THE Israeli military has said Iran fired roughly 180 missiles at the country Tuesday night.
“IDF (Israeli army) systems have identified approximately 180 missiles fired towards Israeli territory from Iran,” the military said.
A security official also confirmed the figure to AFP.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel on Tuesday in response to the killings of Iran-backed militant leaders, sending Israelis to shelters and prompting alarm across the region.
“A short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said in a statement, as sirens sounded across Israel.
After about an hour, the military announced there was no longer a threat, and “it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country”, with a “large number” of Iranian missiles intercepted.
Initial reports said between 150 and 200 missiles had been fired in the attack.
It was Iran’s second on Israel after a missile and drone attack in April in response to a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
AFP journalists reported hearing explosions over Jerusalem, while rescuers said two people were lightly injured by shrapnel in central Israel.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA said the Islamic Republic had launched “a missile attack on Tel Aviv”, Israel’s commercial hub.
Its Revolutionary Guards Corps said the attack was in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing widely blamed on Israel.
UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East”, adding in a statement: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”
Israeli airspace was closed with all flights diverted, a spokesman for the airport authority said.
Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, which lie between Iran and Israel, closed their airspace too.
As the missiles made their way to Israel from the east, blasts were heard over the Jordanian capital Amman, as Israel’s allies moved to intercept them, an AFP correspondent said.
Jordan said its air defences responded to missiles and drones.
US President Joe Biden ordered the military to “aid Israel’s defence” and shoot down Iranian missiles, the White House said.
While Iran-backed groups across the region had already been drawn into the Gaza war, sparked by Palestinian group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Tehran had largely refrained from direct attacks on its regional foe.