The Israeli military says Iran has launched a missile attack at Israel, as air raid sirens sounded across the country and Israelis rushed for shelter.
The military had earlier warned that any ballistic missile attack from Iran was expected to be widespread and told the public to shelter in safe rooms in the event of an attack on Tuesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the missile attack under way on Israel is in response to the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as that of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier this year, Iran’s Fars news agency reported.
“In response to the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah and [IRGC Guards commander] Nilforoshan, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories,” the IRGC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, residents in Tel Aviv say sirens are still sounding.
“We’re not far from the Ministry of Defence and the Israeli military HQ and we’re still hearing sirens in Tel Aviv,” Akiva Eldar told Al Jazeera. “We’re not really safe as long as war is still on. There have been clear instructions to stay in the safe rooms and bomb shelters, whoever has them in their houses.”
The firing of missiles came after Israeli troops launched a ground raids into Lebanon, in the biggest escalation of regional warfare since fighting erupted in Gaza a year ago.
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabari, reporting from the Lebanese capital Beirut, said people are celebrating.
“We’ve heard over the last 20 minutes Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel. Non stop gunfire and fireworks being set off across the capital,” Jabari said.
This is a breaking story. More soon.
