The Iranian blitz comes after a nearly yearlong cross-border conflict between Hezbollah, a star proxy group for Tehran, and Israeli forces. The fight, tied to the ongoing war in Gaza, has severely crippled the Lebanese militant group after Israel eliminated most of its command structure in the past month.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began limited ground incursions into Lebanon early Tuesday morning local time.
Israel has also engaged in a destructive counteroffensive in Gaza, after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Oct. 7, sparking the current conflict in the region.
As the violence intensified, Israel said it was carrying out an attack “in the Gaza Strip” although it later clarified there were no boots on the ground. (Photo by ANAS BABA / AFP) (Photo by ANAS BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli officials confirmed Iran had launched strikes hours later and said its air defense systems, known as the Iron Dome, were fully operational and ready to intercept any missiles.
Video released by CBS News online shows missiles fired at Tel Aviv, one of Israel’s most densely populated cities, Tuesday evening local time. The Iron Dome is seen intercepting some of the missiles.
The Iron Dome is Israel’s air missile defense system that defends against short-range rockets by intercepting them in the air above the state. Israel’s Ministry of Defense said it’s capable of handling multiple rockets at time.
The system became operational in March 2011 and performed its first interception of a rocket from Gaza a month later. Since then, it has intercepted thousands of rockets, including many on Tuesday.
The Iron Dome is part of Israel’s Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), which has several other systems. David’s Sling can intercept short-to-medium and medium-to-long-range missiles. Arrow-2 intercepts medium to long-range missiles and the Arrow-3 intercepts long-range missiles.
The Iron Dome was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The United States partnered with Israel to develop the system and later purchased two of its own in 2020.
The IMDO receives joint funding with the United States Missile Defense Agency to carry out join initiatives.
