Iran announced in the early hours of Wednesday, the 2nd of October, that its missile attack on Israel, the largest military strike on Israel to date, was over, barring further provocations, while Israel and the US vowed that Iran faced “severe consequences” for Tuesday’s attack, which Israel said used more than 180 ballistic missiles, reports Reuters.
The United Nations (UN) Security Council scheduled a meeting on the Middle East on Wednesday and the European Union (EU) called for an immediate ceasefire.
“Our actions are complete, unless the Israeli regime decides to call for further retaliatory measures. In that case, our response will be stronger and more powerful,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X early on Wednesday morning.
Iran has described the campaign as a defensive campaign targeting only Israeli military sites. Iran’s state news agency said the target was three Israeli military bases and that
the attack was a response to Israel’s killing of militant leaders and its aggression in Lebanon against Hezbollah and in Gaza.
The Iranian armed forces for the first time on Tuesday fired hypersonic Fattah missiles and 90% of the missiles hit targets in Israel, the Revolutionary Guards said.
Israel activated its air defences and most of the missiles were “intercepted by the Israeli-US-led defence coalition”, Israeli Vice-Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video on X, adding: “The Iranian attack is a serious and dangerous escalation.”
Insane Footage showing Dozens of Iranian Ballistic Missiles raining over Israel. pic.twitter.com/6l1Wog1iCb
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 1, 2024
US Navy warships fired about a dozen interceptor missiles at Iranian missiles targeting Israel, the Pentagon said. The UK said its forces were “contributing to efforts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East”, without elaborating.
Hagari said that central and southern Israel received limited strikes. A video released by the army showed an Iranian missile had severely damaged a school in central Gader.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to respond.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it,” he said late on Tuesday night at the start of an emergency meeting of the political security cabinet, the statement said.
The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said in a statement broadcast by state media that Israel would retaliate with “widespread destruction of Israeli infrastructure”. It also stated that it would target regional assets of Israel’s ally that become involved in the issue.
Israel on Wednesday resumed bombing raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut,
the base of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, and carried out at least a dozen air strikes against what it says are targets of the group.
Israel attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon overnight – Al Jadeed
The southern suburbs of Beirut came under attack. Before the attack, the IDF called on residents of the three neighborhoods to urgently evacuate.
Arab media reports said the Israeli army hit weapons production… pic.twitter.com/raekVcAiIR
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 2, 2024
US President Joe Biden expressed full US support for Israel and described the Iranian attack as “ineffective”. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, supported Biden’s position and said that the US would not hesitate to defend its interests against Iran.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he called “escalation after escalation”, saying: “This has to stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Iran’s recent attacks against Israel, adding that it had mobilised its military assets in the Middle East on Wednesday as part of its commitment to Israel’s security. Macron reiterated France’s demand that Hezbollah cease its terrorist actions against Israel and its people, while also calling for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity to be guaranteed in accordance with the UN resolution.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the region. “The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation is threatening to spiral out of control,” he wrote on X.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to the leaders of Germany and France, and they agreed on the need for restraint on all sides, Downing Street reported.
Nearly 1 900 people have been killed and more than 9 000 wounded in nearly a year of cross-border fighting in Lebanon, most of them in the past two weeks, according to statistics released by the Lebanese government on Tuesday.