Iran launches salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel

Jerusalem/Beirut — Iran launched a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for its campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

Alarms sounded across Israel, and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley after Israelis dashed for bomb shelters.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the military had launched dozens of missiles. If Israel retaliated Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous”.

The Israeli army said Israel’s airspace was closed after the attack. A military spokesperson said the missile attack was serious, but declined to specify how and when Israel would respond.

Reuters journalists saw missiles intercepted in the airspace of neighbouring Jordan. Israeli army radio said nearly 200 missiles were launched from Iran.

The attack came after Israel said its troops launched ground raids into Lebanon, though it described the forays as limited.

Iran has vowed to retaliate after attacks that killed the top leadership of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

The firing of missiles came after Israel said its troops launched ground raids into Lebanon, though it described the forays as limited. The Israeli campaign in Lebanon is the biggest escalation of regional warfare since fighting erupted in Gaza a year ago.

In Washington, President Joe Biden said the US was prepared to help Israel defend itself from Iranian missile attacks.

“We discussed how the US is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks and protect American personnel in the region,” Biden said on X about a meeting held with vice-president Kamala Harris and the White House national security team earlier in the day.

Though characterised by Israel as limited thus far, the first ground campaign into Lebanon for 18 years would pit Israeli soldiers against Hezbollah, Iran’s best-armed proxy force in the Middle East.

It marks the biggest escalation of regional warfare since fighting erupted in Gaza a year ago and follows weeks of intense air strikes that have decapitated Hezbollah by killing most of its top leaders. More than a thousand Lebanese have been killed and 1-million have fled their homes.

Oil prices jumped. Brent futures gained $1.86, or 2.6%, to settle at $73.56 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.66, or 2.4%, to settle at $69.83. 

Spot gold gained 1% to $2,661.63 per ounce, as of 5.40pm GMT, after hitting an all-time high of $2,685.42 on Thursday. US gold futures settled 0.9% higher at $2,690.3.

US stocks ended lower on Tuesday as investors grew more cautious on news of the attack. The S&P 500 lost 54.01 points, or 0.94%, to end at 5,708.47 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 279.35 points, or 1.54%, to 17,909.82. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 171.76 points, or 0.41%, to 42,158.39.

In the latest announced killing of a senior Hezbollah figure, Israel earlier said it had assassinated Muhammad Jaafar Qasir, describing him as a commander in charge of weapons transfers from Iran and its affiliates.

The rapid escalation that has engulfed Lebanon has killed hundreds of people. Near the city of Sidon south of Beirut mourners wept over coffins.

‘All of Lebanon will fight’

Many Lebanese said they were ready to resist Israeli forces. “Not just Hezbollah, all of Lebanon will fight this time. All of Lebanon is determined to fight Israel for the massacres it committed in Gaza and Lebanon,” said Abu Alaa, a Sidon resident.

In Beirut, Israel struck a high-rise building in the central Jnah area and one in the capital’s southern suburbs. The Israeli military said it had carried out a “precise strike”.

Israel has long said it would do whatever it takes to secure its northern border and let tens of thousands of Israelis return to towns they fled since the outbreak of war a year ago, when Hezbollah began firing across the frontier in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

An Israeli security official said troops in southern Lebanon had begun limited raids into Lebanon overnight that only went a short distance across the border. No direct clashes with Hezbollah fighters were reported, the official added. The military said similar such raids had been taking place in recent months.

But in a clear sign that the war could expand further, the military said it was calling up four additional reserve brigades for operational missions on the northern border.

Israel has a history of fighting in Lebanon, which it invaded in 1982 in the midst of Lebanon’s sectarian civil war. Israeli troops finally pulled out in 2000 but returned to fight another major war against Hezbollah in 2006. Since then, the border “blue line” has been monitored by the UN.

The UN said its peacekeepers had seen sporadic Israeli incursions but had not seen a full-scale invasion.

Hezbollah, a Shiite militia formed by Iran to resist Israeli forces in Lebanon, has evolved into Lebanon’s most powerful armed force, equipped with an arsenal of missiles and rockets. It is also Lebanon’s strongest political party and sits at the forefront of a network of Iranian-backed armed movements across the Middle East.

Israel killed its leader of more than 30 years, Hassan Nasrallah, on Saturday in a huge air strike on Beirut that sowed panic, just days after the group was shocked when booby-trapped pagers and radios blew up across the country.

Separately, at least six people were killed and nine wounded in a suspected shooting and stabbing terror attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Israeli police said two men started a killing spree on the Tel Aviv light rail and continued on foot before being killed by civilians and inspectors using personal pistols.

There has been no claim of responsibility but Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said they were Palestinians from the West Bank city of Hebron.

Update: October 1 2024
This story has been updated with new information. 

Reuters