After weeks of threats, Iran launched about 180 ballistic missiles toward Israel Tuesday evening. Two Israelis were slightly wounded by shrapnel in the attack, and one Palestinian man was killed near Jericho in the West Bank.
The attack set off sirens across almost the entirety of Israel, sending millions into shelters. Israeli leaders have threatened a harsh response to the assault, although how exactly that will look remains unclear.
American warnings preceded the attack
On Tuesday afternoon, American sources told Israeli media that Iran was preparing its imminent missile attack.. Shortly after, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed that the United States had warned Israeli officials that Iran was planning an attack.
Half an hour later, sirens began blaring across Israel as Iran launched two barrages of ballistic missiles toward the Jewish state.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran launched the missile attack in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July, and the assassinations of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC officer Abbas Nilforoushan in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut last week.
The IRGC warned that “If the Zionist regime responds to Iran’s operations, it will face crushing attacks.”
This was the second missile attack that Iran has launched against Israel since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. In April, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles toward Israel after Nilforoushan’s predecessor, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, was killed in an airstrike in Damascus attributed to Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu: Iran made a big mistake
After the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran had made a “big mistake” by launching the missiles and would “pay for it.”
“We will keep to the rule we have determined: Whoever attacks us – we attack them,” said Netanyahu.
The prime minister also seemed to allude to recent reports that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had been possibly injured or killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
“The regime in Tehran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and to exact a price from our enemies. Sinwar and [former Hamas military chief Mohammed] Deif did not understand this; neither did Nasrallah or [Iranian nuclear scientist] Mohsen [Fakhrizadeh]. Apparently, there are those in Tehran who do not understand this either. They will.”
All of the terrorist leaders on that list with the exception of Sinwar have been confirmed as eliminated in assassinations either claimed by or attributed to Israel.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi stated after the attack on Tuesday, “We have proven our ability to prevent the enemy from achieving success through the combination of exemplary civilian conduct and a very strong Aerial Defense Array. We will choose when to exact the price and demonstrate our precise and surprising offensive capabilities in accordance with the directive of the political echelon.”
Joe Biden: Iran’s attack was defeated and ineffective
U.S. President Joe Biden noted that the American military helped defend against the missile attack, adding that “the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is testament to Israeli military capability and U.S. military.”
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris responded to the attack as well, saying “We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. And we will continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran’s aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.”
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Tuesday’s attack was nearly twice the size of that in April. About a dozen of the missiles were intercepted by the U.S.
How will Israel respond?
In light of the serious attack by Iran, the question now is: How will Israel respond?
After the attack in April, Israel reportedly struck an air defense battery near the city of Isfahan, deep in Iranian territory. Israel didn’t take responsibility for the strike, but satellite imagery showed that the battery, located near an airbase, was hit.
If Israel decides to hit Iran again, there are two major categories of sites it could target: missile sites and nuclear facilities.
Iran has several major missile sites, including the Imam Ali Missile Base and the Bakhtaran Missile Base, as well as several other production and launch sites throughout the country.
In terms of nuclear facilities, Iran’s main ones are two sites used for enriching uranium at Fordow and Natanz.
Iran also has nuclear technology facilities in Isfahan and Parchin, which is believed to be used for missile production and nuclear weapons research.
Any of these facilities could be potential targets in an Israeli response, but there are also significant factors that complicate such a decision.
There is also the possibility that Israel could target oil facilities in Iran to disrupt one of the main sources of income used by the Ayatollah’s regime.
International pressure is likely being placed on Israel to restrain its response to the attack in order to avoid expanding the war even further than it already has. After such a large attack, though, Israel’s response is expected to be stronger than it was in April.
