“Enemies, including America and the Zionist regime, should know that they will undoubtedly receive a crushing response for what they do against Iran and the resistance front,” Khamenei said.
By REUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: NOVEMBER 2, 2024 11:16Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran(photo credit: IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that the United States and Israel will “undoubtedly receive a crushing response” for what they do against his country, state media reported.
“Enemies, including America and the Zionist regime, should know that they will undoubtedly receive a crushing response for what they do against Iran and the resistance front,” Khamenei said.
He made the comments to students ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran by hardline students shortly after the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed Shah.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran (credit: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS)
Several people were trapped in a building in Tira and had to be rescued by firefighting teams.
By YUVAL BARNEAUpdated: NOVEMBER 2, 2024 10:05Footage of a rocket strike on Tira, November 2, 2024.(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/X)
Several people were injured after sirens sounded in central Israel early on Saturday morning, according to Israeli media.
Sirens sounded across central Israel in Herzilya, Ranana, Kfar Saba, and Tira.
The IDF said three rockets crossed into Israel’s territory from Lebanon. They confirmed that two rockets were intercepted, and one rocket hit Israeli territory.
N12 reported that several people were trapped in a building in Tira, and around five firefighting teams had been called to the scene. Around eight people were rescued from the building, of which several were injured.
Several people injured
Magen David Adom reported eleven injuries, all of which were evacuated to Meir and Bellinson Medical Centers.
Three were moderately injured, including a 17-year-old boy and a 28-year-old woman who the MDA evacuated to the hospital; the third person arrived at the hospital independently.
Eight people were lightly injured, including a 21-year-old man, a 16-year-old boy, and a 22-year-old woman, as well as a 20-year-old man with shrapnel injuries and a 48-year-old woman injured by broken glass.
Additionally, seven others were treated for anxiety at the scene.
Central District Police are continuing to search for any additional damage in the area as well as isolate strike sites in the area.
Tira is a predominantly Arab town, making it the second Arab town in a week to be hit by Hezbollah’s rockets.
Two people were killed in the town of Majd al-Krum last week, sparking fierce debate over racist rhetoric.
Iran’s supreme leader has instructed the country’s Supreme National Security Council to prepare for another assault on Israel, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
The report, which cited three Iranian officials, said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the decision on Monday after reviewing a report from senior military commanders on the extent of the damage caused by last week’s Israeli strikes on Iran’s missile production capabilities and air defense systems, critical energy infrastructure and a main port.
Khamenei was said to have told his associates that the scope of Israel’s unprecedented Oct. 26 retaliatory strikes was “too large to ignore.”
The sources said that military commanders were readying a list of dozens of targets inside the Jewish state, but that the attack would likely occur after the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential vote due to concern in Tehran that additional tensions in the region could boost former President Donald Trump.
Earlier Thursday, two sources in Jerusalem told Axios that Israeli intelligence suggests the Islamic Republic was preparing to attack the Jewish state from Iraq within the coming days.
The sources said the attack was expected to be carried out “using a large number of drones and ballistic missiles.”
On Thursday night, the Israel Defense Forces announced that aerial defense systems intercepted two drones that approached the country’s territory “from the east,” a phrase the military uses to refer to Iraq.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre warned the Islamic Republic on Wednesday not to respond to Israel’s Oct. 26 airstrikes.
Should Tehran choose to do so, “The United States will be standing by to assist Israel in its defense,” she added. Her remarks echoed those of U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, who stressed on Wednesday that Iran “should not respond.”
CNN on Wednesday quoted a “high-ranking” anonymous source as stating that Tehran would soon deliver a “definitive and painful” response.
“The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Zionist regime’s aggression will be definitive and painful,” the source said, adding that the attack would probably take place before the U.S. presidential election.
On Oct. 1, Iran launched 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in its second-ever direct strike on the Jewish state. While most were intercepted, an Israeli Air Force base suffered damage.
In response, on Oct. 26, IAF jets hit 20 sites in Iran in multiple waves, reportedly knocking out its air defenses and significantly setting back its missile production industry. The Israeli strikes reportedly also destroyed multiple radar systems required to guide the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missiles.
Initially, Tehran downplayed the Israeli attack, with Khamenei later saying that the strikes should “neither be exaggerated nor downplayed.”
For its part, Jerusalem has pledged a strong response should Tehran choose to launch a direct attack on the Jewish state for the third time.
“If Iran makes the mistake of launching another missile barrage at Israel, we will once again know how to reach Iran, with capabilities that we did not even use this time, and strike very, very hard at both their capabilities and locations that we set aside for now,” Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned on Tuesday.
