Israel said it intercepted many of the missiles, and officials in Washington said U.S. destroyers assisted in Israel's defense. Iran said most of its missiles hit their targets. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, which he said “made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it.” An Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel retaliates against Iran's territory.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slammed the presence of American and European nations in the Middle East in his first remarks since Tehran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel.
Khamenei said on Wednesday that their presence is a source of “conflicts, wars, concerns and enmities” but made no mention of the missile attack the night before.
“Regional nations can manage themselves and ... they will live together in peace,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
He said Iran is hopeful of getting “rid of the enemies’ evil” and also urged Western nations to “cut their badness.”
Iran has long seen the U.S. troop presence on its doorstep as a threat and demanded their evacuation from neighboring Iraq and elsewhere in the region.
The United Nations Security Council called an emergency meeting for Wednesday to address the spiraling conflict.
Israel’s foreign minister says he is barring the United Nations secretary general from entering Israel, accusing him of being biased against the country.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that he was declaring Antonio Guterres “persona non grata” and that he would be prevented from entering Israel.
The move deepens an already wide rift between Israel and the United Nations.
Israeli police say 7 people died in Tuesday's shooting attack in a Tel Aviv suburb
Israeli police said on Wednesday that a total of seven people were killed in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening minutes before the Iranian missile barrage.
Two Palestinian men from the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Hebron opened fire in the Jaffa neighborhood of Tel Aviv, including shooting directly into a light rail carriage crowded with passengers that was stopped at a station.
Police said the two had no prior arrests though one had been involved in disturbing the peace at a demonstration. The two men were shot and killed by security guards and armed pedestrians.
Police and paramedics who responded to the scene treated another 16 people injured from the shooting as sirens blared across the country.
On Wednesday, locals left flowers and candles at the train stop, where bullet holes peppered the signs and train stop benches.
