IDF vows to strike heavily across Middle East after Iranian assault

Hamas said on Tuesday it praises Iranian missile strikes avenging deaths of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan. 

In a statement on Telegram, it said, "We, in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), congratulate the heroic missile launching operation carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, on large areas of our occupied territories, in response to the occupation’s ongoing crimes against the peoples of the region, and in revenge for the blood of our nation’s heroic martyrs; the martyr Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the martyr His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the martyr Major General Abbas Nilforoushan."

The statement continued: "We affirm that this honorable Iranian response is a strong message to the Zionist enemy and its fascist government, on the path to deterring them and curbing their terrorism, as their crimes, arrogance, and violations of international laws and humanitarian norms have crossed all limits."

Israeli political leaders reacted to what they called a "declaration of war" by Iran on Tuesday night, as the Islamic Republic fired some 180 ballistic missiles into Israel as part of a massive aerial barrage.

National Unity MK Benny Gantz said, "The state of Israel has capabilities that were developed for years to strike Iran, and the government has [our] full backing to act with force and determination."

Democrats chairman Yair Golan said that the missile attack was a "declaration of war" but said that Israel should not be hasty. 

Labor party leader Yair Golan attends a faction meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on July 22, 2024. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Israel should "ensure that an attack against Iran should be coordinated with the Americans and regional forces in order for the response to be decisive, precise, and effective," Golan said.

IDF identified and shot at a group of suspects observed moving toward Israeli forces operating in central Gaza, the IDF said Tuesday night.

There were no casualties among Israeli forces, and the incident is under control, the IDF said.

US President Joe Biden pledged his support for Israel after American and Israeli forces successfully defended Israel against a massive missile attack from Iran Tuesday night that targeted most of the country.

"At my direction, the United States military actively supported the defense of Israel,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.”

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan echoed the same message as he warned Iran “There will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case,”
They spoke after the second direct Iranian attack on Israel, one day before the start of the Jewish New Year. It followed the April attack days before Passover.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj.-Gen. Pat Ryder said this attack was “about twice as large in terms of the number of ballistic missiles that they launched” when compared to April.

US President Joe Biden speaking at the UN, September 24, 2024. (credit: PERRY BINDELGLASS)

Iran warned it would strike Israel again and hit American targets if any reprisal action was taken against it. Armed Iranian-aligned groups in Iraq warned that US bases there could be a target.

Stronger retaliatory attacks

“Should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations wrote on X.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the order to launch missiles at Israel was made by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei remains in a secure location, the senior official added.

In an unusual move, Khamenei posted a warning message to Israel in Hebrew on his X account after the attack, stressing that reprisal attacks against it would only grow stronger.

Each one “will become stronger and more painful on the worn and rotting body of the Zionist regime,” Khamenei said.

The United States had warned Israel of the incoming attack, which Iran said was in retaliation for the IDF’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah two weeks ago and the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran over the summer. Israel is widely believed to have been responsible for Haniyeh’s killing but has not taken credit.

The attack followed Israel’s intense bombardment of military targets in Lebanon belonging to the Iranian proxy group in the last weeks.

On Monday night, its ground troops entered southern Lebanon for the first time since the Second Lebanon War in 2006 in an attempt to push Hezbollah away from its border area.

The US warned Israel on Tuesday that an attack was imminent. US President Joe Biden posted on X that he and Vice President Kamala Harris had “convened our national security team to discuss” the attack and US efforts to defend Israel and American personnel in the region.

Sullivan told reporters that “US naval destroyers joined Israeli air defense units in firing interceptors to shoot down” some 200 “inbound missiles.”

Biden and Harris “monitored the attack and the response from the White House Situation Room,” he said.
“We are still working with the IDF and the authorities in Israel to assess the impact of the attack,” Sullivan said adding that US officials were holding consultations with their Israeli counterparts.

Prior to the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s axis of evil.

“I said yesterday that these are days of great achievements and great challenges,” Netanyahu explained. “Great achievements because we thwarted Nasrallah and his top command and Hezbollah’s plan to occupy the Galilee.”
The elimination of the threat from Hezbollah is an essential step in returning the over 60,000 residents to their homes on the northern border, he explained.

“We are determined” to do this, Netanyahu stated.

At the same time, he called on Israelis to do two things – to obey Home Front Command directives and, second, “to stand together.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

Israel’s Home Front Command deployed its new "Personal Message" missile alert system for the first time under fire Tuesday evening, following an unprecedented missile barrage from Iran. The system, based on Cell Broadcast technology, sends emergency messages directly to mobile phones in targeted areas without requiring users to download an app or register.

Unveiled in August, the system became operational during the massive missile attack from Iran, which saw over 200 missiles launched toward Israel. Tehran issued a stern warning, stating: "If the Zionist regime responds, it will face heavy attacks."

The "Personal Message" system greatly enhances Israel’s emergency readiness by providing precise, real-time alerts. Its independence from cellular networks and GPS means that it can continue to deliver life-saving instructions swiftly during crises, ensuring citizens have the best chance to respond to missile threats effectively.

How it works

The alert system uses Cell Broadcast technology, a long-established method that transmits messages via cellular antennas, similar to how FM radio works. This allows for messages to be broadcast to every mobile device in a defined area—whether it’s an entire city or just a specific neighborhood—without the need for individual phone numbers. The alerts are accompanied by a distinct sound to ensure they stand out from regular notifications.

New emergency alert is received on phones of Israeli residents during the Iran attack (credit: Yinon Ben Shushan)

While "Personal Message" does not replace the Home Front Command app or the country’s air raid sirens, it acts as an additional layer in Israel's broader alert system. The technology is already widely used around the world for weather warnings, natural disasters, and terror threats.

Amid the missile barrage, disruptions also affected Israel’s public transportation and air travel. Ben Gurion Airport remains operational, albeit with some delays due to flight cancellations from European airlines.

Iran’s massive ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1 is part of the Tehran regime’s attempt to make these types of attacks a new normal. They carried out a large attack in April and threatened another attack in August. This has led Israel into crisis each time as people must be prepared to go to shelters, and activities are canceled.

 We have become too used to the idea that hundreds of Iranian missiles can fly through the sky of Israel. Because Israel has air defenses, these kinds of unprecedented attacks, which would usually mark the beginning of a major war, are portrayed as acceptable. Media abroad portrays them as Iran trying to “retaliate” or “even the score” or “deter” Israel. This is a false attempt to downplay the Iranian threat.

Iran has shown in its recent attack that it can launch 180 ballistic missiles. The previous time, in April, it used more drones than missiles. Now, it is relying on the missiles, and it has also shown it can target certain areas of Israel with them. This is a major threat to the region. It cannot go unanswered. What that means is that Iran has for too long assumed a kind of privilege where it expected to be appeased. It expects that there will be no response. Iran’s regime assumes it can send millions of Israelis to shelters and that life in Tehran will continue as normal.

 Iran has been doing this for years. It attacked Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq energy facility in 2019 using drones and cruise missiles. It also carried out ballistic missile attacks on Erbil and other areas in the Kurdistan region of Iraq over the last several years. Iran has also launched ballistic missiles at Syria and Pakistan in January. It also attacked US forces at the Asad base in Iraq using ballistic missiles in 2020. Notice the pattern.

A person uses a phone on the ground, on the day Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Tel Aviv, Israel, October 1, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Why not Iran?

Iran has been doing this more and more, and it always gets away with it. No one launches ballistic missiles at Iran. Iranians don’t have to flee to shelters. Iran’s regime leaders don’t have to go to a bunker. Iran feels complete privilege to do whatever it wants. It has attacked ships in the Persian Gulf; it has encouraged Hamas’ genocidal attack on October 7; it has armed Hezbollah; and it has flooded Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon with arms for proxy militias. The regime is a threat to the region and the world.

Iran’s attack on Israel illustrates its growing threat. This is not an acceptable trend. I saw the attack from my balcony while my family sheltered. I had to rush home when Israel’s Home Front Command said that there was a security threat. The threat caused the whole country to go to shelters.

From my balcony, I could see the ballistic missiles flying over Jerusalem. Many seemed headed to the South. Some were intercepted. Sirens sounded across Jerusalem, those haunting sirens that cause us all anxiety. While it seems the missile threat did not cause much damage and didn’t harm many people, it is still an unacceptable way to live.

The theory that Israel should “take the win” and not respond simply because no one was injured is a false way to examine this threat. It’s like saying that since no one was injured in a mass shooting, that therefore it’s acceptable to have mass shootings. It’s a false perception that simply because a bullet hits a bullet-proof vest that therefore the person who fired the bullet should be released immediately.

We don’t view crimes that way. We don’t argue that if no one was injured, then the crime of shooting at a crowd of people didn’t happen. We don’t “take the win” and shrug our shoulders in those cases. Just because Israel has good defenses and Iran’s missiles failed to reach their targets in most cases, doesn’t mean there is no threat. People had to shelter and sit in fear. Children are traumatized.

It’s obvious that if the situation was reversed, and Israel launched 200 missiles at Iran and millions of Iranians had to seek shelter, that it would not be portrayed as acceptable. Iran is trying to create a new normal of massive ballistic missile attacks on Israel. Iran is testing Israel’s defenses. Iran is also preparing to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran is using its attacks across the region to hone its capabilities. The attacks in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan were not in a vacuum. They were preparations for the attacks on Israel. The fact that Iran was appeased and not stopped earlier has emboldened it.

As I stood on my balcony, the sirens sounding around me, watching the Iranian missiles fly overhead, it was clear the dangerous power Iran has unleashed. Iran is raining missiles on Israel and the region. The whole region is aflame with violence and war because of Iran. Hezbollah is a threat because of Iran. Hamas is a threat because of Iran. The West Bank is boiling over because of Iran. The Houthis are attacking Israel because of Iran. The Iraqi militias are attacking Israel because of Iran. These threats must stop, and this cannot become a new normal

Jordan allowed the US to fly and shoot down Iranian missiles within the country's airspace, a US official and a senior Jordanian official told NBC News.

The Jordanian official clarified that Jordan would do the same for "any other missile flying over our airspace."

Additionally, the Pentagon said that two US Navy destroyers fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles aimed at Israel.

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters that no other US military assets were used to shoot down the missiles, which were all fired from inside Iran.

Jordan allowed the US to fly and shoot down Iranian missiles within the country's airspace, a US official and a senior Jordanian official told NBC News.

The Jordanian official clarified that Jordan would do the same for "any other missile flying over our airspace."

Additionally, the Pentagon said that two US Navy destroyers fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles aimed at Israel.

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters that no other US military assets were used to shoot down the missiles, which were all fired from inside Iran.

Israel has proven its capabilities and would choose when and where to exact its price, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday night following the Iranian attack on Israel.

Following a situation assessment, he said, "We proved our capability to prevent the enemy from succeeding by combining exemplary civil behavior and a very strong air defense system."

"We will choose when to exact the price and prove our precise and unexpected attack capabilities in accordance with the will of the political sphere."

Iran exercised "self-defense" against Israel, and its action has concluded unless the "Israeli regime decides to invite further retaliation," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, early on Wednesday.

Tehran launched a salvo of missiles on Tuesday against Israel in retaliation for the killing of several leaders of Iran-aligned armed groups.

Hundreds of ballistic missiles were launched at Israel on Tuesday night by Iran, leading to thousands of rocket sirens sounding across the country. 

Shortly after the attack, Iran warned it would strike Israel again and potentially American targets if Israel responded to the attack.

Armed Iranian-aligned groups in Iraq warned that US bases there could be a target.

A missile unveiled by Iran is launched in an unknown location in Iran in this picture received by Reuters on August 20, 2020 (credit: WANA NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS)

“Should the Zionist regime dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations wrote on X/Twitter.