Israel begins retaliatory strikes against Iran after missile barrage on Israelis

Israel on Friday launched a wave of retaliatory airstrikes against Iran after the Islamic Republic. fired a barrage of missiles at the Israelis earlier this month.

Explosions were heard near Tehran, Iran’s capital, and near Karaj, Reuters reported, citing local media.

The Israeli military action comes after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised a “precise and deadly” response to the more than 180 missiles that Iran targeted Israel on October 1, some of which were intercepted with the help of the United States.

Last week, during the run-up to the Israeli attack, reports emerged that the Israel Defense Forces presented a list of potential targets to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant as officials carried out “sensitive coordination” with other Middle Eastern countries.

ISRAEL’S AMBASSADOR TO THE UN: THE RESPONSE TO IRAN WILL BE ‘VERY PAINFUL’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 2023. The two Israeli leaders have reportedly been presented with targets to attack in Iran in response to Tehran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1. (Reuters/Pool)

“The regime is vulnerable and it is up to us to decide what message we want to send them,” Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, also told Fox News Digital. “It will be very painful for the Iranian regime, and in the future they will think twice about whether to attack Israel or not.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the missile barrage it fired at Israel on October 1 was in retaliation for the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in an Israeli airstrike and for the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July. Israel later eliminated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. in a military operation in the Gaza Strip on October 16.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has previously called Nasrallah “the standard bearer of the resistance” in the region.

“The blood of the martyr will not remain unavenged” Khamenei said after Nasrallah’s death: according to Reuters.

ISRAEL DECIDES ON POSSIBLE TARGETS FOR IRAN: ‘ACCURATE AND DEADLY’

Jerusalem residents took shelter during an Iranian missile bombardment on October 1, 2024. (Credit Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

During the October 1 attack by Iran, no casualties were reported in Israel, although one Palestinian was killed in the West Bank.

He The US Navy later released a video. showing the USS Cole and USS Bulkeley firing about a dozen ballistic missile interceptors to help thwart Iranian aggression.

Iran also attacked Israel in April this year, during which it used some 300 missiles and drones. Jerusalem then responded to Western calls for restraint by attacking Iran’s air defenses and destroying part of an S-300 long-range air defense system.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was assassinated by Israeli military forces on October 16. (Photo by Mohammed Talatene/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

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To bolster Israel’s defenses against possible future attacks from Iran, a U.S. missile defense system is being deployed. being sent to the Middle East.

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips, Caitlin McFall, Stephen Sorace and Liz Friden contributed to this report.