Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that Iran would pay a price for a missile attack on Israel.
Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles into Israel on Tuesday — many of which were intercepted. Israel Defense Forces said the few missiles that got through its air defense system hit the southern part of the country.
Jake Sullivan, national security advisor to President Joe Biden, said U.S. Naval destroyers worked with Israelis to shoot down and intercept the missiles.
He added that President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris monitored the operation from the Situation Room.
"We're still assessing the impact, but based on what we know now, the attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective," President Biden said.
"My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering, and let us be clear, Iran is not only a threat to Israel, Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the hands of Iran based and back terrorist proxies," Harris said.
Sullivan noted that there was one known casualty in the attack: a Palestinian civilian.
The missile strikes from Iran come at a volatile time in the Middle East. Israel on Tuesday began a ground incursion in Lebanon, going after Iranian-backed Hezbollah. In previous days, Israel had killed the terrorist organization's leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan.
RELATED STORY |Iran says it fired dozens of missiles into Israel
Iran claimed Israel's actions warranted a response.
"Iran’s legal, rational, and legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime—which involved targeting Iranian nationals and interests and infringing upon the national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran—has been duly carried out," said Iran's representatives at the United Nations said.
Iran also warned any further retaliation from Israel would prompt a "subsequent and crushing response."
RELATED STORY | Jewish community reacts to Iran's missile attack on Israel
Around the same time people were coming out of bomb shelters on Tuesday, Israel said terrorists attacked citizens on a light rail train in Jaffa. A law enforcement spokesperson said the gunmen got on the train and began shooting indiscriminately.
At least four Israeli citizens were killed, authorities said, and numerous others were injured.
Israeli police said the two gunmen were killed, but offered no further details about a motive.
It's unclear whether the attack on the train was connected to the ongoing conflict in Lebanon or the Iranian missile attacks.
