On Tuesday afternoon, Israel launched an attack with two hundred missiles on different regions of Israel in what is Tehran’s worst attack on the Jewish State ever carried out. Alarms warning of danger have gone off throughout the territory, including the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Some impacts were soon reported in inhabited areas, such as in a building north of Tel Aviv, according to local media, which brings the number of projectiles fired to around 200. This is the first time that the Iranian regime, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, has managed to overcome the anti-aircraft defenses and hit urban centers in Israel. The coup took place shortly after the United States warned that it was “imminent.”
The military first announced that there had been missile launches from Iran as sirens blared across the country. Military officials assure that they will do everything possible to keep the population safe and ask that security recommendations be obeyed in different areas of the country, according to a statement. “Be attentive and act exactly in accordance with the instructions,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari while instructions reached citizens through different media such as social networks and mobile phones. “When an alarm sounds, you must go to a protected area and wait there for further instructions,” he added without specifying possible objectives of the attack. The Israeli authorities announced in the afternoon the closure of the airspace, which was reopened after the Iranian attack.
Iran was ready to attack Israel with ballistic missiles, as a senior US Government official had warned shortly before, adding of the “serious consequences” if that were to happen. This attack represents a qualitative leap in the escalation of war that the Middle East has been experiencing since last October 7.
The American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declared that Washington actively supports Israeli defense preparations, a day after Israel began a “limited” invasion of southern Lebanon with the stated goal of destroying infrastructure that the militia Shiite Hezbollah, backed by Iran, uses to attack northern Israel.
A second senior official specified that the attack, which could occur in the next twelve hours, could reach the levels of aggression of April 12 and 13, when Iran launched more than two hundred drones and cruise missiles against Israel in retaliation against the bombing of a consular compound in Damascus. That unprecedented assault left no people dead and its damage was limited: most of the projectiles were shot down by a coalition led by the United States.
According to the Axios website, which cites a Western source, on this occasion Iran was planning to use ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel in twelve minutes, something that apparently happened due to the speed of the impacts. Six months ago it used cruise missiles, which are slower and give the attacked country more time to intercept them.
Immediately after Israel announced its invasion of southern Lebanon late on Monday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that he had spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, with whom he agrees on the need to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure. Austin has also declared Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security, and has warned Tehran against any temptation of a direct attack against that allied country, while tensions in the region are at their worst since the beginning of the war. Gaza a year ago.
“The Secretary and Minister Gallant addressed the serious consequences for Iran in the event that Iran decides to launch a direct military attack against Israel,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
As a deterrent measure, the United States announced the sending of several thousand more soldiers to the Middle East to reinforce the troops it already has stationed there. The deployment will bring the number of US military personnel deployed in the area to nearly 43,000. The Pentagon will also double the F-16, F-15 and F-22 fighter aircraft it has in the region. Furthermore, the aircraft carrier was already heading towards the Mediterranean Harry Truman, while the Abraham Lincoln has extended the mission that keeps him deployed in the Gulf of Oman by one month.
Maximum alert in Israel
In a videotaped statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured shortly before the missile launch from Iran that his country faces “serious challenges” in confronting Iran, but he made no specific mention of a possible missile launch.
Israel was placed on maximum alert after the US warning, although, at first, they did not detect direct threats, according to the army. The tension that is being experienced is reminiscent of that night of April 12 to 13, when Tehran carried out its attack with missiles and drones against Israel, although then the arrival of the rockets and drones in Israeli territory was announced several hours later.
The Israeli military spokesman had warned that “Iranian fire against the State of Israel will have consequences.” Gallant and the head of the Armed Forces, General Herzi Halevi, are, in any case, closely following events, according to ministerial sources.
The US Embassy in Israel had issued a “high-level alert to its employees in Israel and the Palestinian territories” following the rise in tension “urging them to return home and be prepared to enter a bomb shelter.” The order is similar to the one issued that April night.
The fear of a response to Israel from Iran hangs over the region, especially since the top leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, was assassinated in Tehran on July 31, in an operation that, as on other occasions, Israel has never recognized, although it bears his seal. Whether the ayatollah regime carries out its threat is something that has been put back on the table in a more plausible way in recent days following the attacks suffered by Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the assassination of its leader, Hasan Nasrallah.
