JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said on Sunday that Iran had fired more than 400 ballistic missiles at Israel since the start of the Middle East war, with around 92 percent of them intercepted.
The figures were announced a day after Iranian missiles struck two towns in southern Israel, leaving around 175 people needing medical treatment.
“Iran has fired over 400 ballistic missiles. We have had great interception rates. We have approximately a 92 percent successful interception rate,” Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists.
One of the towns hit on Saturday was Dimona, widely believed to hold Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal.
The impact of the missile was just five kilometres from the town’s nuclear facility.
The other nearby town to be hit was Arad, which saw extensive damage to several buildings.
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Shoshani said the missiles fired on Saturday were “not different from ballistic missiles” and that there had now only been four direct hits during the war so far.
The Israeli military has said it will investigate the failure to intercept the incoming fire on Saturday.
“We have intercepted in the past and will intercept in the future,” Shoshani said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Saturday was a “very difficult evening” and urged residents to head to protection centres whenever sirens blare.
On Sunday he visited Arad, where he vowed to continue pursuing top Iranian officials.
“We are going after the IRGC (Iran’s Revolutionary Guards), this criminal gang,” Netanyahu told journalists at the site.
“We’re going after them personally, their leaders, their installations, their economic assets. We’re going after them personally.”
One man was wounded Sunday in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv in what local media said was a blast from a cluster munition.
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