US basketballer shares terrifying footage after struggling to find safe room during strikes in Israel

A US basketball star has detailed her struggles in finding shelter in Israel after Iran launched retaliatory attacks on Saturday - before declaring that she is now safe.

The United States and Israel, led by US President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched 'major combat operations' on Iran in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In a video posted to social media, Trump said that the purpose of the attacks was 'to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime'.

According to a spokesman for the Iranian Red Crescent (as per BBC), a total of 24 of 31 provinces in Iran have been hit since Saturday morning.

Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed by a US and Israeli air strike on his office in Tehran on Saturday evening.

Iran have launched retaliatory attacks on various sites across the Middle East, with Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan among those who stated they had intercepted missiles. All countries are home to US military bases.

Iran have also launched attacks on Israeli bases.

The Israeli government has declared a state of emergency across the country, and warned civilian against any non-essential travel.

Team USA basketball player Destiny Littleton, who played for South Carolina at NCAA level, is currently playing overseas for a team in Israel during the US off-season.

She posted a series of videos to her Twitter account on Saturday evening as she looked to find shelter in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem.

"I don't know if you guys can hear that, but a siren is going off right now," Littleton said. "That is the second siren of the day. I'm about to head to the shelter right now.

"I'm currently walking to the safe room," she elaborated in a second video. "I've heard about three, four b-o-m-b noises. Trying to stay calm.

"I'm trying to find this safe room, but I can't find it... I don't think this is the right way. I don't see a blue gate at all. This is not right.

"The sirens are just getting louder and louder."

Towards the end of her second video, a loud strike can clearly be heard in the background.

After reaching the safe room, Littleton then left to go to her team-mate's house instead, stating that they had a shelter.

"On my walk over there, there were b-o-m-b-s that attempted to enter into Jerusalem," she said. "But I am safe. All is good."

She later provided two separate updates to confirm that she was indeed safe, writing: "It's currently 10pm and we have been siren free and boom sound free for the last couple of hours. I'm praying it stays that way.

"It's 12:48am and I'm going to attempt to get some sleep. Prayers for safety for everyone impacted."