Jerusalem (AFP) - Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel on Tuesday in response to the killings of Iran-backed militant leaders, sending Israelis to shelters and prompting alarm across the region.

“A short while ago, missiles were launched from Iran towards the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said in a statement, as sirens sounded across Israel.

After about an hour, the military announced there was no longer a threat and “it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country”, with a “large number” of Iranian missiles intercepted.

Reports said between 150 and 200 missiles had been fired in the attack.

It was Iran’s second on Israel after a missile and drone attack in April in response to a deadly Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

AFP journalists reported hearing explosions over Jerusalem, while rescuers said two people were lightly injured by shrapnel in central Israel.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said the Islamic republic had launched “a missile attack on Tel Aviv”, Israel’s commercial hub.

Its Revolutionary Guards Corps said the attack was in response to Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week as well as the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a Tehran bombing widely blamed on Israel.

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East”, adding in a statement: “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.”

Israeli airspace was closed with all flights diverted, a spokesman for the airport authority said.

Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, which lie between Iran and Israel, closed their airspace too.

As the missiles made their way to Israel from the east, blasts were heard over the Jordanian capital Amman, as Israel’s allies moved to intercept them, an AFP correspondent said.

Jordan said its air defences responded to missiles and drones.

US President Joe Biden ordered the military to “aid Israel’s defence” and shoot down Iranian missiles, the White House said.

While Iran-backed groups across the region had already been drawn into the Gaza war, sparked by Palestinian group Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Tehran had largely refrained from direct attacks on its regional foe.

- Lebanon raids -

Early Tuesday, the Israeli military said troops had started “targeted ground raids” in south Lebanon, across Israel’s northern border, though officials have provided few details of the scale of the operation or its timeframe.

The Israeli ground offensive came despite growing calls for de-escalation after a week of air strikes that killed hundreds in Lebanon, including Hassan Nasrallah, the powerful leader of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Iran has said Nasrallah’s killing will bring about Israel’s “destruction”, though the foreign ministry said Monday that Tehran would not deploy any troops to confront Israel.

The Pentagon said the United States was boosting its forces in the Middle East by a “few thousand” troops.

In Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping mission said the Israeli offensive did not amount to a “ground incursion” and Hezbollah denied any troops had crossed the border.

A Lebanese army source told AFP the force had “not observed any penetration by Israeli enemy forces”.

There was no way to immediately verify the claims, which came as Israel struck south Beirut, Damascus and Gaza, despite international calls for restraint to avoid a regional conflagration.

“We fear a large-scale ground invasion by Israel into Lebanon would only result in greater suffering,” said UN human rights office spokeswoman Liz Throssell.

Israel’s defence minister warned the fight was far from over, even after a massive strike on Beirut killed Nasrallah on Friday.

Israel seeks to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capabilities and restore security to the north, where tens of thousands have been displaced by nearly a year of cross-border fire.

The Iran-backed group, which suffered heavy losses in a spate of attacks last month, said it targeted an Israeli intelligence base near Tel Aviv and other military facilities on Tuesday, as air raid sirens sounded and blasts rang out in the coastal city.

Separately, a suspected shooting attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening killed at least four people, police said.

- ‘Cease hostilities’ -

World leaders called for de-escalation after Israel announced the launch of its ground operation.

China said it opposed “infringements on Lebanon’s sovereignty”, while Russia said it “calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately cease hostilities”.

Austin gave Washington’s backing to Israel “dismantling attack infrastructure along the border”, though President Joe Biden had earlier said he opposed a ground invasion.

“We should have a ceasefire now,” said Biden, whose government is Israel’s top arms provider.

Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said more than 1,000 people have been killed since September 17.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the UN humanitarian agency appealed for more than $400 million in aid for the displaced, estimating there could be as many as one million.

Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza.

In central Beirut, Youssef Amir, displaced from southern Lebanon, said: “I have lost my home and relatives in this war, but all of that is a sacrifice for Lebanon, for Hezbollah”.

Beirut resident Elie Jabour, 27, told AFP that despite opposing Hezbollah “politically… I support them defending the border”.

Later, as Iran launched missiles, celebratory gunfire erupted from Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanese state media said. An AFP correspondent also reported the sound of gunfire from the Hezbollah bastion.

- Gaza strikes -

In Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli bombing killed 19 people on Tuesday.

Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,638 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.

Hamas appealed for “global solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon” in rallies planned for the war’s first anniversary on Monday.

burs/ami/kir