Iran Fires Nearly 200 Missiles Into Israel in ‘Significant Escalation’ of Tensions

WASHINGTON — Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles toward targets in Israel on Tuesday, prompting a joint defensive response from the U.S. military and Israel Defense Forces, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at the White House this afternoon.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored the attack and the response from the Situation Room in the White House. They were joined, both in person and remotely, by members of their national security team.

Sullivan characterized the response as U.S. naval destroyers joining Israeli air defense units in firing interceptors “to shoot down inbound missiles.”

He also stressed that the White House was continuing to work with the IDF and the authorities in Israel to assess the impact of the attack.

As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, there were no reported deaths as a result of the attack within Israel itself, though Sullivan said there was a report of the death of a Palestinian civilian in Jericho in the West Bank.

He said the White House is also aware of reports of a terrorist attack in Jaffa in which a number of Israeli civilians were killed or injured.

“We do not know of any damage to aircraft or strategic military assets in Israel,” he said. “In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective.”

Reports on an imminent attack began to circulate over the weekend and tensions rose throughout the day on Monday.

Sullivan credited the apparent effective thwarting of the attack to the professionalism of the IDF, the skilled work of the U.S. military, and meticulous joint planning in anticipation of the attack. 

Speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, Sullivan reminded them that he retained the right “to amend and adjust” his update as necessary as more information is gathered.

“The phrase ‘Fog of War’ was invented for a situation like this,” he said. “This is a fluid situation. We will consult with the Israelis on next steps in terms of the response and how to deal with what Iran has just done.”

“We will continue to monitor for further threats and attacks from Iran and its proxies, and we are particularly focused on protecting U.S. service members in the region,” he said.

Later the President Biden himself said, “At my direction, the United States military actively supported the defense of Israel. We’re still assessing the impact, but based on what we know now, the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective.

“This is testament to Israeli military capability … and also a testament to intensive planning  [between] the United States and Israel to anticipate and defend against a brazen attack.

“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” Biden added. 

Iran had vowed to retaliate against Israel after the Israeli government carried out a series of assassinations that left Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and a top Iranian general dead.

The Israeli military first reported that Iran had begun firing missiles into its territory at about mid-morning, not long after U.S. administration officials suggested such an attack was “imminent.”

As a series of explosions were heard over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, orders to shelter in place were sent to Israelis’ mobile phones and announced on national television.

At about the same time, Iranian media began broadcasting videos that appeared to show missile launches occuring at several sites across the country.

The missile attack came a day after Israel said it had begun limited ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and the Pentagon announced that it is sending a few thousand troops to the Middle East to bolster security in the region and defend Israel, if necessary.

Defense department officials told reporters on Monday that the additional forces would raise the total number of U.S. troops in the region to about 43,000, and that the increased presence would include squadrons of F-16 and F-22 fighters as well as A-10 attack aircraft.

On Sunday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that he was extending the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group’s stay in the region.

A second carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, departed Virginia last week and is expected to arrive in the Mediterranean Sea in about a week.

Tuesday’s missile attack was the second Iran has launched against Israel in six months. In April, a U.S.-led coalition shot down most of the missiles aimed at Israeli territory, while others reportedly failed to launch or crashed far from their intended targets.

On Tuesday, just before the latest attack unfolded, Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to a Pentagon statement.

“The secretary shared that over recent days the United States has increased force readiness and continues to maintain significant military capability in the region,” the Pentagon said. 

Austin also made it clear that the United States is well-postured to defend U.S. personnel, allies and partners in the face of threats from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organizations.

They also discussed the “severe consequences” for Iran, in the event it chose to launch a direct military attack against Israel.

During his briefing at the White House, Sullivan also spoke of “severe consequences.” What they might be, however, remains unknown.

Sullivan pointed out that after Iran attacked Israel in April, the United States issued a number of sanctions against it as a consequence.

“There will be severe consequences for what happened today. Will they be more severe than sanctions? That’s a totally legitimate question,” Sullivan said in response to a reporter.

“The answer will come based on the conversations we have with our Israeli counterparts,” he said. “It’s too soon for me to stand before you today and give you an answer.

“What I can tell you is this, we are proud of the actions that we’ve taken alongside Israel to protect and defend Israel, and that we have made clear that there will be consequences [for the actions Iran has taken today],” he said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue