Israel warns of 'consequences' after Iran launches 181 missiles

(THE TIMES OF ISRAEL) 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. Jerusalem warned Tehran there would be “consequences.”

Some 181 missiles were launched in the strike, according to Israeli officials. The Israel Defense Forces said that it intercepted “a large number” of the missiles.

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 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 and emphasized that there was no damage to the “competence” of the Israeli Air Force in the attack, and the IAF’s planes, air defenses, and air traffic control are operating normally.

People take cover on the side of the road as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles from Iran on a freeway in Shoresh, Oct. 1, 2024. (The Times of Israel: AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Iran said it fired the missiles into Israel as retaliation for attacks that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military. It referenced Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, 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. Khamenei remains in a secure location, the senior official added.

A previous round of Iranian missiles fired at Israel in April – the first ever – were shot down 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 Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that are targeting 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 show a number of craters caused by impacts.

Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, 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’ 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 Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah chief Hassan 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 takes part in “any hostile action” against Iran then American interests in the region will 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 for a missile barrage fired at Israel, 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.

Amid the US warnings, 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.

He also called his national security cabinet to meet in a Jerusalem government bunker complex.

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 issued new 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.

Iran informed “international parties” of the size and timing of its anticipated attack on Israel, a US Defense Department official told Sky News Arabia.

Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones in April, but Israel, the US, and Western and Arab allies shot down almost all the projectiles.

The US embassy in Jerusalem issued a security warning telling its employees and their families “to shelter in place until further notice.”

Also Tuesday, 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.

In April, Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones at Israel in response to the killing of two senior army generals in a Damascus strike that Tehran blamed on Israel.

The wave was intercepted by Israeli air defenses alongside a major US-led coalition of regional forces that included British and French warplanes, as well as, reportedly, intelligence and radar resources from some Arab nations. A few missiles made it through the shield causing very minor damage at an air base, though a young Bedouin girl was seriously injured by falling shrapnel from an intercept.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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