Israel begins retaliatory strikes against Iran after rockets fired at Israelis

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

Explosions were heard near the Iranian capital Tehran and nearby Karaj, Reuters reported, citing local media.

“In response to the Iranian regime's months of sustained attacks on the State of Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces are currently conducting precision strikes on military targets in Iran,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 on seven fronts, including direct attacks from Iranian soil. Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty.” We will do whatever is necessary to defend the State of Israel and the Israeli people.

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

ISRAEL'S UN AMBASSADOR: REACTION TO IRAN WILL BE 'VERY PAINFUL'

Last week, in the lead-up to the Israeli strike, reports emerged that Israeli forces had presented a list of potential targets to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant, while officials were conducting “sensitive coordination” with other countries in the Middle East.

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

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the rocket fire it fired at Israel on October 1 was in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in an Israeli airstrike and the assassination of the Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was 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 described Nasrallah as a “flag bearer of resistance” in the region.

“The martyr’s blood shall not go unavenged,” Khamenei said after Nasrallah’s death, according to Reuters.

Israel decides on possible Iran targets: “precise and deadly”

Jerusalem residents sought refuge during an Iranian rocket fire on October 1, 2024. (Source: Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

No casualties were reported in Israel during Iran's attack on October 1, although one Palestinian was killed in the West Bank.

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

Iran also attacked Israel in April of this year, commanding around 300 missiles and drones. Jerusalem then responded to Western calls for restraint by attacking Iranian air defenses and destroying part of an S-300 long-range air defense system.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by Israeli 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 US missile defense system is being sent to the Middle East.

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