[🇮🇷] Iran launched ballistic missiles towards Israel

[Ghazi52]

US Navy destroyers fired a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles, Pentagon says​

From CNN's Oren Liebermann, Natasha Bertrand and Haley Britzky

US Navy destroyers fired roughly a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles that were launched toward Israel on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

The US currently has three guided-missile destroyers operating in the eastern Mediterranean: USS Arleigh Burke, USS Cole and USS Bulkeley. According to Ryder, the destroyers involved were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.

Ryder also said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke a second time on Tuesday with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, after speaking with him before Iran’s attack.

“He reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel and underscored that the US remains well postured throughout the Middle East region to protect US forces and defend Israel in the fact of threats from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organizations,” Ryder said.

US destroyers also took part in intercepting Iran’s barrage of ballistic missiles and drones on April 13, shooting down several of the missiles launched at Israel.

 

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Kamala Harris says US right to help shoot down Iranian​

US Vice-President Kamala Harris - the Democratic party's candidate in November's presidential election - has been giving her reaction to today's missile attack.

Harris says she watched the attack unfold in real time from the White House Situation Room, and describes Iran as a "destabilising force" in the Middle East.

She says she fully supported President Joe Biden's decision to order US Navy ships in the Mediterranean to shoot down missiles aimed at Israel.

She adds that while efforts to assess the impact of Monday's barrage are continuing, it looks like Israel had been able to defeat the attack with US help.

"My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering," Harris adds, saying that the US "will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend US forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists".

Reuters

 

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Jordanian military puts troops on high alert following Iran’s missile attack on Israel​

From CNN’s Abeer Salman, Jomana Karadsheh and Tara John

Jordan’s military said in a statement that all units and formations in its armed forces’ general command have been put on “on high alert to confront any attempts that threaten the security and stability of the kingdom.”

Citing a military source in the armed forces general command, the statement added:

“The General Command is closely monitoring the developments occurring in the region and has taken necessary precautionary measures to build and support front-line units on the border fronts to protect the homeland.”

 

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Were ballistic missiles used in Iran’s attack?​

By Bianca Britton

BBC Verify has been speaking with military experts to understand which type of missiles were used in Iran’s attack on Israel.

Patrick Senft, a research coordinator at the intelligence consultancy firm Armament Research Services (ARES), tells BBC Verify that fragments suggested that ballistic missiles had been used in the attack.

Ballistic missiles reach their targets faster than common cruise missiles, he adds, and “make up the majority of the Iranian long-range strike capabilities".

Dr Thomas Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is also confident that ballistic missiles were used.

His colleague, Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at CSIS says that the difference between today’s attack compared with Iran's attack in April is that “more missiles seem to be hitting Israel”.

He adds that ballistic missiles are harder to intercept by missile defence systems “because of their higher speed”.

 

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Seven killed in shooting and knife attack in Tel Aviv​

59 minutes ago
Maia Davies
BBC News

Reuters

Seven people have been killed in a shooting and knife attack in Tel Aviv, police in Israel have confirmed.

Several others were injured - some seriously - when a gunman opened fire at members of the public in the Jaffa area.

The deadly attack began in a rail carriage and continued on the platform, local police said in a statement.

Footage posted on social media showed motionless bodies strewn on the street.

Police said the gunman and another attacker armed with a knife were "neutralised" by members of the public, and described the motive as "terror".

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The identities of the perpetrators have not been released. Some Israeli media outlets earlier reported the death toll as eight, though it is unclear if this included the attackers.

The shooting occurred shortly before an Iranian missile attack against Israel began.

Police at the scene were seen taking cover as missiles and air defence rockets flew over the city and air raid sirens blared.

Witnesses described the shooting, including Benjamin Ratzon, who told the Reuters news agency: "People were on the ground and they told me to bend down.

"I saw the terrorist facing me. He wanted to do something and the security forces arrived to the scene and they ran towards him."

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Israeli police officers guarded a cordon near the site of the attack
Another witness told the Jerusalem Post they initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks before realising "it was something much worse".

They added: "There were many gunshots. We dropped to the floor, and people were crying. I saw someone bleeding on the ground.”

A shop owner said they quickly closed their shutters upon seeing "crowds of people running and shouting 'terror attack'".

Haartez quoted an eyewitness who was at a synagogue at the time of the attack.

"Among the worshippers were medics who volunteer at the MDA (Israel's ambulance service).

"We treated a man who was wounded in the synagogue and then ran to the street to help others who were wounded."

 

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Israeli air base hit by Iranian attack, new videos show​

From CNN’s Paul P. Murphy

Two new videos show a number of Iranian missiles striking Nevatim air base in southern Israel based on geolocation analysis by CNN.

Iran previously targeted the same base during a similar April 13 attack.

How CNN geolocation worked:
The videos were filmed from Ar’arat an-Naqab, a town just south of the air base, in southern Israel’s remote Negev desert. CNN was able to geolocate the videos by matching the buildings seen in the videos to archival photos of the town and the airbase.

What’s seen in the videos:
As the camera pans skyward, dozens of rocket trails can be seen falling toward the base. Sirens are heard wailing in the background.

Then, in both videos, a single interceptor missile can be seen rising from a battery near the base before it travels out of frame.

The control tower at the air base can be seen in one of the videos as the missiles begin to impact and explode. Smoke begins to rise across the area of the base, as the sound of more impacts is heard, and more explosions are seen.

Without daylight, however, it’s unclear what exactly was hit at the base.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the videos, but did not immediately receive a response.

After the April 13 attack, Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesperson, confirmed that some of the hundreds of projectiles fired at Israel did hit the base, causing minor damage to the infrastructure there, including in an area near the runway.

Nevatim remained fully functional then, Hagari said at the time.

 

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Israeli military bases hit by Iranian missiles but remain functional, source tells CNN​

From CNN’s Jeremy Diamond

Several Iranian missiles struck Israeli military bases on Tuesday night, an Israeli military source told CNN, but insisted there was no major damage to the facilities.

“There is no harm to the functionality of the IAF (Israeli Air Force),” the source said.

The source said there were “a few hits,” but that they failed to hit “essential infrastructure.”

 

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Missile attack on Israel was intended as a show of Tehran’s military capabilities, experts say​

From CNN’s Abbas Al Lawati and Nadeen Ebrahim

An excavator works by a crater left by an exploded projectile at a heavily-damaged school building in Israel's southern city of Gedera on October 1.

Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

Iran’s missile attack against Israel on Tuesday was intended to signal that Tehran’s arsenal is capable of inflicting mass casualties, Middle East experts say.

Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of Amwaj.media, a London-based news site focused on covering the Middle East, said that unlike its attack on Israel in April — which was meant to merely showcase Iran’s capabilities and had been telegraphed in advance, allowing it to be largely thwarted — Tuesday’s barrage was intended to send the message that Iran can inflict significant damage if it chooses to.

“The (Iranian) response was measured and geared to send a message through accuracy and ability to bypass Israeli air defenses, rather than inflicting mass casualties,” Shabani said.

Ali Ahmadi, an executive fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, said that “Iran’s April attack was deliberately designed to be ineffective so as to not escalate,” but the feeling in Iran is that it was taken as a sign of weakness.

“Iran felt that it had to discredit Israeli and American air defenses,” Ahmadi told CNN, adding that even though Tuesday’s attack did not cause mass casualties, it “did establish that Israel can be made to take on serious cost.”

Others disagree, however. Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank in Washington, DC, said Iran’s actions were meant to show that it is indeed responding to Israel’s recent assassinations of key Hezbollah and Hamas leaders, “both by domestic and foreign audiences for purposes of regime security and survival.”

He noted, however, that despite the lack of mass casualties, “we cannot assume that a desire to wash blood away with blood was not present.” The lack of damage had more to do with Israel’s defense systems as well as the US and other regional allies’ support, he said.