Iran fires ballistic missiles at Israel amid escalating Middle East tensions.
Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley after Israelis piled into bomb shelters.
Reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts. Reuters journalists saw missiles intercepted in the airspace of neighbouring Jordan.
Israeli media reports said as many as 100 to 400 missiles had been launched.
Dozens of explosions boomed across Jerusalem on Tuesday night as air raid sirens rang out, AFP journalists reported.
“A short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement. It said sirens were sounded across Israel, including in Jerusalem.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they launched tens of missiles toward Israel and warned that if Israel retaliated Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous”, Iranian state TV reported.
Hypersonic ‘Fattah’ missiles used
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they used hypersonic ‘Fattah’ missiles ‘for the first time’ in attack on Israel, Iranian state TV reported.
Israel military says Iran attack will have consequences
Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday was serious and will have consequences, Israel’s military spokesman said, declining to specify how and when Israel would respond.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said he was not aware of any casualties from the missile volley. He said there were a few hits in the centre of the country and in the south.
Iran fires ballistic missiles at Israel amid escalating Middle East tensions.
Israel military vows ‘powerful strikes’ tonight throughout the region’
Israeli media cited Israel’s military as saying on Tuesday that the air force will continue conducting “powerful strikes” tonight throughout the Middle East, hours after Iran launched a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel.
Biden directed the US military to aid Israel’s defence: White House
President Joe Biden has directed the US military to aid Israel’s defence against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles targeting Israel, the White House National Security Council said.
Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris are monitoring the attack from the White House situation room and receiving regular updates, NSC spokesperson Sean Savett said in a post on X.
Israel has shut down air travel in and out of the country, and Iraq, which lies directly to the east of Israel’s easterly neighbour Jordan, has shut down its air space, Reuters reports.
Just prior to these latest developments, Israeli army radio said that all take-off and landing at Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv has stopped after Iran launched missiles towards Israel.