(JERUSALEM) – Iran said it fired dozens of missiles into Israel on Tuesday, in a major escalation of the months-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militias Hezbollah and Hamas. There were no immediate reports of casualties as Israel ordered residents to head to shelters and as air raid sirens sounded across the country.
A series of explosions were heard that shook windows in Tel Aviv and near Jerusalem, although it was not immediately clear whether the sounds were from missiles being fired or intercepted by Israeli defenders, or both.
Israel and the United States have warned that there will be serious consequences if Israel is attacked by Iran, which supports the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored the attacks on Israel from the White House Situation Room.
Israeli army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the country’s air defense system is fully operational, detecting and preventing threats. “However, self-defense is not hermetic,” he said.
Asylum orders are sent to Israeli cell phones and announced on national television.
Iran took responsibility for launching a number of ballistic missiles at Israel. The claim was made in a statement read out on state television.
In its statement, Iran referred to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, both of whom were killed in an Israeli airstrike last week in Beirut. It also mentioned Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader who was killed in Tehran in an alleged attack by Israel in July. It warned that this attack should only be the “first wave,” without elaborating.
The announcement of the Israeli airstrikes came a day after Israel said it had begun a major operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire have hit villages in southern Lebanon where people have been ordered to evacuate, and Hezbollah fighters have responded by firing dozens of rockets into Israel. There was no immediate word on casualties as the fighting intensified and there were concerns about a wider regional war.
A senior White House official warned of “serious consequences” if Iran were to launch a ballistic missile against Israel. American ships and aircraft are stationed in the area to help Israel in the event of an attack by Iran. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Hagari also warned of the consequences if Iran fires missiles at Israel.
He urged the public to stay near sheltered areas. “The strike on Iran is not widespread,” he said.
Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel in April, but few of its projects reached their targets. Many were shot down by the US-led coalition, while others apparently failed during launch or crashed in flight.
While Hezbollah denied that the Israeli army had entered Lebanon, the Israeli army announced that it had also attacked a number of countries in the south of Lebanon going back almost a year. Israel has released a video showing its soldiers working in houses and tunnels where Hezbollah stored weapons.
If true, it would be another humiliating blow to Iran-backed Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the Middle East. Hezbollah has been reeling from targeted strikes that killed its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.
Read more: Column: How Hezbollah’s Nasrallah’s Death Brings Renewed Chance for Central Peace
On Tuesday morning, Israel warned people to evacuate to the north of the Awali River, about 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border and farther than the Litani River, which marks the northern edge of the UN-declared demilitarized zone. buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after their 2006 war.
The border region has seen a lot of violence over the past year as both sides have traded fire. But the scope of the withdrawal warning raised questions about how deeply Israel plans to send its forces into Lebanon.
An Israeli airstrike hit a building near Beirut on Tuesday, causing damage but no immediate reports of casualties. The strike appeared to hit an apartment 100 meters away from the Iranian Embassy.
Anticipating more rocket attacks from Hezbollah, the Israeli army announced new restrictions on public gatherings and closed beaches in northern and central Israel. The military also said they are calling for thousands of soldiers to work on the northern border.
Questions have been raised about whether Israeli forces have entered
An Associated Press reporter saw Israeli soldiers operating near the border with armored trucks, helicopters circling overhead, but did not confirm that ground forces had crossed into Lebanon.
Before the announcement of the Israeli attack, US officials on Monday said that Israel had described the small-scale ground attack in Lebanon as it prepares for a wider campaign.
Neither the Lebanese army nor the UN peacekeeping force patrolling southern Lebanon have confirmed that Israeli forces have entered. The UN said the border operation would be a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.
Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif dismissed what he called “false allegations” of raids in Israel. He said Hezbollah is ready to “confront directly the enemy forces that dare to enter Lebanon or attempt to enter.”
Hagari said the army was carrying out a “ground attack in the area” on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon to ensure that Israeli citizens could return to their homes in the north.
“We are not going to Beirut,” he said.
Read more: Column: Hezbollah and Israel Stare Into the Abyss
Israel has said it will continue to attack Hezbollah until it is safe for civilians to return. Hezbollah has vowed to continue firing rockets into Israel until a ceasefire in Gaza.
He said Israel had carried out a number of small attacks inside Lebanon since October 8, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after the outbreak of war in Gaza.
Hagari said Israeli soldiers crossed the border to collect information and destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons. Israel said Hezbollah was preparing for its October 7 attack on Israel. It was not immediately possible to verify those claims.
An Israeli military official said the soldiers involved in the latest attack were in an area along the border, concentrated in villages hundreds of meters (yards) from Israel. The official, who did not want to be named in accordance with military regulations, said there were no clashes with Hezbollah fighters.
The Israeli army was accused of lying to the media in 2021 when it issued a statement saying that the ground forces had entered Gaza. The military dismissed the incident as a misunderstanding, but experienced Israeli military analysts said it was part of a ploy to lure Hamas into the war.
Israel attacks multiple targets and Hezbollah fires rockets
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah fired rockets into central Israel, setting off an aerial siren and wounding a man. Hezbollah said it fired salvos of a new type of intermediate-range missile at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv.
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah also launched projectiles into Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without harming anyone.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel shortly after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel started the war in Gaza. Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes and the conflict has gradually escalated. In recent weeks Israel has unleashed a punitive wave of airstrikes on large parts of Lebanon.
Hagari said the UN Security Council resolution that ended Israel’s 2006 war with Hezbollah had not been implemented and that southern Lebanon was “infested with terrorists and Hezbollah weapons.”
That decision called for Hezbollah to withdraw from the area between the border and the Litani River and for Lebanese and UN troops to patrol the region. Israel says those and other provisions were not implemented. Lebanon has long accused Israel of violating some of the terms of the resolution.
An Israeli official says there are no plans to march in Beirut
Military statements indicated that Israel may focus its operations on a narrow strip along the border, rather than launch a major offensive aimed at destroying Hezbollah, as it has attempted in Gaza against Hamas.
Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies backed by Iran, and each escalation has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East that could draw in Iran and the United States, which has rushed military assets to the region to support Israel.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon in the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of whom are women and children, according to the Ministry of Health. Hundreds of thousands left their homes.
Hezbollah is a well-trained army, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of hostilities in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the last two decades preparing for their next showdown.
The recent airstrikes that killed the top leadership of Hezbollah and the explosion of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies of Hezbollah shows that Israel has penetrated deep into the elite group.
The acting leader of this group, Naim Kassem, in a statement that was shown on television on Monday, said that the leaders of Hezbollah who were killed in the past weeks have been replaced.
As the war escalates, European countries have begun withdrawing their embassies and citizens from Lebanon.
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Mroue reported from Beirut and Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed.
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