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(TJV/JNS)
Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, forcing the entire civilian population of the Jewish state to be ordered into bomb shelters, the Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday night.
The Islamic Republic fired more than 180 missiles, according to updated reports in Israeli media. No drones were launched during the assault.
UPDATE: At 8:26 p.m., the IDF sent out phone alerts saying that at this stage, everyone could leave their protected spaces.
A Palestinian worker from Gaza was reportedly killed as a result of fragments of rockets that fell in the city of Jericho in the West Bank, according to Israeli media.
Magen David Adom’s CEO Eli Bin announced that there was a direct hit to a building in north Tel Aviv on George Wise Street. MDA confirmed that three people had been wounded by falls in Tel Aviv.
At 8:26 p.m., the IDF’s Home Front Command sent out phone alerts saying that at this stage, everyone could leave their protected spaces.
A few minutes later, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman, announced there were no further threats from Iran at the present time.
“We are on heightened alert on defense and offensive, we will protect the citizens of Israel. This [missile] fire will have consequences. We have plans, and we will act in the time and place that we choose,” he vowed.
Earlier, the IDF stated, “A short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel. You are instructed to remain alert and precisely follow the Home Front Command’s instructions.”
The IDF wrote on X/Twitter that “all Israeli civilians” are sheltering from the attack.
Hagari asked Israelis to remain vigilant.
“The air-defense system is fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats wherever necessary, even at this moment,” he said. “However, the defense is not hermetic.”
Jerusalem informed Washington that an attack from Iran was imminent earlier on Tuesday. A direct Iranian attack on Israel will carry “severe consequences” for the Islamic Republic, a senior White House official told JNS.
The targets of the Iranian attack were believed to be three Israeli Air Force bases, as well as an IDF military intelligence headquarters just north of Tel Aviv, which was evacuated on Tuesday, according to three Israeli officials cited by The New York Times.
The United States Embassy in Jerusalem reportedly sent its employees home on Tuesday afternoon and told them to be prepared to enter bomb shelters, the first such order given in recent months.
In April, Iran conducted its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, launching some 300 missiles and drones, the vast majority of which were shot down in a multinational effort. It said it attacked in retaliation for an April 1 strike that killed a top Iranian general in Damascus.
In recent months, Iran and its allies have vowed to avenge the alleged Israeli killing in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s “political” bureau, and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, slain by Israel in a targeted killing in Beirut on Sept. 27.
Iranian state media retracted reports on Tuesday night that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would lead Friday prayer in Tehran this week and deliver a sermon on the war with the Jewish state.
Khamenei remained in a secure location after the attack on Israel, a senior Iranian official told the Reuters press agency. He was moved to a secure location after the death of Nasrallah last week.
In anticipation of the threat, the IDF Home Front issued an unusual warning to the entire Tel Aviv region, instructing residents to seek shelter even before sirens were activated. The IDF also intercepted a long-range rocket launched by Hezbollah targeting the Tel Aviv area, but residents have been advised to remain near their bomb shelters due to the ongoing threat.
This attack is expected to surpass Iran’s previous assault in April, which involved 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones, and numerous cruise missiles. The latest confrontation follows weeks of IDF strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, significantly weakening the Iranian-backed group and ultimately resulting in Nasrallah’s assassination. As tensions continue to rise, the U.S. Embassy has urged its staff and families to shelter in place, while Israel’s intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv has been evacuated in anticipation of a potential strike.
