Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has said that the sweeping attacks on Iran that began early Friday are essential to cripple what he describes as not one, but two “existential” threats to his country.
Alongside Iran’s nuclear program, which Mr. Netanyahu has warned about for decades, he cites a newer menace: Iran’s ballistic missiles, more than 200 of which have been launched against Israel in waves of retaliatory barrages this weekend.
Even as Israel has pummeled Iran with its own sophisticated missiles, setting oil facilities in Tehran ablaze, it still fears Iran’s capacity for fierce retaliation.
In a video statement on Friday night, Mr. Netanyahu said Iran had accelerated production and aimed to manufacture 300 ballistic missiles a month, which would amount to 20,000 missiles within six years. He said each one was like “a bus-full of explosives” primed to land on Israeli cities.
Here’s what you need to know:
How many missiles has Iran fired, and how many of them hit Israel?
Iran has launched about 200 missiles at Israel since Friday night, in addition to scores of explosive drones, according to the Israeli authorities.