Tel Aviv Hit Again : Iraqi Missile Eludes U.S. Patriots; at Least 60 Hurt : No Deaths but Damage Is Heavy

TEL AVIV —  An Iraqi Scud missile ripped past a shield of U.S. Patriot missiles into Tel Aviv today, demolishing buildings and inflicting as many as 60 injuries, the army said.

At least two newly deployed Patriot missiles manned by U.S. troops were fired but it was not immediately known whether they intercepted other enemy rockets.

The NBC television network reported that an explosion ripped through a residential section of Tel Aviv and wounded a number of people. It reported a “tremendous amount of damage” and many wounded.

At least 60 people were injured in the latest Iraqi missile attack on Israel, an Israeli diplomatic source in Washington said. The source said information was still coming in and was preliminary and subject to change. At this stage, he did not know of any fatalities in the Scud missile attack.

The Iraqi attack was the third on Israel since the start of the Gulf War Thursday and immediately revived speculation of an Israeli reprisal strike against Iraq. Washington had urged restraint.

The United States had rushed Patriot missiles, which have proved very effective against Iraqi rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia, to Israel following missile salvos Friday and Saturday.

“We want to say there were (missile) shots and two Patriots were fired. We ask residents of the Tel Aviv area to stay at home until it’s clear what exactly happened,” Israeli Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Nachman Shai told Israel radio.

The air raid alert began with a siren sounded across the country at 8:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. PST) and was lifted in all areas of the country half an hour later.

There were no immediate details on whether the Patriot missiles had knocked down any Iraqi missiles.

Reuters reporters saw heavy damage, with at least one building destroyed. There was widespread damage to nearby houses and rescue crews were at work.

Cable News Network, broadcasting from Tel Aviv, showed people, some of them bleeding, being loaded onto stretchers and into perhaps a dozen ambulances lined up along a street that was strewn with rubble.

Residents in suburban Tel Aviv reported hearing a roar similar to the sound of low-flying warplanes, followed by an explosion.

It was unclear how many missiles were fired. A military spokesman said there was no sign of a chemical attack.

The 11 Scud missiles used in the previous attacks on Israel had slightly injured 28 people and fulfilled a vow by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to strike at the Jewish state if fighting began in the gulf.

Hussein has sought to draw Israel into the conflict, possibly creating divisions in the U.S.-led alliance against Iraq which contains Arab countries hostile to Israel.

The attack came hours after Defense Minister Moshe Arens, surrounded by F-15 Eagle fighters on 24-hour alert, said Israel would retaliate for Iraqi missile attacks and did not need U.S. permission to do so.