Iran launches missile attack on Israel to kill Nasrallah

Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for Israel’s recent killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian commanders in Lebanon.

The attack came shortly after Israel deployed ground forces to southern Lebanon and escalated its attacks on the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Most of the approximately 200 missiles were intercepted by Israeli and US defense forces, and there were no confirmed deaths in Israel from the attack.

“In response to the martyrdom of Haniya Martyr, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah Martyr and Nilforoushan Martyr, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories,” the Iranian government said. Revolutionary Guards The statement came after missiles began appearing in the skies over Israel.

“If the Zionist regime responds to Iranian operations, it will face a devastating attack,” the Iranian paramilitary group said.

Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was killed along with Nasrallah in an Israeli bombing in Beirut last Friday.

Ismail Haniyeh, a political commander for the terrorist organization Hamas, was killed in an Israeli military attack on Iran’s capital Tehran in July. Israel has been waging a brutal war against Hamas since Hamas launched a terrorist attack against Israel from Gaza on October 7.

Israeli security officials said the Israel Defense Forces had reported several missile strikes and the damage was being investigated.

Israeli authorities said there were only two reports of minor injuries from debris from the missile attack in the Tel Aviv area. Minor injuries were also reported across Israel involving people who were moved to safety.

One Palestinian civilian death was reported in the West Bank city of Jericho.

“The U.S. military worked closely with the Israel Defense Forces to protect Israel from this attack,” Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security adviser, told reporters at the White House.

“The Navy destroyer joined Israeli air defenses and launched interceptors to shoot down the incoming missile,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan also said: “Clearly this is a significant escalation by Iran.”

“We will now consider what the appropriate next steps are to ensure America’s interests first and foremost, and then to promote stability as much as possible,” he said.

The IDF announced shortly after 1:30 p.m. ET that citizens were allowed to leave protected spaces across the country.

President Joe Biden met with Vice President Kamala Harris and national security officials Tuesday afternoon to discuss the attack. the white house said.

In a post on social media site ” he said.

“They also reviewed preparations to protect U.S. military personnel in the region.”

US Embassy in Jerusalem Prior to the attack, all U.S. government personnel and their families in Israel were instructed to “shelter in place until further notice.”

“Security incidents such as mortar and rocket launches and UAS intrusions into unmanned aircraft systems frequently occur without warning and require continued vigilance for U.S. citizens,” the embassy said in the same notice. “It’s a reminder to raise awareness of sexual and personal safety.”

“The security environment remains complex and can change rapidly in response to political developments and recent events,” the notice said.

The Iranian attack came a day after Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon as part of the Hezbollah offensive.

The number of Israeli troops entering Lebanon is “in the low hundreds,” an Israeli official told NBC News.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the attack’s killing of Nasrallah and a senior Revolutionary Guards commander “will not go unsolved.”

Arraguchi also said the United States is “complicit in this crime.”

In April, after an Israeli airstrike in Syria killed two of Iran’s top commanders, Iran launched an attack on Israel that included more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles.

Most of the missiles and drones were shot down by Israeli and US forces.