Iran fires nearly 200 missiles into Israel; Israel vows retaliation ‘at place and time we decide’

IRAN, OCT 2 : Iran fired nearly 200 missiles into Israel on Tuesday in a sharp escalation of the months-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militias Hezbollah and Hamas, following US warnings that an Iranian attack was imminent. There were no immediate reports of casualties as Israel ordered residents to head to bomb shelters and as air raid sirens sounded across the country.

Israel vowed to retaliate following the Iranian missile attack, with its army spokesman saying it would respond at the time and place of its choosing. “This attack will have consequences. We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. Earlier, Hagari released a video statement saying “the air defence system is fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats wherever necessary, even at this moment.”

A series of window-shaking explosions were heard in Tel Aviv and near Jerusalem, though it was not immediately clear whether the sounds were from missiles landing or being intercepted by Israeli defenses, or both.

“A short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

After about an hour, the military announced there was no longer a threat, and “it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country” and that a “large number” of Iranian missiles had been intercepted.

Reports said between 150 and 200 missiles had been fired in the attack.

Israeli airspace was closed with all flights diverted, a spokesman for the airport authority said.

Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, which lie between Iran and Israel, closed their airspace too.

Iran too suspended flights at Tehran International Airport, Iranian media reported late Tuesday, quoting airport chief Said Chalandari, who said, “For the time being, we have suspended incoming and outgoing flights.

This was Iran’s second strike on Israel after a missile and drone attack in April in response to a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Israel and the US have warned there would be severe consequences in the event of an attack on Israel from Iran.

This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv on October 1, 2024.

US says Iran ‘must suffer consequences’ as Tehran calls missile attack ‘decisive response’ to Israeli aggression

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said the Islamic republic had launched “a missile attack on Tel Aviv”, Israel’s commercial hub.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said the missile attack underway against Israel was in response to the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as that of the Hamas leader.

“In response to the martyrdom of (Hamas leader) Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah and (Guards commander) Nilforoshan, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories (Israel),” the Guards said in a statement reported by Iranian news agency Fars.

The IRGC also threatened to carry out “crushing attacks” against Israel if it retaliated to the missile attack. “If the Zionist regime reacts to Iranian operations, it will face crushing attacks,” the IRGC statement read.

The IRGC said the attack was “in accordance with the United Nations Charter.”

It said it came “after a period of restraint” following an “attack on the sovereignty” of Iran — a reference to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July.

Hamas praised Iran’s missile attack and said it was in revenge for the killings of its leader Haniyeh and Hezbollah chief Nasrallah.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) blesses the heroic rocket launches carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran against wide areas of our occupied lands,” a statement said, adding it was “in revenge for the blood of our heroic martyrs.”

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden ordered the military to “aid Israel’s defence” and shoot down Iranian missiles, the White House said.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee in next month’s US presidential election, are both monitoring Iran’s attack on Israel from the White House situation room, it said in a statement.

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East”, adding in a statement: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”

As the missiles made their way to Israel from the east, blasts were heard over the Jordanian capital Amman, as Israel’s allies moved to intercept them, an AFP correspondent said.

Jordan said its air defences responded to missiles and drones.

While Iran-backed groups across the region had already been drawn into the Gaza war, sparked by Palestinian group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Tehran had largely refrained from direct attacks on its regional foe.

This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv on October 1, 2024.

Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader poses ‘serious dilemma’ for Iran

‘Missile attack imminent’

Earlier today, the US said that Iran had been preparing an imminent ballistic missile attack against Israel and warned that any such assault would have “severe” consequences for Tehran.

The warning came as Israel said it had launched a ‘ground offensive’ in Lebanon to target the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.

“The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel,” a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack.”

The United States and other western allies stepped in to help defend Israel against a combined Iranian missile and drone attack in April, which Tehran launched in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The US official added: “A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran.”

Iran has said that Nasrallah’s killing would bring about Israel’s “destruction,” though the foreign ministry said Monday that Tehran would not deploy soldiers to confront Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile issued a stark warning to Iran on Monday, saying there was “nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach.”

Netanyahu also said that a future “when Iran is finally free” would “come a lot sooner than people think.”

An attack on Israel by Iran would gravely compound fears of a wider regional conflict that the United States and other world powers have said they want to avoid in the Middle East.

This picture shows projectiles being intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv on October 1, 2024.

Israel defies a nervous Biden administration

The United States has cautiously backed Israel’s move to dismantle Hezbollah’s ability to attack northern Israel, even as President Joe Biden has called for a ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington was “tracking events in the Middle East very closely.”

“The United States is committed to Israel’s defense,” Blinken said Tuesday morning while meeting his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita at the State Department.

Washington said Monday that it was boosting its forces in the Middle East by a “few thousand” troops, by bringing in new units while extending others that are already there.

It was also deploying more fighter jets, the Pentagon said.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin late Monday offered support to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant for “dismantling attack infrastructure” belonging to Hezbollah along the border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas, which is also backed by Iran, staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered Israel’s devastating assault on the Gaza Strip.

Cross-border fire from Israel and Hezbollah continued throughout Israel’s war in Gaza.

-PTI