CNN reporters duck for cover mid-interview as Iran launches missiles toward Tel Aviv

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL: During a live broadcast from Tel Aviv, CNN reporters had to quickly take cover as sirens went off and Iranian ballistic missiles hit the city in the middle of a growing conflict in the region.

The dramatic moment happened during a live segment when reporters on the ground started getting alerts about incoming fire.

"We have things coming in, so we're going to just unmike them," one reporter said. Then he turned to a coworker and said, "We do need to move pretty quickly."

Sirens, blasts and interceptions

While descending to safety, the journalists described hearing multiple loud explosions, likely the sound of missile interceptions by Israel’s air defense systems.

“While sheltering at that time, we heard a number of large blasts,” one correspondent said. “That’s what you hear as they intercept.”

Cameras continued rolling as the crew gathered equipment and headed toward a secure area.

“I’m going to show you exactly where we go,” the reporter told viewers, narrating the evacuation in real time. “You hear the sirens now, and this is all around the area that we’re in in Tel Aviv.”

Network’s team rushed to safety

The network’s team rushed down to a lower-level shelter when air raid sirens started blaring through the city. Reporters said they had maybe five or six minutes to find cover before anything hit.

This attack isn’t out of nowhere.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have been ramping up ever since Operation Epic Fury, a joint US and Israeli military campaign, started targeting Iranian assets.

Tehran fired back with missile and drone strikes, aiming straight at Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv.

During the live broadcast, one analyst suggested the incoming fire could involve multiple Iran-backed groups operating across the region.

“This could be, this could be fire from Lebanon as well from the Iranian instructed Hezbollah, which is part of, this is part of the Iranian regime strategy of what's called survival warfare, mobilize as many as much missiles coming from Lebanon,” he said. “It could be the Houthis in Yemen, we don't know, but this is the Iranian regime survival strategy. Mobilize as much terror as you can to distract the world's attention away from the Iranian front itself.”

The missile attacks show just how much the conflict is spreading.

More regional players are getting involved, and people are worried this war won’t end anytime soon. Israeli air defenses keep kicking into gear, shooting down rockets over big cities again and again.

When CNN’s crew evacuated live on air, viewers saw firsthand what it’s really like for civilians and journalists caught in the middle of all this. Later, the reporters said they made it to the shelter and were okay.