Israel has vowed to extract heavy retaliation after Iran showered nearly 200 ballistic missiles on Tel Aviv and other cities in south and central parts of the country.
Israeli military spokesman described it as a “serious attack”.
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, vowed that the act by Iran “will have consequences”.
“We are on heightened alert on defense and offensive, we will protect the citizens of Israel. This [missile] fire will have consequences. We have plans, and we will act,” he said in a televised speech.
Meanwhile, world leaders, including Israel’s allies in the West, including the USA and Britain, have voiced their support for the Jewish, while also downplaying the effect of the attacks on human lives and infrastructure.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said on state television that 80% of its target was hit by the missiles.
However, various Israeli government officials, including Hagari, and the US Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan debunked the claim.
Sullivan said the USA was working with the IDF to assess the impact noting, “At this time, we do not know of any deaths in Israel. We are tracking the death of a Palestine civilian in Jericho, West Bank.”
“We do not know of any damage to aircraft or strategic military assets in Israel. In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack has been ineffective,” Sullivan said in a news conference monitored on Skynews.
The US NSA attributed the ‘failure’ of the operation to the US and its joint security planning with the Israeli military in anticipation of the attack.
US Fully Supports Israel – Biden
US President Joe Biden says there is an “active discussion” ongoing over how he would like Israel would respond to an Iranian ballistic missile attack, and that the consequences for Tehran “remain to be seen.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Biden again says that he will be speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without revealing when.
He says Iran’s attack appeared to have been “defeated and ineffective.”
The US president says that Washington is “fully supportive” of Israel after Iran’s ballistic missile attacks, describing Tehran’s assault as “defeated and ineffective.”
“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” Biden adds.
