He explained that there was “huge activity” in the air above us and 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 today's attacks appear to be part of a “far larger attack than in April” – when Iran fired weapons at Israel after the Israeli military attacked the Iranian embassy in Syria.

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

In April it was drones – much slower and easier to intercept.

“A lot of people” are currently out and about outdoors, Bunkall said this evening.

Some decided to continue their journey home, he added, while others tried to “get to the side of the road and seek cover, whether under a bridge or in a rest area somewhere.”

“We saw how they intercepted”

Our security and defense editor, Deborah Haynes, described the moment she had to seek shelter from rockets fired at the Israel-Lebanon border.

She said: “It was actually a rocket that was fired in our direction because we are very close to the Lebanese border – and there is obviously this Israeli ground offensive going on at the same time.”

“We heard shots from one direction and rocket fire from the other direction. “The first time we realized that the attack was actually underway was when we saw those orange streaks high in the sky above us.”

“Obviously the rockets we saw were intended to penetrate much deeper into Israel.

“Then we also witnessed intercepts where you could see the glow of an orange ball moving up to meet the missile that was 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 path further, deeper into Israel, where you can imagine there would be air defenses there.”

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

“An incredibly dangerous moment”

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

She said, “bangs and bangs reverberated throughout” Israel.

Hakim added that she had spoken to some Israelis who told her that they were “taking refuge in bunkers at the moment, that they heard some interceptions, but they were also not clear about what projectiles came through.”

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