1/10/2024–|Last updated: 10/1/202408:19 PM (Mecca time)
The Israeli army announced that Iran had launched missiles that reached Jerusalem, as sirens sounded in the city and its surroundings, shortly after an American warning to Israel that Iran was preparing to launch a missile attack.
Sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, while the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that sirens sounded throughout Israel.
The official Israeli radio said that more than 250 missiles hit Israel within half an hour.
Occupation army spokesman Daniel Hagari said a short while ago that Washington informed them on Tuesday that it was monitoring preparations by Iran to launch missiles towards Israel soon, warning that any Iranian attack would have “severe consequences.”
The New York Times, citing Israeli officials, reported that the Iranian attack will include drones and ballistic missiles launched towards Israel.
The Wall Street Journal also quoted a Pentagon official as saying: “Over the past day, we have noticed an increased readiness and Iran’s transfer of missile launchers.”
As for NBC, it quoted White House and Pentagon officials as expecting “Iran will attack military and government sites in Israel, not civilian sites.”
Israeli officials confirmed that the potential attack would be with ballistic missiles on 3 military air bases and an intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv, within 12 hours.
Hagari added, “We will deal with any air threat from Iran as we have dealt with it before and we are highly prepared. We have dealt with threats from Iran in the past and we will deal with them at this stage as well.”
But he pointed out that Israel “did not detect any air threat launched towards Israel from Iran.”
Security consultations
Israel Today newspaper reported that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy are now holding consultations with army leadership to assess the situation.
A statement from the Israeli Defense Minister’s office also said that Gallant discussed with his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, preparations to repel the expected Iranian attack, the statement said.
The Axios news website also quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that Israel believes that the Iranian attack on it will be carried out in the next few hours, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held security consultations regarding the expected attack.
The Israeli official indicated that the warning of the expected Iranian attack reached Israel around midday.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth also said that there are efforts to establish contact between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin against the backdrop of anticipation of the Iranian attack.
Israeli Channel 14 reported that the US Embassy in Israel asked its employees to stay at home and prepare to enter shelters.
It is noteworthy that Iran had previously warned that the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of Revolutionary Guard operations, in an Israeli raid in the southern suburb of Beirut last Friday, “will not go unanswered.”
Iranian officials also strongly condemned the assassination of Nasrallah, while the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) affirmed Washington’s firm support “regarding the defense of Israel in light of the threats from Iran and its network of agents.”
