He explained that there was “an enormous amount of activity in the air above us” and that it was difficult to distinguish between an incoming missile and one launched by Israel to intercept.

Bunkall said the Iranian missiles were heading toward central Tel Aviv.

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Bunkall says tonight’s strikes appear to be part of a “much bigger attack than April” – when Iran fired weapons at Israel after the Israeli army attacked the Iranian embassy in Syria.

Iran appears to have fired ballistic missiles this time, which take 10 to 12 minutes to reach Israel.

In April they were drones, much slower and easier to intercept.

“A lot of people” are out in the open right now, Bunkall said this evening.

Some decided to try to continue their journey home, he added, while others tried “to pull over to the side of the road and find some cover, whether that’s under a bridge or in a parking lot somewhere.”

‘We saw them intercept’

Our Security and Defense Editor Deborah Haynes described the moment she had to take cover from missiles launched at the Israel-Lebanon border.

She said: “It was actually a missile fired in our direction because we are very close to the Lebanese border – and obviously at the same time you have the Israeli ground offensive taking place.

‘We heard gunfire from one direction and rocket fire from the other. We first realized that the attack was actually underway when we saw these orange streaks high in the sky above us.

“It is clear that the rockets we saw were intended to penetrate much deeper into Israel.

“We also witnessed interceptions at that time where you could see the glow of an orange ball moving upwards to hit the missile coming the other way.”

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She says there was then an “explosion” when it finally hit.

“But we also saw some rockets come through and continue their route, deeper into Israel, where you would imagine air defenses would be deployed.”

“It is an incredibly difficult operation to intercept ballistic missiles anyway, let alone some 200 of them,” she added.

‘An incredibly dangerous moment’

Sirens went off in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as our leading world anchor Yalda Hakim reported from Beirut in Lebanon.

She said there were “thumps and bangs throughout Israel.”

Hakim added that she had spoken to a number of Israeli people who told her that they were “taking refuge in bunkers at the moment, that they heard some interceptions, but it was also unclear where the projectiles came through.”

“This is an incredibly dangerous moment for Israel, for this region,” she said. “An incredibly tense, frightening moment for the citizens of Israel as we wait to see what damage has actually been done.”