How powerful are the Iranian missiles hitting Israel?

Israel PM Netanyahu said each Iranian missile carried a ton, or 2,000 pounds, of explosives, although military officials and experts say the weight can vary.

Many of the sites struck by Iranian missiles appear to be inside Israeli cities, the New York Times reported. It is unclear whether any sensitive military or infrastructure sites have been hit. Officials do not disclose such information, saying it would aid the enemy.

Tal Inbar, an Israeli space and missile expert, said Iran's ballistic missiles carried from 300 to 700 kilograms, or about 660 to 1,540 pounds, of explosives and that the total weight of the warhead could be up to 2,200 pounds.

Tal Inbar added that Israel was not surprised by Iran's missile capabilities, having already been the target of large barrages of similar projectiles in April 2024 and October 2024, when Iran retaliated for Israeli strikes on its territory and interests.

The Houthi militia, an Iran-backed group based in Yemen, has also been firing ballistic missiles at Israel, saying it is acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

But the Houthis tend to fire a single missile in a day, and most of them have been intercepted by Israeli and American air defense systems.

The difference this time, Inbar said, was the quantity of missiles that Iran fired simultaneously, in an effort to overwhelm air defenses, and the fact that some impact sites have been in densely populated areas, where just the shock waves cause extensive damage.

He said some footage released by the Israeli military on Saturday showed at least one type of missile that Iran had not fired at Israel before. Named the "Shahed Haj Qassem," it has a range of nearly 1,000 miles.

It is a solid propellant missile that does not need to be refueled before launching, Mr. Inbar said, meaning that it can sit underground for years and become operational within minutes.