An Iranian ballistic missile left a gaping hole in a three- or four-story apartment building in northern Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday.
The missile ripped apart the building’s top floor. It also tore open the concrete of the building’s walls and shattered all of its windows.
US-based TV network CNN reported from the street nearby that crew could see furniture turned over and thrown about from the missile’s explosion. Debris from inside the apartments, such as pieces of mattresses, was strewn on the shredded trees outside.
Heavy equipment began moving in Sunday morning to clear the rubble and begin cleaning up the debris from the impact, as rescue and recovery teams operated in the area.
The Iranian attack on Tel Aviv comes hours after US B2 stealth bomber pounded three key Iranian nuclear sites. The sites are Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, which lie at the heart of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The decision to directly involve the US in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that aimed to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound (13,500-kilogram) bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in a post on social media. “All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.”
Trump added in a later post that he would address the nation at 10 p.m. Eastern time, writing “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”
Trump said B-2 stealth bombers were used but did not specify what types of bombs were dropped. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation.
The US President said it was a “very successful” attack on Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan, adding that all planes were outside of Iranian airspace after a “full payload of BOMBS” was dropped on the primary site.