MONITORING (SW) – Iran’s overnight attack on Israel could spiral into a far wider conflict, the EU has warned, as the two countries face off in an escalating exchange that threatens to engulf the entire Middle East.
In a statement first seen by POLITICO Tuesday night, the European Commission’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Peter Stano, said the bloc “condemns in the strongest terms Iran’s attacks with ballistic missiles against Israel, which constitute a serious threat to regional security.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz both condemned Iran’s attack and stressed the need to avoid further escalation in separate calls with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, according to Downing Street readouts of the calls.
Hundreds of missiles were fired at Israel on Tuesday evening, with its armed forces cautioning civilians to take shelter in bunkers in towns and cities across the country.
Millions of people rushed to shelters before explosions lit up the night skies above Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A man was killed by falling missile debris in the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran had made a “big mistake” and “will pay for it”.
Iranian state TV said Iran had fired 200 missiles towards Israel. These included hypersonic weapons, it said, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strikes were in retaliation for the killings of the leaders of its allies Hezbollah and Hamas.
Within hours of the massive barrage on Tuesday evening local time, Israel’s military resumed air strikes against what it said were Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
US President Joe Biden said the Iranian missile attack appeared to have been “defeated and ineffective”. The US Department of Defense confirmed its forces had helped shoot down missiles in support of its Middle East ally.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the majority of missiles were “intercepted by Israel and a defensive coalition led by the United States”.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres condemned what he called the “broadening conflict in the Middle East”, adding: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”
There was support for Israel from allies including Britain, France, Japan and Australia – with UK Defence Secretary John Healey issuing a statement saying the armed forces “had played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation in the Middle East”.
The missile attack came hours after Israeli troops began an invasion of southern Lebanon to remove what the military said were “Hezbollah terror targets” in border villages that posed a threat to residents of northern Israel.
Israel has gone on the offensive against the Iran-backed Shia Islamist political and military organisation after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war with Hamas in Gaza, saying it wants to ensure the safe return of residents of border areas displaced by Hezbollah rocket, drone and missile attacks.
Israel has vowed to respond to the attack – sparking worries among its allies that the conflict in the Middle East could escalate further.
Speaking hours after the assault, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it. The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”
Iran will not leave any of “the criminal acts” of Israel unanswered, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday, referring to the killing of Hezbollah’s chief and an Iranian Guard deputy commander in Lebanon.
On Friday, Israel conducted an airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, that killed Hezbollah’s long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah. In August, meanwhile, Israeli intelligence killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while the militant group’s leader was in Tehran for the inauguration of the country’s new president, Mahmoud Peszkesian.
The dramatic escalation in the conflict comes after almost a year of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, the group that controls much of south Lebanon and is part of the Iran-backed ‘Axis of Resistance’ that has stepped up attacks since the start of the war in Gaza.
Since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Israel’s military offensive in the Palestinian exclave has killed more than 40,000 people, according to local health officials.
