Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, drawing vows of a sharp response from both Israel and the United States.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley. Israelis piled into bomb shelters and reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.
Israel said more than 180 missiles were launched into Israel from Iran and Israeli air defences were activated to intercept them. U.S. Navy warships fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles headed toward Israel, the Pentagon said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) said the assault was in retaliation for recent Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon and Gaza. Its forces used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time, and 90 per cent of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the IGRC said.
No injuries were reported in Israel, but one man was killed in the occupied West Bank, authorities there said.
Consequences to come: Israeli officials
Washington and the European Union condemned the attack, and the UN Security Council scheduled a meeting on the Middle East for Wednesday.
Israel’s military says Iran has fired missiles at the country, sparking air raid sirens nationwide. Reuters cameras captured images of what appear to be missiles, as well as the blare of the sirens.
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed full U.S. support for Israel and described Iran’s attack as “ineffective.” He said there was an active discussion about how Israel would respond, and he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli officials promised consequences for the onslaught.
“We will respond wherever, whenever and however we choose, in accordance with the directive of the government of Israel,” Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.
Washington backed up its longtime ally. “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,” spokesperson Jake Sullivan said at a White House briefing, stopping short of urging restraint by Israel.
‘Attacks will further destabilize’ region: Joly
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, said Ottawa is following the events “very, very closely.”
“Those attacks will further destabilize the region, and our thoughts go out to all of those who are experiencing this now,” she said.
Joly said Canada is prepared to help anyone in Israel, and has been able to get 200 Canadians out of Lebanon via commercial flights.
The House of Commons will meet for an emergency debate this evening to discuss the situation in Lebanon.
“At this critical moment for Israel and for the region, the State of Israel calls on Canada to stand with it as a fellow liberal democracy,” Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, said in a statement.
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Shortly before the Iranian attack, Israeli police separately reported that at least six people were killed in a suspected shooting and stabbing terror attack in Tel Aviv.
Iran warns this is a ‘1st wave’
The alerts were sounded after a day of rocket and missile attacks from Lebanon, and as Israel said it had begun limited ground operations in southern Lebanon.
Israeli air defence systems are fully prepared for any attack from Iran, IDF spokesperson Hagari said at an earlier televised briefing, minutes after multiple reports from U.S. media outlets citing White House sources warned that an attack could be imminent.
Iran’s claim of responsibility was made in a statement read aloud on state television.
In its statement, Iran referenced Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike last week in Beirut. It also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas leader who was assassinated in Tehran in a suspected Israeli attack in July.
Iran warned that this attack represented only a “first wave,” without elaborating.
In April, Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel in response to an apparent Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria. According to reports, a number of other countries helped Israel largely repel the Iranian onslaught.
The Pentagon said the scope of Tuesday’s airstrikes was about twice the size of April’s assault.
Anticipating more rocket attacks from Iran-backed Hezbollah, the Israeli army announced new restrictions on public gatherings and closed beaches in northern and central parts of the country, including in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The military is also calling up thousands more reserve soldiers to serve on the northern border.
Hezbollah said earlier Tuesday that it fired salvos of a new kind of medium-range missile, called the Fadi 4, at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv. Hezbollah spokesperson Mohammed Afif said the missile attack “is only the beginning.”
CBC’s freelance videographer in Gaza captured a view of what appear to be missiles fired from Iran at Israel streaking across the night sky Tuesday.
Fears of a regional war
The Israeli military also warned people to evacuate nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities hours after announcing the start of ground operations against Hezbollah.
There was no immediate word on casualties as fighting intensified and concerns of a wider regional war grew.
In its first statement since Israel announced the start of ground operations in Lebanon, Hezbollah spokesperson Afif dismissed what he called “false claims” of an Israeli incursion.
The Israeli army hasn’t said how long the latest operation would last.
The UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, which patrols southern Lebanon, said such a cross-border operation would be a “dangerous development” and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.
The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a month-long war in 2006.
Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next showdown.