Iran carries out a massive missile attack on Israel, expanding the Middle East conflict

Iran unleashed a major airstrike targeting sites across Israel on Tuesday night, while Israel’s air defenses shot down most of the 180 incoming missiles, according to Israeli officials.

The Iranian attack marked the latest escalation in fighting that now stretches into several countries in the region, with warnings that more fighting is likely. Israel found itself fighting on three separate fronts on Tuesday — with Hamas in Gaza to the south, with Hezbollah in Lebanon to the north and with the Iranian missile strike from the east.

Air raid sirens wailed, explosions lit up the nighttime sky and loud booms echoed throughout the country as Israeli defenses fired on the Iranian missiles. Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said most Iranian missiles were intercepted, though a small number crashed into central and southern Israel.

No Israeli deaths were reported in the airstrike, though the attacks caused some limited damage. Palestinian officials said a Palestinian man was killed by falling debris in the West Bank. Iran fired a large barrage of missiles and drones against Israel back in April. Almost all those weapons were also shot down, and no Israelis were killed in that attack either.

After Tuesday’s strike, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Security Cabinet, “Iran made a big mistake this evening, and it will pay for it.” He went on to add, “Whoever attacks us, we will attack them.”

In Washington, President Biden said, “Based on what we know now, the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective.” The president added, “Make no mistake. The United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.”

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said two U.S. destroyers fired a total of 12 interceptors at Iranian missiles as they headed to Israel. He said the U.S. Defense Department was still assessing whether the interceptors hit their targets.

In a separate development, two gunmen shot dead six people and injured 12 in an attack on a light-rail train in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, according to Israeli authorities. Israeli police said they then shot dead the two gunmen at the scene. Israeli media reports described the gunmen as Palestinians from Hebron in the West Bank.

Escalating regional violence

The Iranian strikes come in the wake of an escalating Israeli operation against the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, including a ground campaign launched Monday. Israel is attempting to greatly weaken the group, which has been trained and armed by Iran for four decades.

Iran claimed the missile attack was in response to several recent killings. They include the assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, killed last Friday in an airstrike in Beirut; the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, killed in Iran’s capital, Tehran, in July; and the earlier death of an Iranian military commander.

Iran’s mission at the United Nations said in a statement on the social media platform X that Iran carried out a “legal, rational, and legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime.” The statement added that “should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue.”

Israel’s government had warned the public that an attack was coming, and civilians took to bomb shelters nationwide before and during the strike. A short while later, Israelis received another official notice saying they could come out of the shelters. Meanwhile, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have been put under tight restrictions, including new limits on gatherings in any urban centers.

People take cover on the side of a freeway in Shoresh, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, on Tuesday as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles fired from Iran.

Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

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Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Iran’s strike linked to wider regional conflict

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel last Oct. 8 — one day after Hamas launched a major attack into southern Israel. Hezbollah describes its effort as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Over the past year, Israel and Hezbollah have been firing almost every day across the Israel-Lebanon border. But the shooting remained at a relatively low level until Israel unleashed a much larger campaign two weeks ago.

Since then, Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people and have forced many Lebanese civilians to flee their homes, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The strikes have targeted Hezbollah and its weapons, killing Nasrallah and several other top officials, as well as many civilians.

Back in April, an Israeli strike killed several leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Damascus, Syria.

Iran responded by attacking Israel with more than 300 drones and missiles, but nearly all were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States. A few missiles did cause some damage. A 7-year-old girl was severely injured and a military base in southern Israel suffered minor damage, according to Israeli officials.

Hadeel Al-Shalchi reported from Tel Aviv. Greg Myre reported from Washington, D.C.