Some 180 ballistic missiles were launched onto Israel on Tuesday night by Iran, The Jerusalem Post understands, leading to 1,800 rocket sirens sounding across the country.
In a statement given to Israeli media following the attack, the IDF vowed that it would strike forcefully across the Middle East on Tuesday night.
A Palestinian worker from Gaza was reportedly killed as a result of fragments of rockets that fell in the city of Jericho in the West Bank, according to Israeli media. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration was tracking the reported death of the Palestinian civilian in the West Bank.
Magen David Adom’s CEO Eli Bin announced that there was a direct hit to a building in north Tel Aviv on George Wise Street. MDA confirmed that three people had been wounded by falls in Tel Aviv.
A strike also hit a home in Tel Sheva, according to Maariv. Further, a Chabad school in Gedera was hit directly, resulting in a crater and extensive damage to infrastructure, according to Israeli media.
The head of the school, which has 400 students, was quoted as saying, “Just to think that a few hours ago, there were hundreds of students there learning about Rosh Hashanah. A huge miracle happened to us.” Multiple other falls were recorded in Tel Aviv, Dimona, Nabatim, Hora, Hod Hasharon, Beersheba, and Rishon Lezion. Israeli air defenses shot down dozens of missiles that flew over Syria, the Syrian army sources told Reuters.
Video footage from KAN showed falling fragments of interceptors and missiles in the Dead Sea.
Ben Gurion Airport announced that all landings and takeoffs had been halted, and all trains were stopped. Planes that were in the air for landing made a U-turn. Airport activities later resumed on Tuesday evening. Jordan and Iraq have also closed their airspace.
Damage was caused to electricity infrastructure in parts of southern Israel following a rocket fall in Beersheba, The Israel Electric Company said Tuesday night.
Residents of the moshav of Bnei Atarot reported a power outage in their area following the rocket blast. A team of technicians arrived at the scene to repair the damages caused by the attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he had mobilized 13,000 emergency standby squads, which will be immediately deployed throughout Israel.
Iran: Attack a response to Nasrallah’s assassination
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced that the attack was in response to the assassination of Nasrallah, and if Israel responded, it would experience a decisive blow.
“The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel,” the official stated.
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the US official said.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel,” the official stressed, “will carry severe consequences for Iran.”
The IDF spokesman asked residents to remain in the protected area until further notice.
“The explosions you hear originate from interceptions or falls. The air defense system detects and intercepts threats all the time.”
Iran last attacked Israel in April, but its missiles were thwarted by the unified actions of five armies: Israel, the US, France, Jordan, and the United Kingdom.
It’s presumed that this attack was be larger than the 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and dozens of cruise missiles which Iran launched on Israel in April.
Three Israeli officials said beforehand that the attack would involve unmanned drones and missiles fired toward three military air bases and an intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv, The New York Times reported.
The second direct military showdown between Israel and Iran comes as the IDF has, in the last weeks, bombarded Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, significantly weakening the Iranian proxy group. This has included the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Iran had warned of repercussions for those attacks.
Early Tuesday evening, the IDF Home Front took the nearly unprecedented step of warning the whole Tel Aviv region to head to bomb shelters even before rocket sirens went off.
In light of the Israeli and US confirmations that Iran plans to attack Israel imminently, it appeared that the attack by Tehran had already started.
Shortly after, the IDF said it had shot down a long-range rocket launched by Hezbollah against the Tel Aviv area. However, in light of the severe and imminent concerns about Iran, the IDF said that Tel Aviv residents should stay near their bomb shelters.
Hagari reaffirms IDF’s high preparedness
IDF Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari reaffirmed the IDF’s high state of preparedness and that it was ready and willing to respond to any and all attacks from Iran.
“Following developments in Iran, we are in [a state of] high preparedness. IDF is prepared and ready both on the offensive and defensive front. There will be consequences if Iran attacks Israel. Our US partners in CENTCOM are ready alongside us. We will know how to handle [any attack].”
The US Embassy has warned its staff and their families to shelter in place before the attack, and Israel’s intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv was evacuated in advance.
The US has an aircraft carrier deployed in the region to help keep tensions from escalating as well as to suppress an Iranian response.
Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
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