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Israel-Gaza-Lebanon updates: Israel response to Iran will 'come fast,' official says

Israel said damage from Iran's missile barrage was minimal.

ByNadine El-Bawab, Emily Shapiro, David Brennan, Julia Reinstein, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: October 2, 2024, 2:52 PM EDT

Iran launched the largest missile attack on Israel to date on Tuesday, with hundreds of missiles fired into the country, according to Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations.

Iran said the unprecedented attack was retaliation for a wave of assassinations carried out by Israel over the last several weeks targeting Hezbollah, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Sirens sounded across Israel and some citizens were urged to seek shelter in protected areas. Most of the missiles were intercepted, but "several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed," an Israeli security official said.

The U.S. fired missiles to help Israel defend itself against the missile attack, according to the Pentagon's Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
6:23 AM EDT

Iranian leader blames US, Europe for Middle East turmoil

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday morning that "the basis of the region's problems is the presence of the United States and some European countries who falsely claim peace and tranquility."

Iran launched 220 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night, according to a U.S. official. The attack was in protest of Israel's recent operations against the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, including the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.

This handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him during a gathering in Tehran on Oct. 2, 2024.
-/KHAMENEI.IR/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran fired 180 missiles in its second direct attack on Israel since Oct. 7. "This evening, Iran made a big mistake -- and it will pay for it," Netanyahu said Tuesday.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that 90% of the missiles launched hit their targets.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian and Hami Hamedi

5:34 AM EDT

Israel deploys more troops into Lebanon with air, artillery support

The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that more troops "are joining the limited, localized, targeted raids on Hezbollah terror targets and terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon that began on Monday."

An Israeli Apache helicopter releases flares near the Israeli-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, on Oct. 2, 2024.
Baz Ratner/AP

The IDF said its 36th Division -- including soldiers of the Golani Brigade, 188th Armored Brigade, 6th Infantry Brigade and additional forces -- would join the ground incursion.

The units will be accompanied by air and artillery units, the IDF added.

-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller

4:57 AM EDT

IDF says it hit 'munitions production sites' in Beirut

Recent airstrikes in southern Beirut targeted "munitions production sites and other terrorist infrastructures," according to an Israel Defense Forces statement published on Wednesday morning.

People check the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Shayyah, Lebanon on Oct. 2, 2024.
-/AFP via Getty Images

"Fighter jets of the air force, under the precise intelligence guidance of the intelligence division, carried out a series of targeted attacks in recent days throughout Beirut," the IDF wrote.

Beirut -- and particularly its southern suburb of Dahiya -- has faced intense airstrikes in recent days as Israeli warplanes target what the IDF says are a variety of Hezbollah-associated targets.

The southern suburbs were also the site of the airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.

3:31 AM EDT

'Israel is coming,' opposition leader says after Iran attacks

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Iran will "pay a significant and heavy price" for Tuesday's ballistic missile attack.

"With our military capabilities, our defense industries, the support of our allies and in particular the strength of our incredible people -- we know that even when the cost is high, we will win," Lapid wrote on X.

"Tehran knows that Israel is coming," he added. "The response needs to be tough and it should send an unequivocal message to the terror axis in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and in Iran itself."

A man walks past a damaged school in Israel's southern city of Gedera on Oct. 2, 2024, after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel.
John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

"Alongside that response, we need to develop a coherent regional strategy which translates military successes into a strategic victory, into change in the region. And we must not forget, not even for a moment, the urgent need to bring our hostages home."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

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