This is the terrifying moment a Sky News correspondent was forced to take cover as Iran launched an unprecedented salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel.
Sky’s security and defense editor Deborah Haynes was in the region reporting on the IDF ground attack on Lebanon when Iran fired around 180 missiles into Israel.
The British journalist, 48, was live on air on Tuesday evening when sirens sounded in the distance.
Ms Haynes, wearing a blue body armor, looked at the sky before frantically leaving the screen as missiles shot across the audience towards Tel Aviv.
This morning, Ms Haynes told Sky’s Mark Austin about the tragedy: ‘It was an incredibly surreal and haunting experience.
Sky News correspondent Deborah Haynes (pictured) looks up at the sky as ballistic missiles shoot towards Iran before taking cover
Speaking about the tragedy, Ms Haynes said it was an ‘incredibly surreal and haunting’ moment
Ballistic missiles are pictured in the skies over Israel after being launched by Iran last night
“We knew that the Iranians had launched their missiles towards Israel and that it would only be a matter of minutes before they appeared.
“But I don’t think any of us knew what that would actually look and feel like. And from our position in northern Israel, it was not one of the areas that Iran had targeted; it was much more focused on the center and the south.
“We were actually in the flight path – that’s the only way I could describe it – of these ballistic missiles. We could see them shooting through the air.”
Iran’s massive attack on Israel has brought the Middle East to the brink of all-out war, with Israel now vowing retaliation against Tehran.
The IDF is preparing a “significant retaliation” for a shocking attack that saw nearly 200 ballistic missiles fly through the Middle East and rain down on Israel last night.
The region is moving closer to an all-out war that is already attracting allies on both sides – with British fighter jets deployed to counter Iran’s strikes, which were fired in retaliation for attacks on the Islamic Republic’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon. recent days.
Reports suggest that Israel, which has vowed to strike ‘strongly’ in response to Iran, could go after the country’s oil facilities.
Iran is the third-largest crude oil producer in the OPEC group of oil-producing countries and relies heavily on its oil and gas exports to prop up its ailing economy amid years of sanctions.
Iranian state television broadcast the moment it launched nearly 200 rockets toward Israel
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts missiles after Iran fires a salvo of ballistic missiles, seen from Ashkelon, Israel, October 1, 2024
Members of the Israeli Home Front Command and police inspect a crater left by an exploded projectile in a badly damaged school building in the southern city of Gedera in Israel on October 1, 2024
Former Israeli intelligence official and regional analyst Avi Melamed told MailOnline that the Iranian attack would likely “provoke a significant counterattack,” warning that “Israel’s response this time will likely be broader and less restrained than it was in the wake of the unprecedented direct attack from Iran in April.’
But the Joint Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, General Mohammad Bagheri, said this morning that the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was prepared both defensively and offensively to repeat its missile attack with “multiplied intensity” should Israel seek retaliation.
“If the Zionist regime, which has gone mad, does not allow itself to be contained by America and Europe and intends to continue such crimes or do anything against our sovereignty or territorial integrity, tonight’s operation will be repeated on a much greater scale and we will hit their entire infrastructure. ‘ he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also stated that Tehran had warned the US to “withdraw from this matter and not intervene.”
This photo shows projectiles intercepted by Israel near the northern city of Baqa al-Gharbiya on October 1
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from the northern border towards Lebanon on Wednesday morning
But the US has pledged to stand with its regional ally Israel, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan telling reporters at the White House: “We have made it clear that there will be consequences, serious consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to collaborate. to make that happen.’
Meanwhile, Israel’s ongoing military operations have continued uninterrupted; At least five airstrikes were reportedly carried out on Beirut’s southern suburbs early this morning.
Since September 17, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than a thousand people, while hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes.
And Israeli strikes killed at least 32 people overnight in southern Gaza as the army launched ground operations in the hard-hit town of Khan Younis.
Israel has continued to attack what it says are militant targets in Gaza, almost a year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack sparked the war, even as attention has shifted to Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran.