IRAN launched more than 200 ballistic missiles on Israel yesterday in response to the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as that of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier this year.
In a statement early yesterday evening, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said: ‘In response to the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah and (IRGC Guards commander) Nilforoshan, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories.’
Tehran suggested that its missile attack against Israel had concluded and warned the Israeli government against carrying out its own retaliation.
‘Iran’s legal, rational, and legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime – which involved targeting Iranian nationals and interests and infringing upon the national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran – has been duly carried out,’ the Iranian mission to the UN said in a social media post.
The IRGC warned that Israel will face ‘crushing’ attacks if it responds, saying that the missiles were directed at military targets and any Israeli retaliation would result in even more powerful attacks.
US President Joe Biden said on X social media that he had held a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House national security team earlier in the day and that: ‘We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.’
Earlier, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said that Israeli forces were killing and massacring civilians across Lebanon, and are attacking civilian and health facilities.
‘Hezbollah fighters are prepared, and we will emerge victorious if the Israeli enemy decides to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon,’ he warned.
Sheikh Qassem also underlined that Israel is ‘delusional if it thinks that it can achieve its goals through massacres and Western support.’
The Hezbollah Lebanese resistance movement targeted Israel’s Glilot military base and Mossad HQ on the outskirts of Tel Aviv with salvos of Fadi-4 rockets yesterday.
Amal Saad, a lecturer at Cardiff University and Lebanese political analyst, warned that Israeli forces will become ‘sitting ducks’ for the Lebanese resistance group should they attempt a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
• The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Akbar Ahmadian, stressed that psychological warfare waged by the Zionist entity will not help it win the battle against the resistance front.