JERUSALEM (Reuters): Hundreds of missiles rained down on different cities of Israel after Iran sent a salvo of missiles towards its enemy country. Alarms sounded across the country and Israelis rushed for shelter.
Reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts. Israel earlier said it was expecting a widespread attack from Iran with ballistic missiles after Israeli troops launched ground raids into Lebanon and its warplanes bombed from the skies.
Though so far characterised by Israel as limited, the first ground campaign into Lebanon for 18 years would pit Israeli soldiers against Hezbollah, Iran’s best-armed proxy force in the Middle East.
It marks the biggest escalation of regional warfare since fighting erupted in Gaza a year ago, and follows weeks of intense airstrikes that have decapitated Hezbollah by killing most of its top leaders. More than a thousand Lebanese have been killed and a million have fled their homes.
Israel’s military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said any missile attack from Iran was expected to be on a wide scale, and told citizens they should shelter in safe rooms if the warning sounds.
Iran, which sponsors Hezbollah, has vowed to retaliate against Israel, raising fears that war could spill across borders throughout the region, despite efforts by the United States, Israel’s closest and most powerful ally, to contain it.
In the latest announced killing of a senior Hezbollah figure, Israel said it had assassinated Muhammad Jaafar Qasir, describing him as a commander in charge of weapons transfers from Iran and its affiliates.
In Washington, a senior White House official said the U.S. was actively supporting preparations to defend Israel against a direct military attack on Israel by Iran. The official added that such an attack would carry severe consequences for Tehran.
The rapid escalation that has engulfed Lebanon into war has killed hundreds. Near the city of Sidon along the Mediterranean south of Beirut, mourners wept over coffins containing black-shrouded bodies of people killed in Israeli strikes.
“The building got struck down and I couldn’t protect my daughter or anyone else. Thank God, my son and I got out, but I lost my daughter and wife, I lost my home, I have become homeless. What do you want me to say? My whole life changed in a second,” said resident Abdulhamid Ramadan.
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