Israel says Iran fired missiles, warns residents to shelter in place

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Tuesday that Iran had fired missiles and ordered residents to stay near air raid shelters as air raid sirens sounded across the country.

A series of window-shaking explosions were heard in Tel Aviv and near Jerusalem, although it was not immediately clear whether the sounds came from missiles landing or being intercepted by Israeli defenses, or of both.

Israel and the United States have warned there would be serious consequences if there is an attack on Israel from Iran, which supports the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the country’s air defense system was fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats. “However, the defense is not airtight,” he said.

Orders to shelter in place were sent to Israeli cell phones and announced on national television.

Iranian media outlets began publishing videos appearing to show missile launches at several sites across the country. However, the Iranian government did not immediately recognize what was happening.

The air raid warnings in Israel came a day after Israel announced it had launched limited ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling pounded villages in southern Lebanon where people were ordered to evacuate, and Hezbollah militants responded by firing a barrage of rockets into Israel. There was no immediate news on casualties as fighting intensified and fears of a wider regional war grew.

A senior White House official has warned of “serious consequences” if Iran launches a ballistic missile against Israel. American ships and planes are positioned in the region to help Israel in the event of an Iranian attack. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence.

Hagari also warned of consequences if Iran fired missiles at Israel.

He urged the public to stay near sheltered areas. “The Iranian strike could be widespread,” he said.

Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel in April, but few of its projectiles hit their targets. Many were shot down by a U.S.-led coalition, while others apparently failed to launch or crashed in mid-air.

While Hezbollah has denied the entry of Israeli troops into Lebanon, the Israeli army announced that it had also carried out dozens of ground raids in southern Lebanon almost a year ago. Israel released video footage purporting to show its soldiers operating in houses and tunnels where Hezbollah kept weapons.

If true, it would be another humiliating blow for Iran-backed Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the Middle East. Hezbollah is reeling after weeks of targeted strikes that killed its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of its top commanders.

On Tuesday morning, Israel warned people to evacuate to the north of the Awali River, about 60 kilometers from the border and much further than the Litani River, which marks the northern limit of a zone declared by the UN and intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after their 2006 war.

The border region has largely emptied over the past year, with the two sides trading fire. But the scope of the evacuation warning has raised questions about how deeply Israel plans to send its forces into Lebanon.

An Israeli airstrike hit a residential building near Beirut on Tuesday, causing damage but with no immediate reports of casualties. The strike appears to have hit an apartment about 100 meters from the Iranian embassy.

Anticipating further Hezbollah rocket attacks, the Israeli military announced new restrictions on public gatherings and the closure of beaches in northern and central Israel. The military also announced it was calling up thousands of additional reserve troops to serve on the northern border.

Questions raised over whether Israeli forces entered

An Associated Press reporter saw Israeli troops operating near the border in armored trucks, with helicopters flying overhead, but could not confirm that ground forces had crossed the border into Lebanon.

Before Israel’s announcement of an incursion, U.S. officials said Monday that Israel had described launching small ground raids inside Lebanon as it prepared for a broader operation.

Neither the Lebanese army nor a U.N. peacekeeping force patrolling southern Lebanon has confirmed the entry of Israeli forces. The UN force said a cross-border operation would constitute a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.

Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif rejected what he called “false allegations” of an Israeli incursion. He said Hezbollah is ready for “a direct confrontation with enemy forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanon.”

Hagari said troops were carrying out “localized ground raids” on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon to ensure Israeli citizens could return home to the north.

“We are not going to Beirut,” he said.

Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until citizens can return safely. Hezbollah has vowed to continue firing rockets into Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

He said Israel had carried out dozens of small raids in Lebanon since October 8, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after the outbreak of the Gaza war.

Hagari said Israeli forces crossed the border to collect information and destroy Hezbollah infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons. Israel said Hezbollah was planning its own October 7-style attack on Israel. It was not immediately possible to confirm these assertions.

An Israeli military official said troops participating in the latest incursion were steps from the border and focused on villages hundreds of meters from Israel. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said there had been no clashes with Hezbollah fighters.

The Israeli military was accused of lying to the media in 2021 when it released a statement implying that ground troops had entered Gaza. The army downplayed the incident as a misunderstanding, but informed Israeli military commentators said it was a ruse to lure Hamas into battle.

Israel hits more targets and Hezbollah fires rockets

The Israeli military official said Hezbollah launched rockets into central Israel, setting off air raid sirens and injuring one man. Hezbollah said it fired salvos from a new type of medium-range missile at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military official said Hezbollah also launched projectiles at Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without harming anyone.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel shortly after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 sparked the Gaza war. Israel launched airstrikes in retaliation and the conflict continued to escalate. In recent weeks, Israel has launched a wave of airstrikes on large parts of Lebanon.

Hagari said the UN Security Council resolution that ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 had not been implemented and that southern Lebanon was “swarming with Hezbollah terrorists and weapons.” “.

The resolution called on Hezbollah to withdraw from the area between the border and the Litani River and for the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to patrol the area. Israel says these and other provisions have never been implemented. Lebanon has long accused Israel of violating other terms of the resolution.

Israeli official says no plans to march on Beirut

Military statements indicate that Israel may focus its ground operations on the narrow strip along the border, rather than launching a broader invasion aimed at destroying Hezbollah, as it attempted in Gaza against Hamas.

Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies backed by Iran, and each escalation has raised fears of a broader war in the Middle East that could draw in Iran and the United States, which has rushed military assets to the region to support Israel.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon over the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes.

Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next showdown.

Recent airstrikes wiping out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah indicate that Israel has infiltrated deep into the group’s upper echelons.

The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement Monday that Hezbollah commanders killed in recent weeks had already been replaced.

As fighting intensifies, European countries have begun withdrawing their diplomats and citizens from Lebanon.

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Mroue reported from Beirut and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Zeke Miller and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed.

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