Iran on Tuesday launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel in retaliation for its recent killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and an Iranian commander in Lebanon.
The attack came on the heels of Israel’s deployment of ground forces into south Lebanon, escalating its offensive on Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Iran.
“In response to the martyrdom of Martyr Haniyeh, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, and Martyr Nilforoushan, we have targeted the heart of the occupied territories,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in a statement after missiles began appearing in the skies over Israel.
“Should the Zionist regime respond to Iran’s operation, it will face crushing attack,” said the group, Iran’s paramilitary organization.
Abbas Nilforoushan was an Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander, who was killed with Nasrallah in a bombing by Israel last Friday in Beirut.
Ismail Haniyeh was the political commander of the Hamas terror group, who was killed in July by an Israeli strike on Tehran, the capital of Iran. Israel has been engaged in a brutal war on Hamas since the group launched the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel from Gaza.
Israel Defense Forces said it had identified about 180 missiles fired toward Israel from Iranian territory. Most of those missiles were intercepted by Israeli defense systems, but there were some reported hits and other damage is being assessed, according to an Israeli security offcial.
This picture shows projectiles above Jerusalem, on October 1, 2024.
Menahem Kahana | Afp | Getty Images
There were only two people reported lightly injured from shrapnel from the missile attack in the Tel Aviv area, according to Israeli authorities. There were also some minor injuries reported across Israel involving people moving to safe spaces.
The IDF announced that citizens were allowed to leave protected spaces across the country just after 1:30 p.m. ET.
A White House official on Tuesday warned that any direct attack on Israel by Iran “will carry severe consequences for Iran.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official said.
That official and a Defense Department official said that Iran was expected to target military and government sites, not civilian locations.
Sirens wailed around Israel during Tuesday’s attack.
President Joe Biden met Tuesday afternoon with Vice President Kamala Harris and national security officials to discuss the attack, the White House said.
“The President directed the US military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks & shoot down missiles targeting Israel,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a post on the social media site X. “They also reviewed preparations to protect U.S. personnel in the region.”
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem directed all U.S. government employees and their families in Israel to “shelter in place until further notice.”
The embassy in the same notice said it “reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system UAS intrusions, often take place without warning.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the notice said.
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, October 1, 2024.
Amir Cohen | Reuters
Iran’s suspected planned attack came a day after Israeli ground forces crossed into south Lebanon as part of an attack on Hezbollah.
The number of Israeli troops who have entered Lebanon is in “the low hundreds,” an Israeli official told NBC News.
Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the killing of Nasrallah and a senior Revolutionary Guards commander in that attack “will not go unanswered.” Araghchi said the United States was “complicit in this crime.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 250 points by 10 a.m. ET, spurred by a surge in the cost of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, on fears of heightened tensions in the petroleum-rich Middle East.
The WTI November contract was up nearly 3% by midmorning, hovering shy of $70 a barrel.
In April, Iran launched an attack on Israel that included more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles after two top Iranian commanders were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Syria.
Most of the missiles and drones were shot down by the Israeli and U.S. militaries.