Olympian Nova Peris shares ‘deeply confronting’ ordeal for Australians sheltering in Tel Aviv

Olympian Nova Peris has shared details of the ‘frightening and distressing’ hours she and 11 other Australians spent while sheltering from an Iranian missile attack in Tel Aviv. Updates

Olympian and former Senator Nova Peris has shared details of the “frightening and distressing” hours she and 11 other Australians spent while sheltering during an Iranian missile attack while they were sheltering in Tel Aviv.

Peris posted to X: “It’s after 2am here in Israel. I’m with 11 other Australians, including several First Nations brothers and sisters. The past 24 hours have been deeply confronting. We spent the early hours of yesterday in a bomb shelter, and much of today there too.

The last four to five hours have been extremely frightening and distressing. We’ve witnessed the unrelenting balistic (sic) missile attacks in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and across Israel.

As Israel and Iran continued to exchange a barrage of missile attacks, UN chief called for both countries to halt their escalating conflict.

“Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” Antonio Guterres said on X after Israel’s “pre-emptive” strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counter-attack.

The UN chief’s appeal as both countries report being under fire and Israeli missiles struck Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran.

A video shared by local news agency ISNA shows columns of heavy smoke rising from the area of the airport in western Tehran while Mehr news agency reported a “blast” there.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp-run Fars News Agency confirmed that at least two projectiles had hit the facility.

Iranian media is also reporting that explosions have been heard in the Vardavard area, west of the airport.

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