'This must stop': Iran attack on Israel sparks global condemnation; Hamas hails 'heroic' move

Shortly after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel in response to the killings of Iran-backed militant leaders, world leaders on Tuesday urged Iran and Israel to step back from the brink and demanded an immediate ceasefire.

France and Germany expressed concern about an “escalation” in the Middle East and demanded that Iran must end its missile attack on Israel immediately.

“I am speaking now, it is 7.16 pm, at a time when the situation is worsening in the Near and Middle East, with an escalation and an attack, and a direct conflict that seems to be underway between Iran and Israel,” said French Prime Minister Michel Barnier in parliament, adding that the situation was “extremely serious”.

Germany expressed fears that the escalation in the fighting could fuel further conflict.

“Israel is currently being attacked with missiles by Iran. I condemn the ongoing attack in the strongest possible terms,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock posted on X, adding that “Iran must stop the attack immediately” as it was “leading the region further towards the abyss”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East”, adding in a statement: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”.

During a call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, Starmer also “expressed the UK’s steadfast commitment to Israeli security and the protection of civilians”, AFP quoted from a readout of the call from Starmer’s office.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for an end to the “spiral of violence” blighting the Middle East, while the foreign minister demanded “restraint”.

“The Spanish government condemns Iran’s attack against Israel and asks that the spiral of violence ends,” Sanchez said on social media platform X.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told the Cadena Ser radio station that Madrid was issuing “a new call to all the actors, obviously including Israel, to show restraint and not escalation”.

Slamming the attack, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters in Ottawa, “We’ve all seen the attacks by Iran against Israel, and we condemn them unequivocally,” adding that they “will only serve to further destabilise the region, and must stop”.

Praising the ‘heroic’ Iran attack on Israel, Hamas said the attack was was “in revenge for the blood of our heroic martyrs”.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) blesses the heroic rocket launches carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran against wide areas of our occupied lands,” Hamas said in a statement.

Iraq factions, meanwhile, threatened to target US forces if Iran was attacked.

Iran missile attack at Israel on Tuesday sent Israelis to shelters and prompting alarm across the region.

“A short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said in a statement, as sirens sounded across Israel.

After about an hour, the military announced there was no longer a threat and “it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country”, with a “large number” of Iranian missiles intercepted.

Reports said between 150 and 200 missiles had been fired in the attack.

It was Iran’s second on Israel after a missile and drone attack in April in response to a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

AFP reported hearing explosions over Jerusalem, while rescuers said two people were lightly injured by shrapnel in central Israel.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said the Islamic republic had launched “a missile attack on Tel Aviv”, Israel’s commercial hub.

Its Revolutionary Guards Corps said the attack was in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing widely blamed on Israel.

Israeli airspace was closed with all flights diverted, a spokesman for the airport authority said.

Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, which lie between Iran and Israel, closed their airspace too.

As the missiles made their way to Israel from the east, blasts were heard over the Jordanian capital Amman, as Israel’s allies moved to intercept them, an AFP correspondent said.

Jordan said its air defences responded to missiles and drones.

US President Joe Biden ordered the military to “aid Israel’s defence” and shoot down Iranian missiles, the White House said.

While Iran-backed groups across the region had already been drawn into the Gaza war, sparked by Palestinian group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Tehran had largely refrained from direct attacks on its regional foe.

With inputs from agencies