Israel and Iran have opened a new chapter in their long history of conflict. Israel launched a major attack with strikes early Friday that set off explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel presented Iran’s sophisticated ballistic missiles as a critical threat to Israel’s survival.

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The death toll is rising as Israel and Iran traded missile strikes for a third straight day. Israel on Sunday hit targets in Tehran, including the Defense Ministry and sites it claims are tied

The retaliatory strikes came on Saturday, a day after Israel killed top Iranian military leaders and scientists and destroyed an aboveground nuclear enrichment plant near Natanz.

A wave of strikes targeted top military leaders and killed many of them; nuclear and military installations also were hit.

The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel’s surprise bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites on Friday killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side showed any sign of backing down.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched in retaliation for Israel’s biggest ever attacks on Iran, blasting Iran’s huge underground nuclear site at Natanz an