Iran launches missile attack on Israel, but Israeli military says no casualties reported

Sirens blared throughout Israel and loud booms have been heard late Tuesday after Iran launched a missile assault on the nation. A U.S. protection official stated america intercepted a number of the missiles to assist defend Israel.

Israeli and American officers stated practically 200 missiles have been fired in direction of Israeli territory from Iran, however there have been no reviews of Israeli civilian deaths; nonetheless, officers stated they have been nonetheless assessing the impression of the assault. 

“For the reason that starting of the Iranian missile assault at 19:31 IDT, IDF techniques have recognized roughly 180 missiles fired in direction of Israeli territory from Iran,” the Israeli army stated.

U.S. Nationwide Safety Adviser Jake Sullivan stated in a information convention from the White Home that American Naval destroyers joined Israel “in firing interceptors to shoot down inbound missiles.”

In Tel Aviv, the missiles appeared to come back in waves, each beginning with sirens blaring out, loud booms, after which silence till the following blaring of sirens started.

“The explosions you hear originate from interceptions or falls [of missiles]. The air protection system detects and intercepts threats on a regular basis,” the Israeli army stated.

An Israeli safety official stated most missiles have been intercepted “in cooperation” with the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, however that “a number of hits have been recognized, and the harm is being assessed.”

In Jerusalem, retired trauma surgeon Invoice Schecter from San Francisco stated he received an alarm on his cellphone and went into the shelter in his condo constructing.

“We heard a number of booms. I think it was the Iron Dome capturing down missiles,” Schechter stated, referring to Israel’s protection techniques. “There have been two waves. One the place we heard booms. Then it went silent and we got here out. Then we heard one other collection of booms and needed to return to the bomb shelter.”

After about 45 minutes, the IDF stated it was protected for individuals throughout Israel to go away shelters, and spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated the army didn’t “establish any extra aerial threats from Iran.” 

Hagari stated Israel’s missile protection techniques had carried out “numerous interceptions” and, whereas a couple of of the Iranian weapons did land and assessments have been ongoing, the IDF was “not conscious of any casualties.” 

Sullivan stated President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored the assault and the response from the White Home State of affairs Room. 

He stated the U.S. didn’t know of any deaths in Israel however that they have been monitoring a report of a Palestinian civilian demise in Jericho within the West Financial institution. 

“In brief, primarily based on what we all know at this level, this assault seems to have been defeated and ineffective,” Sullivan stated. 

Iran’s mission to the United Nations issued a press release that confirmed the assault on Israel and indicated that its direct assault was over.

“Iran’s authorized, rational, and bonafide response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime — which concerned focusing on Iranian nationals and pursuits and infringing upon the nationwide sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran — has been duly carried out,” the Iranian assertion stated. Iran helps many proxy teams within the area, and it wasn’t clear whether or not any of these teams would possibly nonetheless launch extra assaults on Israel after the Iranian missile salvo.

Iranian state tv claimed victory after the assault, saying many missiles had made it by means of Israel’s protection techniques and hit their targets, although there was little proof to help the claims.

Whereas Iran’s missiles appeared to have claimed no lives, Israeli police stated two gunmen opened fireplace on members of the general public on a highway in Tel Aviv not lengthy earlier than the rockets have been fired. The Related Press cited police as saying six individuals have been killed within the assault earlier than the 2 suspects have been killed.

The explosions from the Iranian missile assault rang out simply hours after a senior White Home official informed CBS Information the U.S. had indications that Iran was making ready to launch a ballistic missile assault on Israel. Israeli officers stated that warning was shared with them.

Iran final fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel in April, in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria’s capital, which killed various senior Iranian army commanders.  

Iran launched greater than 300 missiles and drones at Israel in that April assault, however Hagari stated on the time that nearly the entire weapons have been intercepted earlier than getting into Israeli territory, and he reported solely minor harm to at least one army base from the few missiles that did land within the nation. One 10-year-old woman was “severely injured by shrapnel” from an intercepted missile, however the IDF reported no extra casualties.

U.S. officers informed CBS Information earlier Tuesday that Iran had been able to strike Israel once more on brief discover since early August, when Tehran threatened to retaliate for the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

An Iranian diplomatic supply informed CBS Information on Tuesday that the nation’s management was “underneath heavy stress to take motion” in opposition to Israel amid the escalating assaults on its shut ally Hezbollah, however they believed any Iranian strike on Israel could be restricted in scope. Iran framed its missile assault on Israel as a response to not Israel’s operations in opposition to Hezbollah, however to its assassination of senior Iranian army figures earlier within the 12 months.

The Iranian assault got here a day after Israel introduced the start of “restricted, localized, and focused floor raids” in opposition to the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

President Biden has referred to as repeatedly for a cease-fire amid weeks of escalating fireplace between Israel and Hezbollah over the southern Lebanon border. Officers on the White Home, State Division and Pentagon have all made clear the dangers of an all-out battle between Israel and the well-armed Iranian proxy group in Lebanon, warning that it may spiral right into a broad regional battle.

On Sept. 30, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh informed reporters that various American models already within the Center East would have their deployments prolonged, and the forces because of exchange them would as an alternative overlap. That features F-16, F-15E, A-10 and F-22 fighter plane and the personnel who function the planes, she stated, amounting to a rise of an “extra few thousand” U.S. troops within the area.

U.S. protection officers informed CBS Information Tuesday that there have been extra U.S. army capabilities within the area now, together with 40,000 American troops, than there have been when Iran launched its missile assault on Israel in April.

Iran backs a variety of teams throughout the area, together with Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Tehran refers to those teams as a “resistance entrance” in opposition to Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory, whereas Israel refers to it as an axis of evil with the ideological aim of wiping the Jewish state off the map.

Hezbollah calls its rocket and drone assaults on Israel a reputable help and protection of Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution, and the Houthis have claimed the identical rational for his or her months-long focusing on of economic and army vessels within the Purple Sea.

One of many greatest dangers for the U.S. is that Iran’s proxy teams — together with smaller militias primarily based in Iraq and Syria — will goal American forces within the area in retaliation for Washington’s help of Israel. They’ve already accomplished so since Oct. 7, firing rockets and drones at U.S. bases greater than 165 instances. A lot of the assaults trigger little to no harm, however a January drone assault on a U.S. outpost in Jordan, claimed by an Iran-backed group in Iraq, killed three U.S. troops and wounded dozens.

Earlier than the Iranian missile assault, the IDF tightened home safety precautions throughout a lot of the nation on Tuesday. Among the many new measures introduced by the IDF’s Homefront Command have been limits on the variety of individuals permitted to collect in public throughout northern Israel, close to the Lebanon border.

Emmet Lyons,

Eleanor Watson,

Charlie D’Agata and

Margaret Brennan

contributed to this report.

Extra