After vowing response, Iran finally hits Israel with wave of ballistic missiles

Missiles could be seen in footage of the sky above Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced its launch of hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel in the first attack of its kind.

Shortly before 8 pm, warning sirens sounded across Israel, according to the Israeli military, which published a map showing the areas targeted in the attack and said that civilians across the country had hidden in bomb shelters. 

An initial assessment by the US and Israel estimated that the salvo from Iran comprised 200 missiles. In an attack Iran conducted earlier this year, over 100 ballistic missiles and around 30 cruise missiles were launched toward Israel.

The IRG announced the attacks as the first wave of attacks on “the occupied lands,” adding that if Israel responds, then they would retaliate in a more destructive manner. 

The IRG said it fired the missiles in response to the assassinations of former Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismael Haniyeh in July as well as of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and IRG Deputy Commander Abbas Nilforoushan last week. 

Iran’s diplomatic mission to the UN released a statement shortly after the attacks. “Iran’s legal, rational and legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime — which involved targeting Iranian nationals and interests and infringing upon the national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran — has been duly carried out,” the statement read, adding that the response would be “crushing” should Israel retaliate. 

While the full scale of the attack is not clear, videos circulated by Israeli media showed impact sites in central Israel. 

The Israeli military spokesperson said that there were “some impacts in the center and areas in the south of the country” and “quite a few interceptions,” adding that they are carrying out an assessment of the attack at this stage but “are unaware of casualties." 

The US also intercepted some of the Iranian missiles launched against Israel, according to a US official cited by ABC News. Israeli media reported that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss “Iran’s intention to attack.”

Eyewitnesses near the Netsarim axis in Gaza, which Israel has constructed in recent months to separate Gaza’s north from the south, said to Mada Masr that they saw missiles fall within the cordoned off military area. Shortly afterward, a medical helicopter could be seen landing in the area.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the US was working with Israel to assess the impact of the attack, adding that thus far they were not aware of casualties in Israel and that they were investigating reports of a single injury in Jericho. “In short,” Sullivan said, “this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,”while crediting the “meticulous joint planning” of the US and Israeli militaries. 

Reports emerged of the US warning Iran that the Israeli response will be more broad and severe than the response to April’s attack. 

In an early indication of the potential repercussions of the strike, Democrat Congressman Jared Moskowitz said on X that “Iran has made a mistake, it has put its nuclear facilities on the board as fair game.”

Following the attack, Jordan and Iraq announced the closure of their airspace, and Iranian authorities suspended flights at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport until further notice.

The Israeli military later announced that missile attacks were over, asking citizens to leave shelters and reopening the airspace above Israeli territories. 

Several hours before Iran launched the missiles on Tuesday evening, reports began to emerge of the imminent operation. 

The warning was significantly shorter than the 72 hours warning Iran said it gave prior to the attack it launched on Israel in April, the only similar operation Iran has ever undertaken. In that attack, Iran launched explosive drones and missiles on several areas in response to the Israeli targeting of the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1, which led to the death of seven members of the IRG. No damage was reported in the wake of the April operation conducted by Iran. 

The US official and Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari both warned of “severe consequences,” which Hagari also said would be “wide in scope” should the attack take place. United States President Joe Biden said that he had “ordered” the US military to aid in Israel’s defense. The US has already positioned ships and aircraft in the region to boost Israel’s defensive capabilities. 

Reuters reported after the strike that Iran had alerted the US through diplomatic channels of its plan to fire the missiles at Israel.  

In a video released from his office yesterday addressed to the “Iranian people,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Iranian government for plunging the Middle East “deeper into war.”

"There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach. There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country," Netanyahu said.

The attack came amid a substantial escalation in the intensity of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon over recent weeks, prompting fears that the conflict could escalate into a wider regional war. 

Hezbollah announced on Tuesday evening that it had launched attacks on the Israeli Basla Settlement and on Israeli soldiers at Matalla, a site near the border with Lebanon. 

The Israeli military announced that it had designated a new area of the country’s north as a closed military zone — extending the area it had already cordoned off on Monday evening.

In parallel to the launch of the missiles from Iran, celebratory gunfire in the south of Beirut could be heard across the Lebanese capital, while others also cheered to celebrate the attack in the West Bank, Gaza and Iran.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, at least eight people were killed and nine injured in a shooting in Yaffa, according to Israeli military radio, which said the two perpetrators of the attack had been “neutralized” without providing further details. Footage broadcast on Al-Jazeera showed security authorities and ambulances responding at the scene. At least six other people were injured, according to reports.