Iran fires more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel

Israel said Iran fired more than 180 rockets into the country in a large-scale attack, further increasing fears of a full-scale regional war.

Millions of people rushed to shelters before explosions lit up the night sky over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Medics said two sustained minor injuries from shrapnel.

The Israeli military said most of the rockets were intercepted with U.S. assistance, but there were a “small number of hits.” It accused Iran of a “dangerous escalation” and warned of “consequences.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the missiles hit their targets and that they were retaliating for the killings of the leaders of their allies Hezbollah and Hamas and a senior Iranian general.

The U.S. said the missile attack appeared to have been “repelled and ineffective” and that it was consulting with Israel about a response.

The UN Secretary-General condemned the “expanding conflict in the Middle East” and added: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”

The rocket attack came hours after Israeli troops began an invasion of southern Lebanon to clear border villages that the military said were “Hezbollah terror targets” and posed a threat to residents of northern Israel.

After nearly a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war with Hamas in Gaza, Israel has gone on the offensive against the Iran-backed Shiite Islamist political and military organization, saying it wants the safe return of displaced residents of the border areas ensure Hezbollah rocket, drone and rocket attacks.

Air raid sirens wailed across Israel around 7:30 p.m. local time (16:30 GMT) on Tuesday as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned that missiles had been fired from Iran.

Within minutes, loud explosions were heard in Jerusalem as rockets flew over the country and were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems.

Videos shared on social media showed beams of light as the rockets flew over Israel and clouds of smoke as they were intercepted or detonated upon impact.

Just over an hour later, the IDF announced that people were being allowed to leave their safe spaces because it had “detected no additional air threats from Iran.”

Later, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement that “there were a small number of hits in central Israel and other hits in southern Israel.”

“The majority of incoming missiles were intercepted by Israel and a defense coalition led by the United States.”

He added: “Iran’s attack is a serious and dangerous escalation. There will be consequences.

“Our defensive and offensive skills are at the highest level. Our operational plans are ready.

“We will respond wherever, whenever and however we want, in accordance with the direction of the Israeli government.”

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House he was “not aware of any damage to aircraft or strategic military facilities in Israel.”

“In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been repelled and ineffective,” he added.

He also condemned the attack as “a significant escalation” and warned: “We have made it clear that this attack will have consequences, serious consequences, and we will work with Israel to make this happen.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement saying it fired dozens of ballistic missiles “in the heart of the occupied territories” and targeted unspecified “sensitive security and military centers.”

The attack was in retaliation for the “violation of Iranian sovereignty and martyrdom” of Hamas politician Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an explosion in Tehran in July that Iranian officials blamed on Israel but Israeli officials did not claim. The statement described the rocket fire as “consistent with the nation’s legitimate right to self-defense.”

It also said the attack was in response to the Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, the operations commander of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign arm.

The IRGC warned Israel that it would be “subject to further devastating blows” if it responded to the attack.

Iranian state media later claimed that rockets hit Nevatim, Hazterim and Tel Nof air bases, as well as Israeli tanks in Netzarim – a reference to an Israeli military corridor in the central Gaza Strip – and gas facilities in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon.

The attack came about an hour after a senior White House official told reporters that the United States had signs that Iran was preparing to fire missiles at Iran imminently.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then told Israelis in a video statement: “We are in the middle of a campaign against the axis of evil in Iran.”

“Together we will remain resilient in the difficult days ahead. Together we will survive. Together we will fight and together we will win.”

Meanwhile, the US military’s Central Command announced that three more squadrons of F-16 and F-15E fighter jets and A-10 fighter jets would arrive in the Middle East and that one squadron had already arrived.

Over the weekend, the Pentagon also ordered the carrier strike group USS Abraham Lincoln to remain in the region to “deter aggression.”

In April, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for a deadly attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria that killed several senior commanders.

Almost all of them were shot down by Israel, the United States and other Western allies, as well as their Arab partners, and an air base in southern Israel sustained only minor damage in the attack.

Israel responded by firing a missile that hit an Iranian air base. The West calls for restraint.

On Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that the death of his close ally Hassan Nasrallah “will not go unavenged.”

He gave no details but said: “The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of the resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront.”

Iran has built a network of allied armed groups across the Middle East, all opposed to the United States and Israel, sometimes calling themselves the “Axis of Resistance.” In addition to Hezbollah, these include Hamas in the Palestinian territories, the Houthis in Yemen and a number of Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.