Iran fires 181 missiles at Israel; PM: They made a ‘big mistake’ and ‘will pay for it’
IAF, along with US and Jordan, intercept most of the projectiles; 1 Palestinian killed, 2 Israelis hurt; IDF says no harm to ‘competence’ of Air Force as some missiles target bases
Iran fired a massive salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night, sending almost 10 million people into bomb shelters as projectiles and interceptors exploded in the skies above.
Soon after the attack, which was largely unsuccessful, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran that it had made “a big mistake” and “will pay for it.”
Some 181 missiles were launched in the strike, according to Israeli officials. The Israel Defense Forces said that it intercepted “a large number” of them.
One Palestinian in the West Bank was reported killed and two Israelis were injured by falling shrapnel and debris that had caused damage and started fires in the area.
Explosions could be heard across much of Israel, from Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. Reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.
One rocket impacted a school in Gadera, in central Israel, and photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the school building, although nobody was injured. Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, the Home Front Command chief, visited the site of the impact alongside first responders.
Israel’s air defenses were “effective,” the IDF said. The US also participated in the defense of Israel, both by detecting the threat from Iran ahead of time and intercepting some of the missiles, according to the military.
The IDF said there were “isolated” impacts in central Israel and several more impacts in southern Israel. It emphasized that there was no damage to the “competence” of the Israeli Air Force in the attack, and said the IAF’s planes, air defenses, and air traffic control were operating normally.
At a security cabinet meeting in a secure bunker near Jerusalem in the aftermath of the attack, Netanyahu warned that Tehran had made a “big mistake tonight” and vowed that “it will pay for it.”
The strike on Israel had “failed,” he said, and was “thwarted thanks to Israel’s air defense system, which is the most advanced in the world.”
He thanked the US for its support as well.
“The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies,” said Netanyahu. “[Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and [top Hamas military commander Muhammad] Deif did not understand this, [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah and [Hezbollah chief of staff Fuad] Shukr did not understand this, and there are probably those in Tehran who do not understand this.”
“They will understand,” he threatened, stressing that “whoever attacks us — we will attack him.”
He added that this had been the case wherever Israel fights “the axis of evil” — in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iran.
Calling for “the forces of light in the world” to unite against Tehran, the premier urged them to “stand by Israel.”
“The choice has never been clearer between tyranny and freedom, between blessing and curse,” he said.
“Israel is on the move, and the axis of evil is retreating,” Netanyahu insisted. “We will do everything necessary to continue this trend, to achieve all the goals of the war, primarily the return of all our hostages, and to ensure our existence and our future.”
Iran said it fired the missiles into Israel in retaliation for attacks that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military. It referenced Hezbollah leader Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, both killed in an Israeli airstrike last week in Beirut. It also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader in Hamas who was assassinated in Tehran in a suspected Israeli attack in July.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted three military bases.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters the order to launch missiles at Israel had been made by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who remains in a secure location.
A previous attack using 300 missiles and drones in April — the first ever direct Iranian on Israel — was thwarted with the help of the US military and other allies. Israel responded at the time with airstrikes in Iran, but wider escalation was averted.
US President Joe Biden directed the US military to aid Israel’s defense against the Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that targeted Israel, the White House said.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored the attack from the White House Situation Room, said the statement.
A Palestinian from Gaza was reported killed by shrapnel in Jericho in the West Bank.
While only two people were reportedly lightly wounded in Israel proper from shrapnel, videos and photos circulating on social media showed a number of craters caused by impacts.
Shortly after midnight, the IDF Home Front Command announced that it was easing restrictions in central Israel, the Jerusalem area, and some parts of northern Israel following the attack.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters earlier in the night that the IAF “continues to operate at full capacity, and tonight will also continue to strike powerfully in the Middle East, as has been the case for the past year.”
“The Israeli and US air defense systems operated effectively. There was close cooperation in detection and interception,” he said.
“We are still investigating [the result of the attack] and do not want to give the enemy all the information,” Hagari said.
“Iran carried out a serious act tonight and is pushing the Middle East to an escalation. We will act at the place and time of our choosing, in accordance with the guidance of the political echelon,” he continued.
“Tonight’s event will have consequences.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, however, said that if Israel retaliated Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous.”
American forces are ready to provide “additional defensive support” to Israel after helping protect it during an Iranian missile attack, a US defense official said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated the US’s commitment to Israel’s safety in a call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the aftermath of the attack, Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said during a briefing.
Austin reaffirmed the US’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s defense and stressed that the US remains well-postured in the Middle East to defend American assets and to defend Israel.
Ryder also told reporters that Iran launched about twice as many ballistic missiles on Tuesday as it did in its previous direct attack on Israel in April.
Jordan’s Public Security Directorate said its air defenses intercepted missiles and drones as Iran attacked Israel, just as it had done in April.
“The Royal Jordanian Air Force and air defense systems responded to a number of missiles and drones that entered Jordanian airspace,” a statement said.
There was widespread international condemnation of the strikes.
Hamas praised Iran’s missile attack, saying it was in revenge for the killings of Hamas 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.”
Iran-backed Iraqi militias said that if the US took part in “any hostile action” against Iran, then American interests in the region would be under threat.
The statement from the group calling itself the Coordination Committee for the Iraqi Resistance also warned Israel against using Iraqi airspace to retaliate against Iran, saying “all American bases and interests in Iraq and the region will be our target.”
The Iranian attack came after the IDF launched a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon overnight Monday-Tuesday.
Amid the US warnings of the imminent Iranian attack, received by Israel earlier in the day, Netanyahu spoke of “days of great challenges” ahead. In a video statement, he urged unity in Israel, and asked the public to follow the instructions of the Home Front Command.
Iran did not give the United States prior notice of its attack on Israel, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said.
Earlier in the evening, the Home Front Command had issued instructions to residents of the central area of Israel, known as Gush Dan, warning them to remain “nearby” a bomb shelter or other protected area until further notice, following reports of an imminent Iranian attack.
Three Israeli officials quoted anonymously by The New York Times said that Iran would likely target three military air bases, and “an intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv,” which it said has been evacuated.
The US embassy in Jerusalem issued a security warning telling its employees and their families “to shelter in place until further notice.”
Earlier, the Pentagon said the US 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.
“A certain number of units already deployed to the Middle East region… will be extended, and the forces due to rotate into theater to replace them will now instead augment” those that are already there, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists on Monday.
“These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said, later adding that there will be “an additional few thousand” personnel in the region as a result.
The US Central Command announced Tuesday that three additional squadrons of warplanes were arriving in the region, while one was already present.
Agencies contributed to this report.
