JERUSALEM

Seven people were injured, one of them critically, after an Iranian missile struck Jerusalem late Sunday, Israeli emergency services said, as Iran launched a fresh wave of strikes targeting Israel.

Massive explosions were heard in Jerusalem following the latest wave of missiles, an Anadolu correspondent reported. A large number of ambulances rushed to the scene of the missile impact in the Jerusalem area.

Earlier, at least five explosions were heard in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and surrounding areas following the launch of missiles from Iran toward Israel, an Anadolu correspondent reported.

A strong explosion was also heard in the northern city of Haifa, according to eyewitnesses.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that sirens sounded in several areas in southern and eastern Israel after a new barrage of missiles was launched from Iran. Additional sirens were later activated in the northern parts of the country.

Channel 12 also reported that an Iranian missile or its shrapnel fell near Tel Aviv in central Israel.

Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth daily said material damage occurred and buildings were affected after missile debris fell near Tel Aviv, with no injuries reported in that specific incident.

Sirens later sounded again in Dimona, the Negev, the Dead Sea area and other parts of southern Israel, Channel 12 reported.

Israel’s ambulance service said several people were injured while heading to shelters in the greater Tel Aviv area, according to a statement.

Meanwhile, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the government extended a nationwide state of emergency until March 12, linking its termination to the end of the military operation against Iran.

In earlier developments Sunday, Israel’s ambulance service said the death toll from an Iranian missile strike on a building in the city of Beit Shemesh, west of occupied Jerusalem, had risen to nine.

That brought the total number of fatalities in Israel to 12 and the number of injured to more than 500 since Iran began responding Saturday to a joint Israeli-US attack.

Regional tensions escalated Saturday after the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran, killing several top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran retaliated with a series of drone and missile attacks that targeted Israel, US assets and several Gulf countries.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul