Iran has launched an unprecedented attack against Israel, firing a barrage of missiles at the country in the latest escalation amid weeks of soaring violence and tensions in the region.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday that it fired missiles at Israel in response to deadly Israeli attacks against people in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the assassinations of top IRGC, Hamas and Hezbollah leaders
Iran says it fired dozens of ballistic missiles at key military and security targets in Israel.
Iranian leaders have said the attack was in response to deadly attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, as well as the killing of senior Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders.
Israeli officials have promised a response but Iran has warned that Israel would face “crushing” attacks if it did so.
Israeli attacks across Lebanon killed at least 55 people on Tuesday, the Lebanese Health Ministry says.
In Gaza, at least 41,638 people have been killed and 96,460 injured in Israeli attacks since October. In Israel, at least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 people were taken captive.
Alarms sounded in Israel on Tuesday evening as the missiles fell on major cities and towns.
Israel and its top ally, the United States, said their respective militaries worked together to shoot down most of the nearly 200 projectiles that were fired by Iran.
The Israeli army said only a “few” hits were recorded in central and southern parts of the country while two people were injured from falling shrapnel in the Tel Aviv area, according to Israel’s emergency service
What happened ?
The exact details of the Iranian operation remain unclear, but the IRGC said in a statement that the missiles were aimed at “vital military and security targets” in Israel.
The IRGC said later that its attack was aimed specifically at three military bases in the Tel Aviv area.
The attack, which was accompanied by a large-scale cyberattack, also employed Iran’s new Fatah hypersonic ballistic missiles for the first time, according to Iranian state media.
The Israeli military said it intercepted “a large number” of the 180 ballistic missiles launched by Iran, but that there were “isolated” impacts in central and southern Israel.
The IRGC said that 90 percent of the projectiles fired hit their targets.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the American military “coordinated closely” with its Israeli counterparts to shoot down the projectiles.
US naval destroyers joined Israeli air defence units in firing interceptors to shoot down inbound missiles,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House.
Sullivan said no deaths were reported in Israel: “In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” he said
What was the attack in response to?
- The IRGC said Tuesday’s attack was in response to the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanese group Hezbollah, and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan last week in Beirut, as well as the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July
Experts have warned over the past year that the Middle East was on the brink of regional war amid Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians since October 2023
How have world leaders reacted to the Iranian attack?
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran had “made a big mistake” and “will pay for it”.
Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said the country “will take all necessary measures to protect the citizens of Israel”: “As we have previously made clear to the international community, any enemy that attacks Israel should expect a severe response,” Danon wrote on social media
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that the attack was a “decisive response” to Israel’s “aggressions”. “Let Netanyahu know that Iran does not seek war, but it stands firmly against any threat,” he wrote. “Do not enter into a conflict with Iran.
The US pledged its “ironclad” support for Israel, with President Joe Biden saying that his country was “fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel”. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington would “stand by the people of Israel at this critical moment”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned “the broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation”. In a post on X, he wrote: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire
Source: Al Jazeera