Israel hits Iran with airstrikes in retaliation for prior missile attack

Israel pounded Iran with a series of airstrikes early Saturday, saying it was targeting military sites in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only "limited damage."

The attack risks pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiralling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon are already at war with Israel.

Saturday marked the first time Israel's military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn't faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.

Israel's hours-long attack ended just before sunrise in Tehran, with the Israeli military saying it targeted "manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year." It also said it hit surface-to-air missile sites and "additional Iranian aerial capabilities."

The Israeli military said Saturday it had launched"precise strikes on military targets in Iran,"and, according to two Israeli officials, it was not targeting nuclear or oil facilities. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the ongoing operation with the media.

WATCH | What happened in Iran'sattack on Israel in early October:

Iran fires ballistic missiles into Israel

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Iran launched a series of ballistic missiles at Israel less than a week after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a day after ground operations started in Lebanon. The attack has added to fears of a wider conflict in the region.

"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since Oct. 7including direct attacks from Iranian soil," Israeli military spokespersonRear Adm.Daniel Hagari said in a pre-recorded video statement early Saturday.

"Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and the duty to respond."

Initially, nuclear facilities and oil installations all had been seen as possible targets for Israel's response to Iran's Oct. 1 attack, but in mid-October theadministration of U.S. President Joe Biden believed it had won assurances from Israel that it would not hit such targets.

Sound of explosions heard

Iran's state-run media acknowledged blasts could be heard, and saidsome of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.

But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television offered no other details and even began showing what it described as live footage of men loading trucks at a vegetable market in Tehran in an attempt to downplay the assault.

A Tehran resident told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions could be heard, which rattled the surrounding area. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

People in Tehran could see what appeared to be tracer fire light up the sky as the blasts could be heard. Other footage showed what appeared to be surface-to-air missiles launching up to the sky, along withother detonations.

Iran temporarily closed the country's airspace early Saturday, and flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed commercial airlines had broadly left the skies over Iran, and across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.Iraq announced the reopeningof its airspace and the resumption of flights hours later.

Missiles also reportedly hit Syria

The United States warned against further retaliation, indicating that the overnight strikes should end the direct exchange of fire between the Israel and Iran.

The White House said PresidentBiden had been briefed and would continue to receive updates.

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U.S.to send anti-missile system to Israel, Pentagon says

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The United States said on Sunday it will send to Israel an advanced anti-missile system and U.S. troops to operate it in a bid to bolster the country's air defences following missile attacks by Iran.

In Syria, thestate news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, reported that "barrages of missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanese territories targeted some military sites in the southern and central regions" of Syria early Saturday.

It said that Syria's air defences had shot some of the missiles down. There was no immediate information on casualties.

Escalating regional violence

Iran fired a wave of missiles and drones at Israel last April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic post in Syria. The missiles and drones caused minimum damage, and Israel under pressure from Western countries to show restraint responded with a limited strike.

But after Iran's early October missile strike, Israel promised a tougher response.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately said Iran had "made a big mistake."

WATCH | Iran's foreign minister visits Beirut, supreme leader justifies Israel missile attack:

Irans foreign minister visits Beirut, supreme leader justifies Israel missile attack

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Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Beirut one week after Israeli airstrikes killed Hezbollahs senior leader, Hassan Nasrallah. In Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei justified Irans recent missile attack on Israel as legal and legitimate.

Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel on the evening of Oct. 1, sending Israelis scrambling into bomb shelters but causing only minimal damage and a few injuries. Iran said the barrage was retaliation for attacks in recent months that killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military.

A forceful Israeli strike on Iran risks further entangling the U.S., which maintains a large troop presence in the Persian Gulf and has helped Israel defend itself against attacks by Iran and its proxies.

Blows against Hezbollah

Before Iran's October attack, Israel had landed a series of devastating blows against Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel near-daily for over a year ever since the deadly Hamas attack against Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Dozens were killed and thousands wounded in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israel airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed Hezbollah's longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israel then ratcheted up the pressure on Hezbollah by launching a ground invasion into southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese people have been displaced, and the death toll has risen sharply as airstrikes continue to hit in and around Beirut.

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Blinken ramps up Israel-Hamas ceasefire efforts as northern Gaza, Beirut under fire

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Tuesday with Netanyahu as part of his 11th visit to the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. After Israel's killing last week of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Blinken is trying to revive efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli military forces besieged hospitals and shelters for displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. The Israeli military levelled a building in a suburb of Beirut on Tuesday.

Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until it is safe for Israeli citizens displaced from their homes near the Lebanon border to return. Hezbollah has vowed to keep firing rockets into Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

When Hamas and other militants attacked Israel onOct. 7, 2023, they killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostages into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Netanyahu has vowed to keep it up until all of the hostages are freed. Some 100 remain and roughly a third are believed to be dead.

More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials who don't delineate between civilians and combatants but say more than half of the dead are women and children.

The strike on Iran happened just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arriving back in the U.S. after a tour of the Middle East where he and other U.S. officials had warned Israel to tender a response that would not further escalate the conflict in the region.

Two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation, said the U.S. was notified by Israel in advance of the strikes. They said there was no U.S. involvement in the operation.