Iran launches major missile attack on Israel

(CNN) — Iran launched dozens of missiles toward Israel on Tuesday in what it said was a response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others – potentially taking the region closer to a wider conflict.

CNN teams on the ground in multiple locations in Israel observed dozens of missiles piercing through the skies as sirens blasted across the country.

Israel’s military said it estimated that Iran fired 180 “projectiles” at the country. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called the barrage was a “serious attack” and said “there will be serious consequences.”

The IDF said it intercepted many of the missiles, although some landed on the ground in Israel with no injuries initially reported. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said later on Tuesday that the attack by Iran was “effectively defeated.”

While the attack was over relatively quickly, it is clear that it has further raised the stakes in what is already an extremely tense moment. World leaders have long warned the conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon could spiral into a wider regional war. All eyes will now be on how Israel responds.

Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the deadly October 7 terrorist attack by the group on southern Israel. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with much of the strip reduced to rubble.

And while Israel and Hezbollah have been trading cross-border fire for much of the past year, Iran launched the barrage on Tuesday just hours after Israel announced it launched a “limited and localized” ground operation in Lebanon.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted Israel in response to the killing of Nasrallah and others, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

After the barrage of missiles was launched, the Iranian mission to the United Nations said that Tehran carried out a response to “the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime.”

The mission said on X that if Israel should “dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue.”

US warned about ‘imminent attack’

The White House warned earlier on Tuesday that Iran was poised to launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel soon, instantly ratcheting up fears of all-out war in the region.

People in Tel Aviv and other cities have been told to stay near shelters or other protected areas and the atmosphere on the streets was noticeably tense.

In a statement released mid-morning, just hours before Tehran launched the attack, the White House said it had “indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel,” adding the United States was “actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack.”

“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” a senior White House official said in a statement.

Israel assessed that Iran was likely to attack three Israeli air bases and an intelligence base located just north of Tel Aviv, a person briefed on the matter said before the attack. The IRGC said it targeted three Israeli military bases around Tel Aviv, according to the semi-official Iranian media outlet Mehr News.

The intelligence base in Glilot was evacuated Tuesday afternoon, the person said, and the Israeli military has put contingency plans for the safety of personnel at those bases into effect.

An Israeli source told CNN shortly after the White House’s warning that intense diplomacy is happening behind the scenes.

President Joe Biden convened a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top national security officials Tuesday “to discuss Iranian plans to imminently launch a significant ballistic missile attack against Israel,” according to White House spokesperson Emilie Simons.

Simons added, “They reviewed the status of US preparations to help Israel defend against attacks and protect US personnel.”

After a year of heightened tensions between Israel and Iran’s proxies in the region — including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen — an attack by Iran toward Israel could further tip the region toward full-scale conflict.

US and Arab diplomats are already concerned about what might happen after Iran’s expected attack, including the scale of Israel’s response. One major concern on their mind is Israel possibly using a forthcoming Iranian strike to respond by striking inside Iran.

“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said during his speech at the United Nations last week.

The US was earlier prepared to do whatever it can to help Israel intercept anything Iran directed its way, similar to how the US offered its assistance in April, when Iran launched a wave of drones and missiles towards Israel — the vast majority of which were successfully intercepted, a US official said.

Hagari said in a statement that the IDF intercepted “many” of the missiles, although he did not elaborate on exact numbers.

“There are a few impacts in the center and some more in the south. At this stage, we are assessing the situation. We are not aware of injuries,” he said.

The US had anticipated that the attack from Iran against Israel could be similar in scope and scale to the one in April, a US official told CNN.

The US warned Israel early Tuesday morning ET (midday Israel time) that Iran was poised to launch an attack, according to a person familiar with the matter. The warning between the two countries came several hours before the White House announced publicly that it had indications Iran was preparing an attack.

The official said Iran has been postured to move quickly in an attack. After the onslaught of drones and missiles fired toward Israel in April, many of Iran’s assets remained in position.

Tensions between Israel and Iran have ratcheted up significantly in recent weeks as Israel has stepped up its efforts against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, and Israel on Monday launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu asked Israelis to “stand together” and keep following the frontline commands as fears of an imminent attack from Iran grow.

Netanyahu said Israel is in the throes of a “campaign against Iran’s axis of evil” and made specific demands from the Israeli public.

“What I ask of you is two things: One – to strictly obey the directives of the frontline command, it saves lives. And second – to stand together,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

The United States is “tracking events in the Middle East very closely” and “is committed to Israel’s defense,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

“We’re watching developments, as I said, very carefully at this moment,” Blinken said in brief remarks alongside his Moroccan counterpart. Blinken did not make any specific reference to Iran or the potential attack.

The US Embassy in Israel directed all US government personnel and family members “to shelter in place until further notice” because of “the current security situation,” it said in a security alert Tuesday.

“This is provided for your information as you make your own security plans,” the alert said, without mentioning the specific warnings of an imminent attack from Iran.

CNN’s Pauline Lockwood and Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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