Iranian Missiles Hit Dimona and Arad as Israel's Air Defenses Fail

Iranian ballistic missiles pierced Israel's air defense network Saturday night, striking the southern cities of Dimona and Arad in what officials and analysts described as one of the most damaging single days of the war. The Israeli military acknowledged it was unable to intercept the missiles that hit both cities and said it had opened an investigation into how the projectiles broke through.

The strikes carried particular strategic weight because Dimona sits near Israel's Negev Nuclear Research Center. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had received no indication of damage at the facility and confirmed that no abnormal radiation levels were detected, a finding that offered some relief even as the missile strikes left buildings shattered across both cities.

Casualty figures varied significantly across reports. At least a dozen people were seriously injured across Dimona and Arad combined. Al Jazeera reported more than 50 people were injured in Dimona alone, while the Associated Press reported at least seven people seriously injured in the two communities near the nuclear research center. Israeli media, cited by Al Jazeera, reported six people killed and more than 100 injured in Arad specifically. The discrepancies likely reflect the chaotic early hours after the strikes; official Israeli military casualty tallies had not been consolidated at the time of publication.

It was the first time Israel's nuclear research center had been targeted in the fighting, the AP reported.

"This is a very difficult evening," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, adding that more emergency resources were being dispatched to the scene.

Israel's army chief, Gen. Eyal Zamir, offered a bleaker assessment of the broader conflict: "The war is not close to ending."

The strikes came after roughly three weeks of sustained Israeli and American bombing of Iran, including attacks on Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. Iran launched repeated volleys of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel and at U.S. allies across the Persian Gulf throughout Saturday, testing air defense networks across the region. The United Arab Emirates' defense ministry said it intercepted three ballistic missiles and eight drones launched from Iran. Iran also targeted the joint U.K.-U.S. military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, roughly 2,500 miles from the theater of conflict, demonstrating the extended reach of its missile arsenal.

Israel simultaneously pressed operations in Lebanon, with the military announcing a targeted ground operation in southern Lebanon where at least four militants were killed. Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops near the village of Khiam.

The war's cumulative toll has grown severe. Iran's state broadcaster, citing the health ministry, reported Iran's death toll has surpassed 1,500. The AP reported 15 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian missiles, with four additional deaths in the occupied West Bank, and at least 13 U.S. military members killed across the conflict.

Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, posted a message on social media marking the Eid holiday in which he said Iran was not seeking conflict with neighboring Muslim countries, calling them "brothers." The gesture did little to suggest any near-term pause in hostilities.

In Washington, President Trump signaled a retreat from earlier rhetoric about regime change in Iran, though his administration's precise war aims remained in flux as the conflict entered its fourth week.