Israel woke to the nightmare headline it has dreaded for years: “Tel Aviv Airport HIT.” Overnight, Iran unleashed a wave of Khorramshahr ballistic missiles, vowing “open revenge” for recent strikes on senior IRGC commanders.

Air‑raid sirens howled from Ashdod to Tel Aviv as Israel’s Arrow and David’s Sling batteries rose to meet the incoming threat. The IDF reports “dozens of successful intercepts,” yet at least one heavy warhead appears to have detonated near Ben Gurion International Airport, sending a fireball and shrapnel tearing across the outer perimeter.

Initial footage shows burning vehicles in a long‑term parking lot, shattered glass inside terminal halls, and panicked travelers herded into underground shelters. Flight radar data reveals a sudden blackout of traffic over central Israel as incoming jets divert to Cyprus, Jordan and southern airfields.

Tehran’s state TV calls the strike a “strategic warning shot,” claiming precise hits on “military and intelligence infrastructure” around the airport. Israeli officials counter that the attack was a “criminal assault on civilians” and a direct attempt to sever the country’s vital air bridge to the world.

As casualties mount and global airlines suspend routes into Israel, pressure is building on Jerusalem and Washington to deliver a punishing response. The question now gripping the region: was this Iran’s peak of ballistic power—or merely the opening salvo of a far wider war?