JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran fired at least 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday. It is the latest in a series of escalating attacks in the years-long conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatens to move the Middle East closer to regional war.
The orange glow of the missiles streaked Israel’s night sky as air raid sirens sounded and residents scrambled into air raid shelters. Israel vowed to retaliate against Iran’s barrage, but said only few people were injured.
Before the Iranian attack, Israel had landed a series of attacks. devastating blow in recent weeks against the Lebanese Hezbollah leadership. Since then, it has gradually increased pressure on Iranian-backed militant groups. The insurgents have since fired rockets into Israel. war in gaza It began by launching a limited ground invasion into southern Lebanon.
Israel has said it will continue its attacks on Hezbollah until its citizens evacuated from their homes near the Lebanese border can safely return. Hezbollah has vowed to continue firing rockets at Israel until a ceasefire is reached between Hamas and the Gaza Strip, which also receives support from Iran.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said the country’s air defenses intercepted many of the incoming Iranian missiles, but some landed in south-central Israel. The Israeli National Rescue Service said two people suffered minor injuries from the debris. In the West Bank, Palestinian officials said a Palestinian man was killed by a missile that fell near the town of Jericho, but it was unclear where the attack came from.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday vowed retaliation against Iran, saying Iran “made a big mistake tonight and Iran will pay the price.”
Israel and Iran have been fighting a shadow war for years, but they rarely clash directly.
Israel considers Iran its biggest enemy, citing Iran’s repeated demands for Israel’s destruction, support for Arab militants, and nuclear program. Iran denies Israeli accusations that it is developing nuclear weapons.
A senior Iranian official has warned that if the Jewish state takes any action against the territory, Iran will damage Israel’s entire infrastructure. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, head of Iran’s Armed Forces Joint Staff, said the Revolutionary Guards were prepared both defensively and offensively to repeat Tuesday’s attack “many times more intense.”
At least six people were killed in a shooting incident in Tel Aviv shortly before Iran fired a missile, police said, adding that two suspects who opened fire on a main street in the Jaffa district were also killed.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called the Iranian missile attack a “significant escalation,” but said that the U.S. military’s assistance in shooting down some of the incoming missiles would ultimately lead to an “We were defeated and had no effect,” he said. President Joe Biden said his administration has “full support” for Israel and is in “active discussions” with aides about what the appropriate response to Iran should be.
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday morning to address the escalating situation in the Middle East.
Iran also launched direct attacks on Israel in April. Few projectiles reached the target. Many were shot down by the U.S.-led coalition, while others apparently failed to launch or crashed in flight.
Iran said it launched the missiles on Tuesday in retaliation for attacks that killed Hezbollah, Hamas and Iranian military leaders. The article refers to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard General Abbas Nilforshan, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last week. He also mentioned Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran in July in a suspected Israeli attack.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel announced it had launched a limited ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling hit villages in southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah responded with a barrage of rockets at Israel. There was no immediate word on casualties.
Hezbollah has denied Israeli forces invading Lebanon, but the Israeli military also said it carried out dozens of covert ground raids in southern Lebanon about a year ago.
If true, it would be a further humiliation for Hezbollah, the Middle East’s most powerful armed group. Hezbollah is reeling from weeks of targeted attacks resulting in deaths. Nasrallah and several of his top commanders.
On Tuesday morning, Israel warned people in southern Lebanon to evacuate north of the Awari River, about 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border. zone declared by the United Nations It was intended to act as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after the 2006 war.
Border areas have been largely deserted over the past year as the two countries have engaged in gunfire. But the scope of the evacuation warning raised questions about how far Israel intends to send troops into Lebanon.
Questions arise over whether Israeli forces invaded
An Associated Press reporter saw Israeli troops operating near the border in armored trucks and helicopters circling overhead, but could not confirm that ground forces had entered Lebanon.
Ahead of Israel’s invasion announcement, U.S. officials said Monday that Israel had launched small ground air strikes inside Lebanon in preparation for a broader operation.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday that U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have seen sporadic incursions by Israeli forces, but “we have not witnessed a full-scale invasion.”
Israeli military spokesman Hagari said Israel has carried out dozens of small-scale attacks inside Lebanon since October 8, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel after the outbreak of the Gaza war. He said Israeli forces crossed the border to gather intelligence and destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons. Israel said Hezbollah was preparing its own October 7-style attack on Israel. It was not immediately possible to confirm these claims.
Hagari said Israel’s current ground offensive in Lebanon has limited objectives. “We are not going to Beirut,” he said.
israeli army Accused of lying to media in 2021 When it issued a statement suggesting that ground forces had entered Gaza. The military downplayed the incident as a misunderstanding, but well-informed military commentators in Israel said it was part of a plot to lure Hamas into the fight.
Israel hits more targets, Hezbollah fires rockets
The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired rockets into central Israel on Tuesday, setting off an air raid siren and wounding one man. Hezbollah announced that it fired a volley of new medium-range missiles at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv. Hezbollah also fired projectiles into Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without causing any injuries.
The Israeli statement could focus on ground operations in small areas along the border, rather than launching a large-scale invasion aimed at destroying Hezbollah, as it attempted against Hamas in Gaza. suggested that.
Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies backed by Iran, and each escalation of war raises fears of a broader war in the Middle East that could involve Iran and the United States. rushed military assets to the area To support Israel.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon in the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes.
Hezbollah is a well-trained militia believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last battle in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for the next showdown.
Recent airstrikes have wiped out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership; Explosion of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies Its membership in Hezbollah indicates that Israel has penetrated deep into the group’s upper echelons.
The group’s acting leader, Naim Qasem, said on Monday that Hezbollah commanders killed in recent weeks had already been replaced.
As fighting escalates, European countries have begun withdrawing their diplomats and citizens from Lebanon.
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Mr. Mourou reported from Beirut and Mr. Madani from Washington. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehaib in Beirut and Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed.
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