services said search work continued at the Tel Aviv strike area as authorities prepared for the next round of sirens.
Author note: Last updated February 28, 2026.