Photo shows the damage over residential homes at the impact site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in Tel Aviv.

Residents of the Gaza Strip have circulated images of wrecked buildings and charred vehicles hit by Iranian missiles in Israeli cities, and some were hopeful the wider conflict could eventually bring peace to their ruined homeland.

Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv and the Israeli port city of Haifa before dawn on Monday, killing at least eight people, part of a wave of attacks by Tehran in retaliation for Israel's strikes targeting its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

"The Iranian response was a surprise to me, to many Palestinians, and the Israelis too. Everyone thought it would be mild and theatrical," said Mohammad Jamal, 27, a resident of Gaza City.

"Watching rockets fall without the stupid Iron Dome being able to stop them is a joy, and seeing buildings collapsing and fires everywhere reminds me of the destruction the occupation brought on Gaza, yet I can't even begin to compare," he told Reuters via a chat app.

The Iron Dome is the part of Israel's multi-layered missile defence system that tackles the kind of short-range rockets and mortars fired by Hamas militants from Gaza.

Tahrir, a 34-year-old mother-of-four, said their house was destroyed in the Shejaia suburb, east of Gaza City, in the early weeks of the war in 2023, and her family has since been displaced several times.

"Finally, many Israelis felt what we have felt for 20 months, fear, loss of faith, and displacement," she said.

"I hope that this time, they will press their government to end the war in Gaza because all of what is happening with Iran is part of the wider Gaza war."

'NOTHING COMPARED TO GAZA'

The latest fatalities in Israel, reported by Israel's national emergency services, raised its death toll to 23 since Friday. Israeli attacks in Iran have killed at least 224 people since Friday, Iran's health ministry has said.

With Israel saying its operation could last weeks, fears have grown of a regional conflagration dragging in outside powers.

"I was never a fan of Iran, I still don't like them because of their intervention in Gaza and other Arab countries, but seeing them retaliate for real, not a play like in previous times, made me happy, despite all the sadness around me," said Amr Salah, 29.

"It is nothing compared to what Israel did to Gaza, but at least a taste of it. It is maybe time to end all of this, in Gaza too," he added.

The war in Gaza erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, taking 251 hostages and killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli tallies, on October 7, 2023.

Israel's military campaign since has killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than 2 million people. Most of the population is displaced and malnutrition is widespread.

Despite efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to restore a ceasefire in Gaza, neither Israel nor Hamas has shown willingness to back down on core demands, with each side blaming the other for the failure to reach a deal.

Hamas-led factions praised the retaliatory strikes by Iran.

"Scenes of Iranian missiles striking the strongholds and hideouts of the Zionists carry with them a sense of pride, dignity, and honour that shatters Zionist arrogance and dominance," said a statement issued in the name of the Hamas-led "Factions of Resistance".

Hamas leaders have repeatedly thanked Iran for its military and financial support to the group in its fight against Israel, including during the current war.

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What options does Iran have in its conflict against Israel?

Iran has now withstood three days of Israeli attacks, which have killed more than 240 Iranians, including several members of its military leadership.

But its own response has been to hit back in a manner that Israel has never had to experience – with Iranian missiles causing devastating damage in Israel’s biggest cities – including Tel Aviv and Haifa.

How much damage both sides have caused – and in many cases what sites have exactly been hit – is unclear, with accurate facts hard to come by due to the information war that has accompanied the military conflict.

It is also hard to know how many missiles and munitions both sides still have in their stockpiles, and how long Israel and Iran can sustain this fight.

What we do know is that Iran is believed to have the largest missile programme in the Middle East, with thousands of ballistic missiles available with varying ranges and speeds. At the current rate, Iran could likely carry on attacking Israel for weeks – enough time for Israel to experience significant damage, which its population is not used to after years of only really being exposed to attacks from weaker armed groups in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Yemen.

Iran is also revealing how effective its more advanced missiles can be. The Haj Qassem missile, used for the first time against Israel on Sunday, was able to evade Israeli air defences, and footage from Israel clearly shows the difference in power and speed compared to the older missiles that Iran had been using in its earlier barrages.

Of course, Iran does not have an unlimited amount of these more advanced missiles, and ultimately will have to ration their use, but coupled with its more standard missiles, and thousands of drones, Iran has enough military ability to cause Israel damage – and confound those who believe that Iran does not have the strength to continue the fight in the short term.

Avoiding a US fight

Israel’s Iron Dome is being severely tested by Iran’s missile barrages, but it has been able to lean on its principal ally, the United States, to provide assistance in intercepting the attacks.

The US, led by President Donald Trump, has insisted, however, that it is not a party to the current conflict between Israel and Iran, and has threatened that the consequences will be severe if Iran does attack US interests in the region, which include military bases dotted throughout the Middle East.

For Iran, any attack on US bases or personnel is a worst-case scenario that it wants to avoid. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has typically made cautious moves and will not want a direct fight with the US, or to give an excuse for Washington to add its own offensive military might to Israel’s.

A joint Israeli-US attack would likely have the ability to destroy Iran’s most well-protected nuclear sites, and give the Israelis a far stronger position.

It would also likely involve attacks against US bases located in countries – such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye – that are not direct enemies of Iran, and which Tehran will not want to bring into the conflict. These countries are also valuable to Iran as potential mediators.

But Iran has other options. It has has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between itself and Oman, immediately stopping the transit of millions of barrels of oil a day. Oil prices – which have already briefly shot up to a high of $78 per barrel on Friday before falling back – would likely rise higher than $100 if that were to happen, experts believe.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is a strong card the Iranians have to play, and is a possibility in the short term should the fighting continue.

Off-ramps

But ultimately Iran will be looking for an off-ramp that would end a conflict that has the potential to escalate into a regional war against two nuclear powers – Israel and the US – and cause untold damage to its own economy, with the possibility of domestic unrest as a result.

Iran will also know that while Israel will have its own limit on how much fighting it can endure, the support of the US gives it the ability to replenish munition stocks easier than Iran can.

The Iranian government has already made it clear that it will reciprocate if Israel stops its attacks, and is willing to return to nuclear talks with the US. “Once these [Israeli] attacks come to a stop, we will naturally reciprocate,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.

This, however, depends on the US and its unpredictable president. Trump will need to put pressure on Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop, and it is unclear whether the US president is willing to do so.

Trump’s rhetoric on the conflict is constantly changing. On one hand, he has repeated calls for an end to the fighting, while at the same time threatening Iran.

Iran also knows that Trump is not someone who can be trusted or relied on. The US was involved in the deception prior to Israel’s attack last week, with the Americans maintaining the pretence that nuclear talks with Iran would go ahead on Sunday despite secretly knowing that Israel was planning to attack.

Still, an American-brokered agreement is the likeliest option Iran has to restrain Israel and end a conflict that has shown Iran’s strength, but will be increasingly difficult for it to sustain.

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More Navy firepower has joined the US warships helping shield Israel from Iranian missiles

• US Navy warships have helped defend Israel from Iranian ballistic missiles in recent days.

• A US official told BI that the two destroyers involved are in the Eastern Mediterranean.

• Another destroyer just joined them, with more possibly on the way.

More Navy combat power has moved into position alongside the US destroyers that are helping shield Israel from Iranian missiles.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner is now in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, joining destroyers USS Arleigh Burke and USS The Sullivans, and additional warships could be heading that way.

The official said Arleigh Burke and The Sullivans have, in recent days, launched missile interceptors in defense of Israel amid Iranian retaliatory attacks. It's unclear if there have been confirmed intercepts.

The official said that in addition to sea-based air defense, the US military also provided land-based support to Israel. This potentially involved the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile battery or the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system.

US warships helped provide air-defense coverage for Israel twice last year, in April and again in October, when Iran launched its first- and second-ever missile attacks against the country.

Since Friday, Iran has fired more than 370 ballistic missiles at Israel, killing two dozen people and wounding over 590 others. Many of the munitions have been intercepted, including by Israel's advanced Arrow systems, which, like THAAD, can strike targets in space.

Iran's missile and drone attacks are retaliatory and come after Israel launched operation "Rising Lion" aimed at severely degrading Tehran's nuclear program, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had described as an existential threat to his country. Iran has said its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

Israeli fighter jets have carried out scores of airstrikes across Iran recently, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and its leading scientists, as well as key military sites like weapons production facilities, missile launchers, and air defenses. Israel has also eliminated some of Tehran's senior commanders.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that Washington is not involved in Israel's targeting of Iran's nuclear program, limiting its participation to defensive efforts. Tehran has buried its most critical nuclear facilities underground, and Israel lacks the air-dropped weapons to reach them, meaning it likely can't completely wipe out the nuclear program without the US help.

Beyond the warships in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Navy also has destroyers in the Red Sea and a carrier strike group elsewhere in the Middle East, with another carrier heading that way. All of these assets are capable of providing air defense, though it's unlikely that all of them will take on that role.

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The conflict between Israel and Iran has wreaked considerable damage in both countries and caused casualties on both sides.

As Israel pummels Iran with airstrikes and Iran sends volleys of ballistic missiles towards Israel, here's a breakdown of the key sites struck so far and the casualties on both sides, as of Monday:

Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel have killed at least 24 people across the country. In Iran, reported casualties are much higher.

Israeli strikes have pummeled key weapons depots in Iran as well as manufacturing sites around the country.

Israel claims it has achieved complete “aerial superiority” over Tehran. That's after a punishing airstrike campaign that Israel says has destroyed Iran's air defenses and targeted sites across the capital city.

Iranian ballistic missile attacks have damaged buildings in and around major Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa. Also hit, is the small Arab-Israeli city of Tamra, in northern Israel, where a strike killed four women from the same family.

Israeli strikes have taken out much of the leadership and intelligence officers of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force operating parallel to the country’s armed forces that controls Iran’s stock of ballistic missiles.