JERUSALEM — Israel vowed to make Iran “pay” for firing a barrage of missiles at its territory, with Tehran warning on Wednesday it would launch an even bigger attack if it is targeted.
Iran launched its second direct attack on Israel in history on Tuesday, firing what it said were 200 missiles including hypersonic weapons, sending Israeli civilians into shelters and prompting several countries in the region to shut their airspace.
Israel, which put the number of missiles fired at its territory at 180, bombarded Lebanese strongholds of Iran ally Hezbollah, with heavy strikes early Wednesday on south Beirut.
Israel shifted its focus last month from its war in Gaza, which was sparked by Iran-backed Hamas’s October 7 attacks, to securing its northern border with Lebanon, where it is fighting Hezbollah.
After issuing numerous threats against Israel, Iran launched its second attack since April, sparking panic in Israel and around the region.
Israel intercepted most of the missiles, while Israeli medics reported two people injured by shrapnel.
In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho “when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him”, the city’s governor Hussein Hamayel told AFP.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight and will pay for it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“Whoever attacks us, we attack them.”
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who was at the command and control centre monitoring the interception of Iranian missiles, also vowed vengeance.
“Iran has not learned a simple lesson — those who attack the state of Israel, pay a heavy price,” he said in a statement.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in response to Israel’s killing last week of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing in July widely blamed on Israel.
The attack also sought to avenge Israel’s killing with Nasrallah of General Abbas Nilforoushan, a top commander of the Quds Force, the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm.
Israel said this week it began ground operations in Lebanon, while Hezbollah on Wednesday said it clashed with Israeli troops who tried to infiltrate into Lebanon.
The spike in violence in Lebanon since mid-September has killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes.
