Israel vows response to Iran missile attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that arch foe Iran would pay for its missile attack against Israel on Tuesday, while Tehran said any retaliation would be met with “vast destruction”, raising fears of a wider war.

As Washington expressed full backing for its longtime ally Israel, Iran’s armed forces said direct intervention by Israel’s supporters against Tehran would provoke a “strong attack” from Iran on their “bases and interests” in the region.

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Oil prices shot up 5% on fears of a wider war between the two arch enemies, and the U.N. Security Council scheduled a meeting on the Middle East for Wednesday (today).

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said at the outset of a political-security meeting, according to a statement.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said the assault was in retaliation for Israeli killings of militant leaders and aggression in Lebanon against the Iran-backed armed movement Hezbollah and in Gaza.

Fears that Iran and the U.S. would be drawn into a regional war have risen with Israel’s intensifying assault on Lebanon in the past two weeks, including the start of a ground operation there on Monday, and its year-old conflict in the Gaza Strip.

In its attack on Tuesday, Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, Israel said. Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley. Israelis piled into bomb shelters and reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.

Iran’s forces used hypersonic Fattah missiles for the first time, and 90% of its missiles successfully hit their targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.

Israeli air defences were activated and most missiles were intercepted “by Israel and a defensive coalition led by the United States,” Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on X, adding: “Iran’s attack is a severe and dangerous escalation.”

Central Israel received “a small number” of hits and there were other strikes in southern Israel, he said. The Israeli military published video of a school in the central city of Gadera that was heavily damaged by an Iranian missile.

No injuries were reported in Israel, but one man was killed in the occupied West Bank, authorities there said.

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U.S. Navy warships fired about a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles headed toward Israel, the Pentagon said.

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed full U.S. support for Israel and described Iran’s attack as “ineffective.” He said there was an active discussion about how Israel would respond, and he would confer with Netanyahu.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for U.S. president, backed Biden’s stance and said the U.S. would not hesitate to defend its interests against Iran. Israel vowed consequences for the onslaught.