After vowing retaliation against Israel for its attacks on southern Beirut, Lebanon, today, Iran fired ballistic missiles at northern Israel on Sunday, June 7, in what is the first direct attack by the Islamic Republic on Israeli territory since the April ceasefire.
According to the report by Associated Press, the attack marked a sharp escalation as the U.S. and Israeli war with Tehran reached its 100th day. Negotiations had been ongoing to end the war, but the issue of Lebanon — or more specifically, its inclusion in the peace deal — has been a major point of contention for both parties.
Tehran had warned that continued Israeli operations against the Iran-backed group in Lebanon would draw a response, and Iranian officials told Al Jazeera the Beirut strike had crossed Iran’s stated red lines.
Earlier Sunday, the Iranian Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf warned on X that the naval blockade against Iran and America’s “green-light today to the Zionist regime has turned American and regime bases into legitimate targets.”
“Watch the sky tonight”
Then there was the tweet from Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for the National Security Committee in parliament, who wrote, “Watch the sky tonight over the occupied territories,” a post that preceded the barrage by a matter of hours.
Israel’s military said it identified missiles launched from Iran and activated air defenses to intercept them, with sirens sounding across several areas of the country. The IDF cautioned that “the defense is not hermetic” and warned of additional incoming volleys, Bloomberg reported.
Israeli air defenses engaged missiles from at least three barrages, with at least 10 ballistic missiles intercepted, according to CNN.
Trump, meanwhile, urged restraint against further escalation, telling Fox News that the attack was not helping negotiations and that he would advise both sides to return to talks. He said he intended to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and press him not to strike back, telling Israel’s Channel 13 that Israel had “responded enough.”
Trump’s pleas were apparently ignored, as Israel has now retaliated by striking Iran, with Trump saying on Truth Social:
“Israel and Iran must immediately stop “shooting.”
This exchange comes against the backdrop of a war that began on February 28 and lasted for 40 days before a ceasefire was brokered through mediators like Pakistan. Since then, Iran and the U.S. have been engaged in several rounds of talks, with messages going back and forth between Tehran and Washington in the hope of reaching a deal that ensures, in Trump’s words, that “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” per what he told CNBC.
For now, there is once again a halt in fighting, and we’ll make sure to update you with any new developments in the coming days.
