Middle East: Iran launches missiles at Israel

DW spoke with Fabian Hinz, a military expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, about Iran's attack on Tuesday and how it differed from the attack in April.

"What we saw was a substantial Iranian attack. The videos show that some of the re-entry parts of the ballistic missiles were not shot down. Time will tell the full state of the damage," he said.

Hinz said that the scope of Tuesday's attack was greater than the one in April.

"Many of the pictures of the remains of the launched missiles show either Kheybarshekan or Fattah I missiles — those are the most modern missiles of this range that Iran has."

Rather than ballistic missiles, Iran had mainly used cruise missiles and long-range drones with much slower flight speeds in April.

"This time they likely wanted to minimize the amount of forewarning and so reduce the ability to prepare for the attack," Hinz told DW.

The European Union's foreign affairs spokesman told reporters in Brussels late on Tuesday that the EU remained "fully committed to contribute to lower the tensions and to avert a dangerous regional war." 

"The EU condemns in the strongest terms Iran's attacks with ballistic missiles against Israel, which constitute a serious threat to regional security. The EU reiterates its commitment to the security of Israel, and to the stability of the whole Middle East," Stano said. 

"Successive waves of attacks and retaliations have been fuelling an uncontrollable spiral of conflict," he said. 

He said the EU was in "close contact" with all relevant actors and would continue in this vein, seeking deescalation.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the attack appeared not to have had much impact.

"Based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective," he told reporters.

Nevertheless, he called it a "significant escalation."

"We have made clear that there will be consequences, severe consequences, for this attack, and we will work with Israel to make that the case," he said, without going into detail.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Tuesday's attacks a response to Israeli aggression, but also said they had the "aim of peace."

"Based on our legitimate rights and with the aim of peace and security for Iran and the Middle East, a decisive response was given to the aggressions of Israel," he wrote on social media.

"This action was carried out in defense of Iran's interests and its citizens."

He also warned Israel not to respond in kind to Iran's strikes.

"Netanyahu should know that Iran is not a warmonger, but it stands firmly against any threats. This is only a fraction of our capabilities. Do not engage in conflict with Iran."

Steffen Seibert, the German ambassador to Israel, who was in Tel Aviv when the Iranian missiles were launched, said it had been a "tough evening" in a post on social media.

"A horrible terror attack in [Tel Aviv/Jaffa] with several people murdered — and Israel under waves of attack by 100s of Iranian missiles. We can hear louder booms than ever before from within our shelters," he said.

He also shared a map of the locations across Israel where warning sirens went off amid the attack.

US President Joe Biden ordered the US military to support Israel's defense against the wave of Iranian missiles on Tuesday.

National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said on X that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were "monitoring the Iranian attack against Israel from the White House Situation Room and receiving regular updates from their national security team."

Biden "directed the US military to aid Israel's defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles targeting Israel," he said.

The US, Israel's most important backer, also helped shoot down Iranian missiles during the last Iranian attack in April.

DW spoke to Middle East Security expert Dr. Burcu Ozcelik, who said Iran had been under "mounting, even crippling, pressure to respond to the killing of [Hamas leader Ismail] Haniyeh and more recently [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah."

"Doing nothing would have weakened Tehran," Ozcelik said, "perhaps irreparably in the eyes of hardliners in Iran and the axis of resistance in the region." 

As for Tuesday's barrage, the Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank in London, said that "for now, this appears to be a limited salvo of missiles aiming to reestablish some deterrence."

But, she noted, with preliminary information on the damage done still scarce: "if there are Israeli civilian casualties inside Israel as a result, there will be a grave risk of escalation."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has condemned the waves of missiles fired by Iran toward Israel.

"Israel is currently being attacked by Iran with missiles. I condemn the current attack in the strongest possible terms," she said online.

"We have urgently warned Iran against this dangerous escalation. Iran must stop the attack immediately," she said. "It is leading the region further towards the precipice."

The Israeli military said that the Iranian attack was over, around an hour after it was first reported that missiles had been launched.

"Following the situational assessment, it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country," it said in a statement.

Israeli airspace was also reopened with landings and take-offs once again allowed, the airport authority said.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the Iranian strikes had resulted in "several hits" in central Israel.

The Magen David Adom emergency services said that two people had been "lightly" injured amid the attack.

But Hagari also indicated the launches appeared to be over. "At this point we don’t know of any further threats," he said.

He said that Israel would respond to the Iranian missiles.

"We have the ability [to react], we are at top readiness, we'll react when and where we choose to," he said.

A number of people were shot in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night in what police called a suspected "terror" incident.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that a man opened fire at people waiting at a rail station. The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said there were shootings in two locations.

Israeli police said four people were killed and another seven were injured.

"Paramedics are providing medical treatment to a number of casualties in varying conditions including unconscious casualties," the emergency service said in a separate statement.

The attack took place shortly before Iran launched its missiles against Israel and there was no obvious link between the two incidents.

The Israeli military said that the country's airspace has been shut down following the waves of Iranian attacks.

A spokesman for Israel's main international airport in Tel Aviv, the Ben Gurion Airport, said that there were "currently no take-offs and landings."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that the waves of missiles launched against Israel were retaliation for Israel's killing of IRGC, Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.

Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC commander Abbas Nilfourashan in a strike in Beirut last week.

Israel is also believed to have been behind the killing of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. Although it never claimed responsibility for that attack, Iran made clear it considered Israel responsible.

The IRGC also said that any Israeli response to Tuesday's missiles would be met with further "more crushing and ruinous" strikes.

Iran also launched a wave of missiles and drones back in April. That attack was widely seen as symbolic with almost all the slow-moving projectiles being shot down.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Iran would be "sorry" after it launched several waves of missile strikes against Israel.

"Like Gaza, Hezbollah and the State of Lebanon, Iran will be sorry for the moment [it attacked Israel]," the nationalist politician wrote on social media platform X.

Following a first wave of missiles fired by Iran toward Israel, many of which appeared to have been shot down, more missiles were seen over the skies of Israel. An IDF spokesman told residents the attack was not done yet and said more than 200 projectiles had been identified so far.

Iran also announced that it had launched attacks against Israel.