The war in the Middle East escalated significantly on Tuesday in less than 24 hours. First, Israeli ground troops invaded southern Lebanon on the night of Monday to Tuesday to expel Hezbollah from the border zone. Then Iran launched on Tuesday evening dozens of ballistic missiles on Israel. Hezbollah had also bombarded Israel with rockets earlier in the day, while Israel continued its aerial bombardment in Lebanon.
Air raid sirens sounded all over Israel in the early evening, millions of Israelis rushed to shelters. Many people saw the orange flashes of passing Iranian missiles in the sky. However, Israel managed to shoot most of them out of the sky with the so-called ‘Iron Dome’, its anti-aircraft system. It received military support from the United States and Jordan, which helped to neutralize the projectiles.
According to Israeli army radio, there were a total of 180 rockets. After some time the signal came clear. As far as we know, only two people were injured. However, some rockets did explode and left several deep craters.
Retaliation for Haniyeh and Nasrallah
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard made in a statement which was distributed by state television, announced that the rocket fire was intended in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran at the end of July and that of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, attributed to Israel, at the end of July. Moreover, it was an act of revenge for the deaths of many Palestinians and Lebanese as a result of Israeli violence, the statement said.
Iran warned that more shelling would follow if Israel, with or without US support, decided to counter-attack Iran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is believed to have ordered the attack, has gone into hiding in a secure location until further notice amid fears of attacks on him.
An Israeli army spokesman announced that the Iranian attack will have “consequences.” Earlier, a senior American official had also threatened Iran with this. It was the second time since the outbreak of the Gaza war last fall that Iran fired a volley of rockets at Israel. To that attack, in April this year after a deadly Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Israel responded with a fairly modest counterattack near a nuclear facility near the city of Isfahan.
That attack was interpreted as a warning to Iran. Some analysts believe that Israel will now try to target Iran’s nuclear facilities. Israel has long suspected Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, although Iran has always argued that it only enriches uranium for peaceful purposes.
Situation Room
Out of concern about the rapid escalation in the Middle East, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored developments on Tuesday from the so-called Situation Room in the White House. “We discussed how the United States is prepared to assist Israel against these attacks and how to protect American personnel in the region,” Biden stated via X.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterrres meanwhile urgently called for a truce. He condemned what he referred to as “escalation upon escalation.” “This has to stop,” he said. “We definitely need a ceasefire.”
However, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, traditionally a Hezbollah stronghold, the Iranian action was greeted with shots of joy. In recent days, Israel had carried out heavy bombardments on those neighborhoods. During the worst of last Friday, Nasrallah was killed. Since then, Israel had continued the bombing campaign at full force, killing more than a thousand people, including many civilians. And that was before the “limited” ground operation in southern Lebanon began, according to Israel.
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv was also shocked by a terrorist attack, in which six people were killed. Two men armed with firearms and knives attacked passengers in a train carriage and later on the street. The attack took place just a short time before the Iranian attack. Nine others were injured. Both perpetrators were killed by bystanders and police officers. It was not immediately clear whether the death toll included the perpetrators.
Share Email the editor
