Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, as tensions rise between the two longtime enemies in the Middle East.
The Israeli military said on Telegram that “missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel” and ordered Israeli citizens to obey airstrike sirens and shelter in place. “The IDF does and will do whatever is necessary to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the statement said.
Iran’s rocket salvos against Israel represent the latest and sharpest escalation of tensions in the region, as the US and others worry that Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip in recent months could plunge the region into crisis can deposit. a broader war and drag the West directly into a new major conflict in the Middle East.
The attack comes just a day after Israel launched a “limited” military operation in neighboring Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. And it follows an escalating series of Israeli airstrikes and assassinations on top commanders of both Hezbollah and Hamas – another of Iran’s regional allies. On Friday, Israel carried out an airstrike in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. And in August, Israeli intelligence killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while the militant group’s leader was in Tehran for the inauguration of the country’s new president, Mahmoud Peszkesian.
In a post on the Islamic Republic of Iran – has been properly implemented.” The mission added that “should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malice, a subsequent and crushing response would follow.”
It is not Iran’s first attack on Israel since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip last October. In April, after Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus and killed a senior leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Tehran and its allies fired a volley of missiles and drones at Israel. That attack was thwarted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defenses and supporting defensive airstrikes from the Jordanian, Saudi and US armies.
Sean Savett, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, wrote on
He added that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were monitoring the attack from the White House situation room and receiving regular updates on the strike. The White House had warned earlier in the day that such an attack was imminent.
