Sirens rang out in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other Israeli cities on Tuesday evening as Iran fired around 180 missiles at the only democracy in the Middle East.
Israel’s interceptor rockets were launched to bring the missiles down, and the death of a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho was the only reported fatality from the strikes.
One senior Israeli official told The Daily Telegraph in Britain that “Iran has declared war directly on the State of Israel” and that “it is the duty of the State of Israel and the free world to act against Iran.” Others highlighted that 10 million civilians were the targets of Iranian projectiles, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “Iran made a big mistake tonight—and it will pay for it.”
The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies … They will understand.
Washington was quick to point to its “preparations to help Israel defend against these attacks,” and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the strikes “in the strongest terms,” but also “underlined the importance of a ceasefire in Lebanon.”
Iran said the strikes were launched in response to Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon. They also came on the same day as the Israel Defence Forces launched ground operations in Lebanon to target Hezbollah strongholds.
Residents of Tehran yesterday told reporters that they were fearful of the Iranian regime’s actions, saying “they have already impoverished us by funnelling our money into their so-called axis [of resistance], and now they want to bring war to our streets.”
We don’t want this situation, and no Iranian voted for it.
At least seven people were also killed in a shooting and knife attack last night in Tel Aviv, shortly before the Iranian missile strike. Police described the motive as “terror,” and the shooters have been identified as Palestinian residents of the West Bank, according to The New York Times.
