Iran attacks Israel with missiles

Iran said Tuesday's attacks were in response to Israeli killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

Iran has launched several missiles at Israel, the second time in recent months.

Iran said Tuesday’s attacks were in response to Israeli killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the attack on Israel was a response to the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week, as well as that of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier this year, Al Jazeera quotes Iran’s Fars news agency as saying.

“In response to the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah and [IRGC commander Abbas] Nilforoushan, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories,” the IRGC was quoted as saying in a statement.

Iran said the missile attack targeted “three military bases” in the Tel Aviv area.

Iran’s state television said 80 per cent of the missiles launched at Israel hit their targets. The Israel military, however, said a “large number” of missiles had been intercepted.

Many of the missiles are believed to have been intercepted although the attacks sent Israelis rushing to bomb shelters.

Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv after Israelis piled into bomb shelters late on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reports.

The latest incident raises fears of an all out war in the Middle East following ongoing Israeli attacks in Palestine and Lebanon.

Tuesday’s attack occured about six months after Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel. The April attack was in response to Israeli attack on an Iranian embassy building in Syria, officials said.

More details will be provided in subsequent reports.