Israeli rescue force members inspect the site where a missile fired from Iran towards Israel hit a school building, in central Israel, Oct. 1, 2024.Amir Cohen/Reuters
Iran launched missiles at cities across Israel on Tuesday, further heightening fears of a wider war and prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vow that escalation would be met with escalation.
The barrage came only hours after Israel began what it says is a limited military operation in southern Lebanon aimed at uprooting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Early Wednesday morning, the Israeli military said on Telegram that it was striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Reuters reported.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said its strikes were retaliation for Israel’s recent assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay the price for it,” Mr. Netanyahu said ahead of a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies. We will stand by the rule we established: whoever attacks us – we will attack them.”
Warning sirens screamed across Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities shortly after sunset Tuesday, and the Israeli military issued a warning for all residents to remain in shelters until the attack ended.
Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on Oct. 1.Amir Cohen/Reuters
“A short time ago, missiles were launched from Iran toward the State of Israel. You are asked to remain vigilant and follow the Home Front Command’s instructions precisely,” read the message sent to mobile phones across the country shortly before 8 p.m. local time.
Shortly afterward, at least two loud explosions were heard in the sky over Jaffa, a largely Arab city adjacent to Israel’s largest centre, Tel Aviv. At least some of the missiles appeared to have penetrated Israel’s vaunted air defences, with online videos seeming to show at least one or more projectiles – or fragments – hitting ground in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The Israeli military sounded the all-clear about half an hour after the barrage began. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, described the attack as “serious” and said it would have consequences, though he declined to say how or when Israel might respond. Rear Adm. Hagari said there were “very few direct hits” and he was unaware of any casualties, though he asked Israelis not to share any information about where the missiles had landed.
One Palestinian was reportedly killed when shrapnel from a missile landed in the village of Nu’eima, near the city of Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
At the White House on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would speak with Mr. Netanyahu and that the U.S. is “fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.”
“We’re still assessing the impact, but based on what we know now, the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” he said.
Mr. Biden said he was in constant contact with the Israeli government, but it remains to be seen what the consequences for Iran should be.
It was the second mass missile attack Iran has launched against Israel during nearly a year of warfare between Israel and Iranian-backed militias in Lebanon, Yemen and the Gaza Strip. The last wave of about 300 missiles and drones was launched on April 13, after Israel struck an Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
That attack caused no serious damage, as most of the projectiles were shot down by Israel and its allies, including the U.S., Britain, Germany and Jordan. Israel responded to that raid six days later with a series of missile attacks targeting Iranian air defence sites.
Israeli officials said Iran fired 181 ballistic missiles on Tuesday, causing the cancellation of all flights into and out of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. Iran’s state-run Tehran Times newspaper claimed that 400 ballistic missiles had been launched, targeting Tel Aviv and Haifa.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been moved to a safe location after the assassination of Mr. Nasrallah, and remained there through Tuesday’s attack.
The Tehran Times said the decision to retaliate for the July 31 assassination of Mr. Haniyeh, who was on a visit to Tehran, and Mr. Nasrallah, who was killed Friday in a massive air strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, had been made by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which is controlled by Ayatollah Khamenei.
In a statement posted to social media, the Iranian delegation to the United Nations said the missile barrage was a “legal, rational, and legitimate” response to Israeli actions. “Should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue. Regional states and the Zionists’ supporters are advised to part ways with the regime,” the statement reads.
In his own statement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the “broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation.” Mr. Guterres called for a region-wide ceasefire. “This must stop,” he wrote.
Shortly before the missile attack began, gunmen opened fire on a light-rail train in Jaffa, killing six Israelis. Two gunmen were killed by civilians and inspectors. Israeli police said that the shooting attack was being treated as “terrorist” in nature.
In a statement, Hamas called the Jaffa attack “a heroic operation” and “a natural response” to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. However, the group did not claim direct responsibility.
Hours earlier, an unnamed U.S. official told reporters in Washington that the U.S. saw signs Iran was preparing to strike Israel. He did not say what the consequences might be, but the U.S. Navy about a week ago deployed several warships, including the nuclear-powered USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, to the Eastern Mediterranean, where it will join other ships from the Naples-based U.S. 6th Fleet.
The U.S. embassy in Jerusalem ordered all employees to shelter in place in anticipation of the attack.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Iran’s missile attack was a “significant escalation” of the conflict.
The missiles did not damage any Israeli aircraft or strategic military assets, Mr. Sullivan told a White House press briefing. He said U.S. naval destroyers helped Israel fend off the attack by firing interceptors at the missiles.
Mr. Sullivan said the White House had been in touch with Mr. Netanyahu’s office and there would be further discussions on how to respond. Mr. Sullivan vowed “there will be consequences” for the bombardment but said it was not yet clear what those would be.
“Obviously, this is a significant escalation by Iran,” he said. “We are proud of the actions that we’ve taken alongside Israel to protect and defend Israel. We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case.”
Major-General Patrick Ryder, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defence, said Iran fired twice as many ballistic missiles this time around as during the attack in April.
“You don’t launch that many missiles at a target without the intent of hitting something so, absolutely, just like the last time, their intent is to cause destruction,” he told a briefing at the Pentagon.
The Iranian attack came amid speculation that Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, was losing interest in wholesale support for the militant group, which is considered the world’s biggest non-state military force, with an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 fighters. Hezbollah has suffered severe setbacks in recent weeks, including the assassination Mr. Nasrallah and the simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers, and later walkie-talkies, used by Hezbollah in Lebanon on Sept. 17 and 18.
The Iranian attack on Israel is a show of support for Hezbollah at a time when the militant group is formally leaderless and under a ground attack from Israel that it may not be able to fully repel, given its weakened condition. “There has been a crash in confidence among the Shia and the Lebanese that they can no longer be protected by Hezbollah,” Ghassan Moukheiber, a lawyer who was a member of the Lebanese parliament for 16 years, until 2018, told The Globe and Mail. The missile attack took place as the Israeli military continued what it called “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah in the south of the country.
By late Tuesday, there were no reports of intense battles between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli military. “There are Israeli soldiers in Lebanon but it does not look like a D-Day style invasion so far,” said a defence attaché at a European embassy in Beirut whom The Globe is not identifying by name, since he was not authorized to speak to the media. “Maybe Hezbollah is having difficulty getting organized after all the setbacks. But the potential for them to counter-attack is still there, of course.”
Israel has said it wants to make northern Israel safe for the return of about 60,000 people sent fleeing by Hezbollah’s regular rocket attacks, which began last Oct. 8, one day after Hamas militants in Gaza attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and foreigners and taking about 250 hostages.
More than 100 of the hostages still remain unaccounted for in Gaza, raising concern among their friends and relatives that their fates are being forgotten as the Israeli military shifts its focus to Lebanon. More than 41,600 Palestinians have been killed during the year of fighting that began with the Hamas surprise attack, according to the Palestinian health authorities.
With a report from Adrian Morrow