Iran launched around 180 missiles at Israel on Wednesday, the Israeli military said. The attack was largely repulsed with US and Western help but several missiles hit their mark, including an Israeli air base.
US president Joe Biden said he did not support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites - a potential response suggested in unofficial reports. "The response must be proportionate,” Biden said.
Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel of forcing his country to react, saying that Tehran “is not looking for war but looking forward to peace”.
Iran's IRGC said the attack was in response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, warning Israel that it will strike again if there was an Israeli response.
The United States government is not trying to dissuade Israel from retaliating against Iran, CNN said citing two senior US officials.
"No one’s saying don’t respond. No one’s saying ‘take the win'," one source said, referring to Washington's argument the last time Iran attacked Israel in April.
In less than a two-hour period on Wednesday evening, the Israeli military said it detected over a hundred rocket launches from Lebanese territory into northern Israel.
All the launches fell into open area and have not led to any known casualties, the military said in a statement.
Israel's security cabinet has decided to respond decisively to Iran's missile attack and target 'strategic positions', Israel's Channel 12 said Wednesday.
It added that the operation would take place after necessary arrangements are made with the United States.
The office of Israel's prime minister published an image of Benjamin Netanyahu in meeting with defence minister Yoav Gallan, military chief Herzi Halevi, and the directors of Shin Bet and Mossad, Ronen Bar and David Barnea.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday discussed with allies a potential Israeli response to Iran's ballistic missile attack, according to a statement by the State Department.
Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian accused Israel of forcing his country to react, saying that Tehran “is not looking for war but looking forward to peace”.
He said this in a joint press conference with the Emir of Qatar’s in Doha.
"We were asked to maintain calm. For the sake of peace, we have maintained self-restraint,” he said."“If [Israel] acts, we will react more fiercely and harshly," he added.
Asked if he would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, President Joe Biden said, "no", according to Sky news correspondent Mark Stone.
"The response must be proportionate,” Biden added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday expressed his condolences over the death of eight Israeli soldiers in the Jewish state's ground invasion in southern Lebanon and pledged to confront Iran.
"We are in the middle of a tough war with Iran's axis of evil, which seeks to destroy us. This will not happen because we will stand together and we will win together with God's help," Netanyahu said in a video address.
An Israeli air strike hit a building in Damascus frequented by Hezbollah and Islamic Revolutionary Guard personnel and killed at least two people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah to leave Lebanon for Iran before an Israeli air strike ultimately killed him on Friday, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing Iranian sources familiar with the matter.
Khamenei is now concerned about Israeli infiltration of senior government ranks in Iran, they added.
IRGC regional commander Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed alongside Nasrallah, was Khamenei's messenger according to Reuters.
Iran has carried out several arrests among security officials, fearing infiltration of its personnel by Israeli intelligence, and suspicions focus mainly on those with ties or family abroad, the sources told Reuters.
Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in south Lebanon, the military said in a statement on Wednesday.
Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel intended to kill, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.
"This attack intended to cause significant death and destruction and marked a significant escalation by Iran. It does not negate the need for immediate Council action," she said.
"This is a moment for this council to speak out with one voice and condemn Iran for its unprovoked attack against another member state, and equally important, to impose serious consequences on the IRGC for its actions," she added, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The attack killed only one person according to preliminary reports, a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank.