 "Smoke billows after an Israeli Air Force air strike on a village in southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel October 1, 2024. Image-Reuters")
The Israeli Military said Tuesday that Iran fired roughly 180 missiles at the country on Tuesday. Air raid sirens sounded across the country as residents were ordered to remain close to bomb shelters.
“A short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement. It said sirens were sounded across Israel, including in Jerusalem.
The orders to shelter in place were sent to Israelis’ mobile phones and announced on national television. TV stations reported sirens in parts of Jerusalem as well as central Israel.
The alerts were sounded after a day of rocket and missile attacks from Lebanon, and as Israel said it had begun limited ground operations in southern Lebanon.
It comes soon after the US warned that Iran is preparing to “imminently” launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel, and threatened that the Islamic Republic will have to face “severe consequences” should it take place.
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More Shorts“The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel,” AFP quoted a senior White House official as saying.
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack.”
The United States and other Western allies stepped in to help defend Israel against a combined Iranian missile and drone attack in April, which Tehran launched in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” added the US official.
Earlier, the military had announced that any ballistic missile strike from Iran was expected to be widespread and told the public to shelter in safe rooms in the event of an attack.
Iran has vowed to retaliate following attacks that killed the top leadership of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
The firing of missiles came after Israeli troops launched ground raids into Lebanon, in the biggest escalation of regional warfare since fighting erupted in Gaza a year ago.
With inputs from agencies.