The U.S. and Israel launched a major joint attack on Iran early Shabbos morning, carrying out strikes on hundreds of targets, including the leadership of the Iranian regime.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian were targeted in the opening strikes, along with dozens of other leaders, including the heads of Iran’s army, IRGC commanders, government figures, and intelligence officials.
According to Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal, “Israel, not the U.S., was the one that attacked Khamenei. Thirty bombs were dropped on the compound. Khamenei’s military secretary is dead, and apparently so are family members. Khamenei is ‘almost certainly dead.'” According to Kan News, Khamenei’s son and successor, Motjaba Khamenei, was killed in the strike.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel, and Israelis spent Shabbos day running in and out of bomb shelters. B’Chasdei Hashem, no Israelis were seriously injured. There were reports of mild injuries, mainly from falls while running to shelter, and an Arab teenager in a village in the Palestinian Authority was lightly injured by shrapnel.
A three-story apartment building in Ramat Gan sustained serious damage after being hit by shrapnel, but b’Chasdei Hashem, no one was injured. The building’s residents were evacuated by rescue teams due to safety concerns. A private house was damaged by shrapnel in Petach Tikvah, but Baruch Hashem, the family members were in the shelter and weren’t injured.
There were reports of shrapnel falling in many other locations, mainly in central Israel, causing property damage.
By Motzei Shabbos, IDF assessments indicated that about 150 ballistic missiles had been launched from Iran toward Israel in several limited barrages. Air defense systems intercepted a number of the missiles, while others landed in open areas. Reports also noted missile and interceptor debris falling in various parts of the country.
The volleys were far smaller than those fired during the June 2025 war, when Iran frequently launched dozens of missiles at once to try to overwhelm Israel’s defenses. It was unclear whether the reduced scale stemmed from damage to Iran’s capabilities in that war, the impact of the day’s initial Israeli-American strike, confusion within Iranian forces, or a combination of these factors.
The IDF spokesperson announced that about 200 fighter jets took part in what it described as its largest-ever strike operation, targeting Iranian ballistic missile launchers and air defense systems. Hundreds of munitions were dropped on about 500 military targets across western and central Iran in near-simultaneous strikes during the morning hours.
“This is the largest strike operation in the history of the Israeli Air Force, carried out after meticulous planning and based on high-quality intelligence, while synchronizing hundreds of fighter jets simultaneously,” the IDF spokesperson said. “The strikes on Iran’s air defense systems facilitated the expansion of the IAF’s air superiority over Iranian skies and severely degraded the regime’s offensive capabilities—the launch sites in western Iran.”
Iran also launched missiles at US allies in the Middle East, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain. One person was killed, and several were injured in an attack in Dubai, and three soldiers were lightly injured in an attack on the Ali al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait.
(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)