ISRAEL BLITZED

Iran strikes in revenge for Hezbollah hit | World waits for retaliation amid war fears | Biden sends warships as tensions soar US

- CHRIS HUGHES

IRAN'S missile blitz on Israel last night marked a terrifying escalation in the conflict that has pushed a region already on the brink ever closer to all-out war.

Tehran fired around 200 ballistic warheads at the country, with Tel Aviv and Jerusalem among the targets, in what it said was revenge for the killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Residents fled to bomb shelters as sirens were heard across Israel and the terror from the sky began to fall. US intelligence had alerted military chiefs to an imminent attack and also warned Iran there would be "severe consequences if it struck Israel.

Israeli Defence Force spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: "We we will act in the time and place that we choose." President Joe Biden had ordered US military forces in the region to help cripple the missiles after earlier demanding a ceasefire "now".

Defence chiefs have already deployed three more aircraft squadrons to the Middle East including F-15 fighter bombers and A-10 Warthog Thunderbolt gunships.

As the world waited with trepidation to see how Israel would respond. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was said to have been whisked off to a secure location, believed to be a bunker, in anticipation of a counter-attack.