Iran attacks Israel, fires nearly 200 missiles; PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Tehran 'will pay for it’ | 10 updates

Iran attacks Israel: Tehran said its missile attack on was finished. Israel and US vowed to retaliate against escalation as fears of a wider war intensified.

Hours after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed retaliation against Tehran saying “it will pay for it”.

Fireworks explode next a portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a minaret of a mosque in an anti-Israeli gathering celebrating Iran's missile strike against Israel, at Felestin (Palestine) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday,(AP)

“Iran made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it,” Benjamin Netanyahu said as he gathered his Security Cabinet for a late-night meeting.

Iran launched nearly 200 missiles into Israel on Tuesday evening, the latest in a series of escalating attacks in a years-long conflict between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatens to push the Middle East closer toward a regionwide war.

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The orange glow of missiles streaked across Israel's night sky as air raid sirens sounded and residents scrambled into bomb shelters.

Early on Wednesday, Iran said its missile attack on Israel was finished barring further provocation, while the US promised to retaliate against Tehran's escalation as fears of a wider war intensified.

In a statement broadcast on state TV late on Tuesday, Iran said the attack targeted air and radar bases as well as security apparatus that planned the killing of senior Hamas and Hezbollah figures.

It said Iran has a right to defend itself under international regulations.

Watch: Iran Launches Huge Missile Attack On Israel:

10 latest updates on Iran's attack on Israel:

1. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the missile attack was a failure and that Iran would soon learn a painful lesson just as its enemies in Gaza, Lebanon and other places have learned. "Whoever attacks us. We attack them," he said.
2. Israel said it intercepted many of the missiles, and officials in Washington said US destroyers assisted in Israel's defence.
3. Iran said most of its missiles hit their targets. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said 90 per cent of missiles it launched against Israel hit their targets successfully.
4. Iranian state television, long controlled by hard-liners, has aired images of people in Arak, Qom and Tehran celebrating Iran's missile attack in Israel.
5. Iran’s armed forces joint chief of staff General Mohammad Bagheri has warned that his country will hit Israel’s entire infrastructure if it takes any action against its territory. He added that the Revolutionary Guard was prepared both defensively and offensively to repeat its missile attack with “multiplied intensity".
6. The Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said it has received no reports of injuries from the Iranian missile attack. Hagari the country's air defences intercepted many of the incoming missiles, though some landed in central and southern Israel.
7. In a separate post on X (formally Twitter), Israeli government said only one person was killed in the missle attacks – “A Palestinian man in Jericho”.
8. US President Joe Biden said his administration is “fully supportive” of Israel after it thwarted an Iranian missile attack and that he's in “active discussion” with aides about an appropriate response.
9. The UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting on the escalating situation in the Middle East for Wednesday at 10am, at the request of France and Israel.
10. Shortly before Iran launched its missiles, a shooting attack in Tel Aviv left at least six people dead, police said, adding that the two suspects who had opened fire on a boulevard in the Jaffa neighborhood had also been killed.

(With inputs from agencies)