Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation for Iran’s missile attack against Israel, saying Tehran would “pay for it.”
“The regime of Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves,” Netanyahu said in a statement delivered shortly after the attack, which came on the eve Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. “They will understand. We will stand by the rule we established: Whoever attacks, we will attack them.”
Iran launched at least 180 ballistic missiles toward Israel Tuesday evening, prompting alerts for people to take shelter across the country. The missiles were seen entering Israeli airspace from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Abdel Kareem Hana / AP
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said many of the missiles were intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems, though some landed in southern and central Israel.
The U.S. helped Israel defend against Iran’s attack. In a statement late Tuesday night, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said “U.S. forces in the Middle East intercepted multiple missiles launched by Iran toward Israel,” calling it an “outrageous act of aggression by Iran.”
About 45 minutes after the attack began, and after multiple waves of interceptions, people were given the all-clear to leave their shelters.
Tsafrir Abayov / AP
Rescue services in Israel said two people were wounded by shrapnel, though their wounds were not serious. Palestinian authorities in the West Bank said one Palestinian man was killed by a missile that landed in Jericho, though it wasn’t clear where the missile came from, The Associated Press reported.Â
Iran said the barrage of missiles was its response to Israeli strikes against its proxy group, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.
Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Beirut in recent days, killing the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and causing a million people in Lebanon to be displaced from their homes, according to Lebanon’s prime minister. Earlier on Tuesday, Israel said it had also launched a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon.
It was unclear on Wednesday what kind of response to the Iranian missile attack Israel was planning to carry out, but concern was growing that it could spark a wider war in the region.
Iran’s armed forces joint chief, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, said any further retaliatory actions against Iran would be met with attacks on Israeli infrastructure.
“If [Israel]… wants to continue these crimes or wants to do anything against our sovereignty and territorial integrity, tonight’s operation will be repeated several times stronger and all their infrastructure will be targeted,” Bagheri said, according to CBS News partner network BBC News.
