Haifa, Israel – Iran launched dozens of missiles toward Israel on Tuesday in what it said was a response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others – potentially taking the region closer to a wider conflict.
Dozens of missiles were seen piercing through the skies as sirens blasted across the country. At least one person was killed and several were injured during the attack, according to the Israeli military.
The IDF’s international spokesman Nadav Shoshani told CNN’s Jake Tapper that one Palestinian was killed in Jericho as a result of the attacks.
Israel has vowed to respond to the attack – sparking worries among its allies that the conflict in the Middle East could escalate further.
Speaking hours after the assault, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it. The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it estimated that Iran fired 180 “projectiles” at the country. It said it intercepted many of the missiles, although some landed on the ground in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said later on Tuesday that the attack by Iran was “effectively defeated.”
While the attack was over relatively quickly, it is clear that it has further raised the stakes in what is already an extremely tense moment. World leaders have long warned the conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon could spiral into a wider regional war. All eyes will now be on how Israel responds.
US President Joe Biden said the United States was “fully supportive” of Israel. But he said his administration was still discussing with Israel what kind of response would be appropriate.
“We’re going to get all the data straight, we’re in constant contact with the Israeli government and our counterparts and that remains to be seen,” he said.
Israel is already fighting on two fronts. It has been at war with Hamas in Gaza since the deadly October 7 terrorist attack by the group on southern Israel. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with much of the strip reduced to rubble.
And while Israel and Hezbollah have been trading cross-border fire for much of the past year, Iran launched the barrage on Tuesday just hours after Israel announced it launched a “limited and localized” ground operation in Lebanon. Sending Israeli troops into Lebanon would have been seen as a major escalation by Iran.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted Israel in response to the killing of Nasrallah and others, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
