Middle East unrest: Iran launches missile attack against Israel

Iran attacked Israel on Tuesday in response to the recent deaths of Hezbollah leaders.

G7 meeting

Update 1:25 p.m. ET, Oct. 2: The Group of Seven, or G-7, met by phone on Wednesday with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office saying, the group of international leaders issued a “firm condemnation of the Iranian attack against Israel.” Italy is the current president of the G-7, which said that there is still a possibility of a diplomatic solution, The Associated Press reported.

President Joe Biden said he planned to talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “relatively soon,” CNN reported. The pair last spoke on Aug. 21 according to White House records. Biden, however, said he does not support the potential response by Israel of attacking Iranian nuclear sites.

“The answer is no,” Biden told reporters, CNN reported. He did say the G-7 agreed that Israel should “respond proportionally.”

Hezbollah said it fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli military helicopter flying in northern Israel near the border. The helicopter, according to Hezbollah, had to retreat. Meanwhile, an airstrike carried out by Israel hit a residential building in Mezzeh in Damascus, Syria, the Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported. The AP said the missile hit the bottom floor of an apartment. SANA said three people were killed.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that the country can “strike any target in the Middle East,” CNN reported. The comment was made during a visit by Halevi to the Tel Nof Air Base.

He said the military will continue operating despite much of the country celebrating the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, on Wednesday.

Emergency UN meeting

Update 11:38 a.m. ET, Oct. 2: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the situation between Iran and Israel during an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. The meeting was called by Israel and France, The Associated Press reported.

During the meeting, Guterres said, “It is high time for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. It is high time for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon,” adding that “the sickening cycle of escalation after escalation that is leading the people of the Middle East straight over the cliff” has to stop.

Earlier, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Gutteres “persona non grata” and has prohibited him from entering the country.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said that the designation “isn’t particularly helpful, because in the end more talks are needed and not fewer talks.”

Meanwhile, the G7 leaders will be taking part in a call to discuss the situation after many condemned Iran’s attack on Israel, saying that could have a larger fallout in the region, CNN reported.

What you may have missed

Update 8:28 a.m. ET, Oct. 2: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran that it “made a big mistake tonight and will pay for it,” after Iran launched nearly 200 missiles on Israel on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. He called the attack a failure.

President Joe Biden vowed to continue the U.S.’s help for Israel, saying that the administration is “fully supportive” of the country and is in “active discussions” with his advisors about a response. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is talking with is Israeli counterpart and “is consulting closely with them on next steps,” the Pentagon press secretary said.

The U.S. Security Council will meet on Wednesday for an emergency meeting at the request of France and Israel to discuss Tuesday’s attack, the AP reported. Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. defended the attack saying it was a response to Israel’s “aggressive actions.” He also warned that any attack against Tehran will have a response that “will be swift, decisive and stronger than before.” Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani called the missile strikes against Israel self-defense.

Israel’s U.N. ambassador Danny Danon did not specifically say how his country will respond to the attack, “but I can tell you one thing, it will be noticed. It will be painful,” the AP reported. He said Israel will have a “crushing response.”

‘Effectively defeated this attack’

Update 2:51 p.m. ET, Oct. 1: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Israel, with the help of the U.S. and others, “effectively defeated this attack, The New York Times reported.

But Iran-backed Iraqi militias, called the Coordination Committee for the Iraqi Resistance, have warned the U.S. that if it participates in “any hostile action” against Iran American interests in the region may be threatened, The Associated Press reported.

The group also said if Israel would use Iraqi airspace to target Iran that “all American bases and interests in Iraq and the region will be our target.”

Direct impact

Update 2:00 p.m. ET, Oct. 1: Some of the missiles Iran fired fell in central and southern Israel, CNN reported.

“We carried out many interceptions. 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,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

‘This must stop’

Update 1:50 p.m. ET, Oct. 1: U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the “escalation after escalation” in the Middle East “must stop. We absolutely need a cease-fire,” The New York Times reported.

Israel said that Iran fired about 200 missiles.

Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Tuesday’s attack will have “consequences,” adding, “We have plans, and we will act in the time and place we decide,” the Times reported.

“There was a serious attack on us, and there will be serious consequences,’ Hagari said, according to CNN.

Israel airspace closed

Update 1:44 p.m. ET, Oct. 1: Israel has closed the country’s airspace and flights are being diverted outside of the country, The Associated Press reported. It reopened a short time later, the Times reported.

Meanwhile, Israel said it has killed another senior Hezbollah leader, Mohammad Jaafar Qassir in a strike Tuesday. Qassir was in charge of Unit 4400 shipping weapons from Iran to Lebanon. He also oversaw the development of Hezbollah’s missiles.

Timing of attack

Update 1:38 p.m. ET, Oct. 1: The attack comes a day before Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year which begins at sundown on Oct. 2 and ends at nightfall on Oct. 4. Yom Kippur will begin on Oct. 11. They are Jewish high holy days.

Photos: Iran attacks Israel

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What is the Iron Dome?

Update 1:29 p.m ET, Oct. 1: Israel’s short-range Iron Dome air defense system works to intercept rockets fired from Gaza, Reuters reported.

The Iron Dome was developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and was backed by the U.S. The purpose is to counter rocket fire from Lebanon that hit Israel during the 2006 war with Hezbollah, Reuters reported. Hamas took control the following year in 2007. It became operational in 2011.

Biden: “Shoot down missiles that are targeting Israel.”

Update 1:27 p.m ET, Oct. 1: President Joe Biden has told the U.S. military “to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that are targeting Israel,” The New York Times reported.

Attack was response to killing of Hezbollah leaders

Update 1:12 p.m. ET, Oct. 1: Iran, in a statement, said that the attack of dozens of ballistic missiles was in response to Israel’s killing of top Hezbollah leaders, CNN reported on air.

Iran said in the statement, “if Israel responds militarily to this operation, it will face a harsher response,” The Associated Press reported.

Some of the dozens of missiles fired on Tel Aviv and near Jerusalem have been intercepted but CNN was not sure how many.

The New York Times said that more than 100 missiles were launched by Iran. There were no reports of casualties as of yet, but sirens can be heard in CNN’s live coverage.

Original report: Air raid sirens have been blaring across the country, telling people to take refuge in bomb shelters, The Associated Press reported.

The attack came a day after Lebanon attacked Israel with rockets and missiles after Israel started ground operations in southern Lebanon. Israel also killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The White House warned of “severe consequences” if Iran would fire ballistic missiles against Israel. The U.S. Navy and military aircraft are already in the area prepared in case of an attack by Iran, the AP reported. The U.S. came to the aid of Israel by shooting down missiles filed by Iran in April, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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

An attack by Iran on Israel may backfire for Tehran.

“Resorting to another direct missile attack on Israel would mean the regime (in Tehran) sees itself in more dire straits that Iranian officials acknowledge,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a member of a Washington D.C. think tank told CNN. He said that the attack could “easily beget a larger regional war” if Israel responded more forcefully than it did earlier this year.

“A missile strike merely for the purpose of saving face could easily end up costing the regime its head,” Taleblu added, according to CNN.

Israel had warned of “repercussions” if Iran attacked, the AP reported.

The attack was not unexpected. White House officials earlier Tuesday said, “The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack. A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with top national security officials to discuss the attack before it happened, deputy press secretary Emilie Simons posted on X.

Biden shared on X that they met “to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel. We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.”

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