Air raid sirens blared across Tel Aviv and central Israel on Saturday as Iran fired ballistic missiles at the country, sending residents rushing to safe rooms once again.
The Israeli military confirmed its air defense network was actively engaging the incoming projectiles and ordered anyone hearing the warnings to seek immediate shelter, the Times of Israel reported. Defense officials said forces were intercepting threats as they approached Israeli airspace.
The missile volleys followed a joint U.S.-Israeli preemptive operation against military sites across Iran earlier that morning, according to Ynetnews. Defense Minister Israel Katz activated emergency powers under the country’s Civil Defense Law, imposing a special state of emergency across all of Israel. The military transmitted precautionary alerts straight to civilian phones, directing residents to remain near reinforced spaces. (RELATED: Dozens Of School Girls Killed In US Strike, Iranian Officials Say)
Israel’s Home Front Command told the public to stay off the roads and locate their nearest shelter. Authorities called off all schools, sporting events, and cultural gatherings. Hospitals across the country moved to emergency protocols.
🚨 Sirens sounding across Israel once again! pic.twitter.com/GwWf0DovWq
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 28, 2026
Visible plumes from interceptor rockets filled the skies over Tel Aviv as defense systems engaged the incoming fire, NPR reported. One central Israeli hospital relocated operations into a reinforced underground facility. Israeli authorities declared a 48-hour state of emergency and grounded all civilian flights after closing the country’s airspace.
Northern Israel shook from explosions as defense systems worked to bring down the Iranian barrage, the Associated Press reported. No casualties or damage had been confirmed at the time of the initial reports. Multiple hospitals shifted patients and surgical teams to below-ground wards. The warnings extended beyond Israeli borders, with sirens heard in Jordan as well.
In a post on X, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Iran’s regime ‘utterly abhorrent,’ saying its leaders ‘have murdered thousands of their own people, brutally crushed dissent, and sought to destabilize the region.’
