US-Israel war on Iran enters day 35 as Trump signals escalation; missiles hit central Israel

The US-Israel war on Iran entered its 35th day on April 3, with tensions escalating further as US President Donald Trump signalled a sharper military push, even as Iranian missiles struck central Israel, triggering air defence responses and widening the conflict across the region.

Trump warned that Iran’s leadership must act quickly, suggesting Washington could intensify its offensive. In a post on Truth Social, he said the US had “not even started destroying what’s left in Iran”, indicating that after targeting bridges, power plants could be next. His remarks pointed to a possible new phase of the war as hostilities expand on multiple fronts.

Meanwhile, Iranian missiles hit central Israel, causing casualties and damage at several locations in the Greater Tel Aviv area. Air raid sirens were activated across central Israel, with additional alerts in the Upper Galilee following launches from Lebanon. The Israeli military said its air defence systems were actively intercepting incoming projectiles, even as fresh waves of missiles were detected. Reports indicated that shrapnel from a cluster missile fell across multiple sites in the Tel Aviv metropolitan region, increasing the scale of destruction.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted Israeli military-industrial sites and troop deployment centres in Tel Aviv and Eilat, and also claimed to have shot down a drone over Qazvin in northern Iran. US intelligence assessments cited by CNN suggested that nearly half of Iran’s missile launch infrastructure remains operational, with Tehran still in possession of thousands of suicide drones.

The IRGC also expanded its operations beyond Israel, saying it carried out a new phase of attacks under “Operation True Promise 4”, targeting US-linked military assets across the Gulf. It claimed ballistic missile strikes near a US base in the UAE, cruise missile launches at the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean, and drone attacks on American assets in Kuwait.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ruled out any future negotiations with the United States, calling past talks a “bitter betrayal” and saying trust had been completely eroded, effectively closing the door on diplomacy.