Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for the recent killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and an Iranian commander in Lebanon.
The attack came just after Israel deployed ground troops to southern Lebanon, intensifying its offensive against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Most of the nearly 200 rockets were intercepted by Israeli and U.S. defenses and there are no known deaths in Israel from the attack.
“In response to the martyrdom of Martyrs 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 rockets appeared in the skies over Israel.
“Should the Zionist regime respond to Iran’s operation, it will face devastating attacks,” said the group, Iran’s paramilitary organization.
Abbas Nilforoushan was a deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who was killed along with Nasrallah in an Israeli bombing in Beirut last Friday.
Ismail Haniyeh was the political commander of the Hamas terror group who was killed in an Israeli attack on Tehran, the capital of Iran, in July. Israel has been waging a brutal war against Hamas since the group launched a terrorist attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7.
According to an Israeli security official, the Israel Defense Forces reported some hits from the rockets and their damage was being assessed.
This image shows projectiles over Jerusalem on October 1, 2024.
Menahem Kahana | AFP | Getty Images
According to the Israeli authorities, only two people were slightly injured by shrapnel in the rocket attack in the Tel Aviv area. There were also some minor injuries reported across Israel, with people heading to safe spaces.
A death of a Palestinian civilian was reported in the West Bank city of Jericho.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking to reporters at the White House, said: “The U.S. military has coordinated closely with the Israel Defense Forces to help defend Israel against this attack.”
“Navy destroyers fired interceptors alongside Israeli air defense units to shoot down incoming missiles,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan also said, “Obviously this is a significant escalation by Iran.”
“We will now consider what next steps are appropriate to protect American interests first and foremost and then promote stability to the greatest extent possible as we move forward,” he said.
The IDF announced that citizens were allowed to leave protected areas across the country shortly after 1:30 p.m. ET.
Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepts missiles, seen from Ashkelon, Israel, October 1, 2024.
Amir Cohen | Reuters
President Joe Biden met with Vice President Kamala Harris and national security officials on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the attack, the White House said.
“The President has directed the U.S. military to support Israel's defense against Iranian attacks and to fire missiles aimed at 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.”
Before the attack, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem ordered all U.S. government employees and their families in Israel to “shelter in place until further notice.”
The embassy said in the same statement it “reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and heightened personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system UAS intrusions, often occur without warning.”
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“The security environment remains complex and can change rapidly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the statement said.
The Iranian attack came a day after Israeli ground forces entered southern Lebanon as part of an attack on Hezbollah.
The number of Israeli troops that have entered Lebanon is “in the hundreds,” an Israeli official told NBC News.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said the killing of Nasrallah and a senior Revolutionary Guard commander in that attack “will not go unanswered.”
Araghchi also said the United States was “complicated in this crime.”
In April, Iran launched an attack on Israel involving 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 US military.
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