Live Updates: Iran attacks Israel, what is happening in Lebanon and Gaza?

About 180 ballistic missiles were fired from Iran at Israel on Tuesday evening. The Jerusalem Post understands what led to 1,800 missile sirens sounding across the country.

In a statement to Israeli media following the attack, the IDF vowed that it would carry out a violent attack across the Middle East on Tuesday evening.

A Palestinian worker from Gaza was reportedly killed by rocket fragments that struck the West Bank city of Jericho, according to Israeli media. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the government was following the reported death of the Palestinian civilian in the West Bank.

Magen David Adom CEO Eli Bin announced that a building in north Tel Aviv on George Wise Street was directly hit. MDA confirmed that three people were injured in falls in Tel Aviv.

According to Maariv, there was also a strike at a house in Tel Sheva. Additionally, according to Israeli media, a Chabad school in Gedera was directly hit, resulting in a crater and significant damage to infrastructure.

The head of the school, which has 400 students, was quoted as saying: “Just to think that a few hours ago there were hundreds of students there learning about Rosh Hashanah. A great miracle happened to us.”

Several other falls were recorded in Tel Aviv, Dimona, Nabatim, Hora, Hod Hasharon, Beersheba and Rishon Lezion. Israeli air defenses shot down dozens of missiles flying over Syria, Syrian army sources told Reuters.

Video footage from KAN showed falling fragments of interceptors and missiles in the Dead Sea.

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Ben Gurion Airport announced that all landings and takeoffs as well as all trains had stopped. Planes that were in the air for landing made a U-turn. Airport operations resumed later Tuesday evening. Jordan and Iraq have also closed their airspace.

The Israel Electric Company announced on Tuesday evening that damage was caused to the electricity infrastructure in parts of southern Israel after a rocket crashed in Beersheba.

Residents of the Bnei Atarot moshav reported a power outage in their area following the rocket explosion. A team of technicians arrived on site to repair the damage caused by the attack.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he had mobilized 13,000 emergency troops to be deployed immediately across Israel.

Iran: Attack in response to Nasrallah’s assassination

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced that the attack was in response to the assassination of Nasrallah and that if there was a response, Israel would suffer a decisive blow.

“The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to launch an imminent ballistic missile attack against Israel,” the official said.

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“We are actively supporting defense preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the US official said.

“A direct military attack by Iran against Israel,” the official stressed, “will have serious consequences for Iran.”

The IDF spokesman urged residents to remain in the protected area until further notice.

“The explosions you hear are caused by interceptions or crashes. The air defense system constantly detects and intercepts threats.”

Iran last attacked Israel in April, but its missiles were thwarted by the combined actions of five armies: Israel, the United States, France, Jordan and the United Kingdom.

This attack is believed to have been larger than the 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones and dozens of cruise missiles that Iran fired at Israel in April.

Three Israeli officials said earlier that the attack would involve unmanned drones and missiles fired at three military airfields and an intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv. The New York Times reported.

The second direct military showdown between Israel and Iran came when the IDF bombed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in recent weeks, significantly weakening the Iranian proxy group. This included the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Iran had warned of the consequences of these attacks.

Early Tuesday evening, the IDF home front took the almost unprecedented step of warning the entire Tel Aviv region to head to bomb shelters even before the rocket sirens went off.

Given Israeli and US confirmations that Iran was planning an imminent attack on Israel, it appeared that Tehran’s attack had already begun.

Shortly thereafter, the IDF said it shot down a long-range missile fired by Hezbollah toward the Tel Aviv area. However, given the serious and looming concerns over Iran, the IDF demanded that Tel Aviv residents remain close to their bomb shelters.

Hagari reiterates the IDF’s high level of preparedness

IDF spokesman R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari reiterated the IDF’s high level of preparedness and that it is ready and willing to respond to any attacks from Iran.

“In view of the developments in Iran, we are there [a state of] high willingness. The IDF is prepared and ready on both offense and defense. There will be consequences if Iran attacks Israel. Our US partners at CENTCOM are standing by our side. We will know how to deal with it [any attack].”

The US Embassy has warned its staff and their families to seek shelter before the attack, and the Israeli intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv was evacuated in advance.

The US has deployed an aircraft carrier in the region to prevent an escalation of tensions and quell an Iranian response.

Reuters and Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.

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