Israel Vows To Retaliate Following Iran’s Launching Of Over 180 Missiles

Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at targets across Israel in a dramatic intensification of a conflict that appeared to be escalating out of control.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his security cabinet late on Tuesday. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies … They will understand.”

The unprecedented Iranian salvo of more than 180 ballistic missiles came less than 24 hours after the Israeli prime minister ordered the largest ground incursion into southern Lebanon in a generation.

Guardian reporters in Jerusalem witnessed dozens of missiles flying overhead towards Israel’s main coastal cities in a huge attack just after 7.30pm, with the engines of the rockets clearly visible from below.

Air sirens sounded across Israel as the missiles, many of them intercepted by Israeli air defenses, streaked across the night sky in trails of red and gold. Other missiles, still intact, appeared to continue on towards the coast and central Israel to the sound of distant explosions.

Minutes before Iran began the strike, at least two gunmen in the Israeli seaside city of Jaffa launched an attack that killed six and wounded 10, sowing further concerns that the rising cycle of violence could lead to terror attacks inside Israel.

Israel’s military said it was not aware of any injuries from the missile attacks, but the Palestinian civil defence authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank said a man was killed near Jericho and falling rocket debris had caused damage and started fires in the area.

Iran said it launched the missiles toward three Israeli military bases as retaliation for a series of Israeli strikes in Lebanon against its proxy Hezbollah that has devastated the southern suburbs of Beirut, the capital, as well as villages in the country’s south.

The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed by an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday, dealing a heavy blow to the militant group.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, hailed the attack as “a decisive response to the aggression of the Zionist regime”, adding: “Let Netanyahu know that Iran is not a belligerent, but it stands firmly against any threat … Do not enter into a conflict with Iran.”

The order to launch missiles at Israel was made by the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, senior Iranian officials told Reuters.

Late on Tuesday, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Iran’s action was “concluded unless Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation”. In a statement on X, he said: “Israel’s enablers now have a heightened responsibility to rein in the warmongers in Tel Aviv instead of getting involved in their folly.”

Diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict were unravelling quickly as the tit-for-tat attacks threatened to set the Middle East alight less than one week after the US and France announced an effort to broker a 21-day ceasefire between the two sides.

Missile attack on Israel signals that widely feared regional conflict has ignited

World leaders called for restraint, with the UN secretary general, António Guterres, condemning “escalation after escalation” in the region.

“This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,” he said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the Iranian attack as serious and vowed to retaliate. The US also warned that Iran would face consequences for launching the strike, raising the spectre of a direct confrontation between Tehran and Washington.