Jerusalem – Iran launched a wave of missiles towards Israel as sirens sounded across the country on Tuesday evening, according to a statement from Israel’s military.

“The air defence system is fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats wherever it is needed,” Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. “Since we are dealing with different types of threats, it is possible that the alerts will operate in large areas.”

Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian journalist Mohammed Khairy said dozens of projectiles could be seen in the sky heading westward towards Jerusalem and Israel.

“The missiles are going almost non-stop. The sirens are still going off. Until this moment, they can be heard over large areas in Israel,” Khairy told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Earlier in the day, the United States said it believed Iran was preparing a ballistic missile attack against Israel and warned of consequences.

“The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel. We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack. A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” a senior White House official said in a statement.

Gun attack in Tel Aviv

Israeli police said gunmen opened fire in Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv on the boundary with Jaffa on Tuesday and that there were a number of casualties.

TV footage showed gunmen getting off at a light rail station and opening fire.

Israeli media reported at least four people were seriously injured.

Israel’s ambulance service MDA said it received a report at 7.01pm (1601 GMT) of people injured by gunfire.

Medics and paramedics provided on-site medical treatment to a number of wounded people with varying degrees of injuries, including some who were unconscious, MDA stated.