Sirens went off across Israel late on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv alike, and residents headed for shelters. Iran had fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles. The shelter orders were lifted within an hour.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the barrage answered three Israeli killings: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut. Iran’s UN mission called the operation “legal, rational, and legitimate” self-defense and promised a “subsequent and crushing response” if Israel struck back.
What got through
Israel’s military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said air defenses “intercepted most of Iran’s missiles,” though several came down in central and southern Israel. Foreign Policy reported that at least one person died in the West Bank city of Jericho and two people were lightly hurt in Tel Aviv.
Iran said it had aimed at Nevatim Airbase, home to Israeli F-35I jets. Analyst Can Kasapoglu of the Hudson Institute wrote that “no evidence suggests that any air bases were rendered nonoperational or even severely damaged.” In his account Israel’s Arrow system did most of the effective work, and two U.S. Navy destroyers “fired a dozen interceptors,” though the Pentagon’s spokesperson said no precise interception data was yet available.
Think of it as a heavy salvo with a light payload. Kasapoglu pointed to the conventional warheads, the limits on missile accuracy, and Israel’s bunkers and hardened structures as reasons losses stayed small.
Washington and the UN react
President Biden ordered the U.S. military to help defend Israel. The Defense Department said it would add fighter jets in the region and keep the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier there. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talked about “serious consequences for Iran” if it attacked directly.
Hagari had his own warning: the attack “will have consequences,” and Israel would answer “in the time and place we decide.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged ceasefire efforts in Lebanon to prevent escalation “at all costs,” and the Security Council met on Wednesday. The strike followed Israeli ground raids in southern Lebanon, where over 1,000 people had been killed and about 1 million displaced since cross-border fire intensified the month before.
Sources
- Iran Launches Nearly 200 Ballistic Missiles at Israel
- Israel-Iran war enters new stage (Can Kasapoglu)
