AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Today, we are tracking an escalation in violence in the Middle East. Iran launched about 180 long-range missiles at Israel. That was after Israeli forces launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon against Iran's main proxy, Hezbollah. The developments have heightened fears that the entire region is now on the brink of an all-out war. I'm joined now by NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv and Jane Arraf in Beirut. Hello to both of you.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Hi.
CHANG: All right. Daniel, I want to start with you. Can you just tell us more about this missile attack by Iran on Israel today?
ESTRIN: It did not come as a surprise. Around midday, Israel announced that the U.S. had detected Iran was preparing to strike. And when it became dark, there were air-raid sirens across the entire country, which is extremely unusual. Israel closed its airspace to incoming planes. There were several rounds of air-raid sirens as people took cover in their safe rooms at home or even on the side of the highways.
There were these orbs that streaked across the sky as you saw the missiles fly and as you saw Israeli interceptors trying to knock those missiles out of the sky. And even in Gaza, you could see these orbs in the sky. Our producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, filmed this.
(CHEERING)
ESTRIN: Those are people in Gaza cheering on Iran for this missile attack. In the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory, in the city of Jericho, Palestinian authorities said one Palestinian man was killed as a result of a missile falling there. And Israel says that it and the U.S. indeed intercepted most of the missiles fired.
CHANG: Most of the missiles - OK. Well, Jane, you are in Beirut, which itself has been under pretty constant fire from Israeli airstrikes, right? What is the situation there at this moment?
ARRAF: It's quite tense, Ailsa. Even in neighborhoods far from those continuing Israeli attacks, you have the backdrop of the sound of Israeli drones buzzing overhead and sirens of ambulances trying to get through streets that are packed with vehicles of people fleeing the south of Lebanon. And south is where Israel launched its long-threatened invasion last night, heavy artillery fire followed by what Israel said were special forces crossing the border. The Lebanese Army pulled back from checkpoints there, and Hezbollah has threatened attacks if they do engage in ground fighting.
The State Department says about 6,000 American citizens here in Lebanon have registered for information on how to leave the country. The embassy has told Americans to get on commercial flights, but there are almost none left.
CHANG: God. Well, how is Iran explaining what it's doing?
ARRAF: It calls the dozens of what it said were hypersonic ballistic missiles Operation True Promise II, and it says that operation is revenge for Israel killing Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the political head of Hamas who was killed in an attack in Iran and a senior Iranian commander. Iranian state TV tonight gloated that the attacks had driven Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a bunker, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed a, quote, "crushing response" if Israel retaliates.
CHANG: Well, Daniel, Iran, I mean, it launched a similar attack on Israel using missiles and drones back in April, right? Like, what is Israel saying this time with this attack?
ESTRIN: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, tonight, Iran made a big mistake and it will pay for it. The White House is also saying that there will be severe consequences. We don't know what kind, and we don't know when. If you think back to April, when Iran and Iranian proxies launched missiles and drones at Israel, Israel reportedly carried out an airstrike in Iran. Iran downplayed it at the time, perhaps as a way not to escalate. This time, we are hearing even the Israeli military chief saying, we will choose when to exact a price, and he says that Israel will prove its precise and surprising attack capabilities.
CHANG: Well, Jane, the last time Israeli forces invaded Lebanon was back in 2006, when Hezbollah fought them to a standstill in a monthlong war. How is Hezbollah responding to what is happening now?
ARRAF: Well, we have to keep in mind that Hezbollah has been weakened by Israeli attacks in the past two weeks and the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, their leader for 32 years. Those attacks include not just the airstrikes but pagers that were rigged by Israel to explode. So Hezbollah today launched rockets into Tel Aviv, and it said those were only the beginning. Even without a war, we have to remember that Lebanon's economic crisis, rampant corruption, political paralysis, I could go on and on, really...
CHANG: Yeah.
ARRAF: ...Have left it really vulnerable to instability. It's considered a fragile state. If you add an all-out war into that mix, there are fears that the state could actually collapse.
CHANG: Well, finally, Daniel, there was a deadly shooting attack in Tel Aviv just before Iran launched this missile attack. What do we know about that earlier attack?
ESTRIN: Israeli authorities are saying that at least seven people were killed in this shooting attack, not far from where I am now, in the Jaffa district of Tel Aviv. They were killed by a pair of Palestinian gunmen, according to Israeli authorities. And Israel says that they have enacted a closure on the city and the West Bank, where the gunmen came from, and preventing Palestinian laborers from entering Israel.
CHANG: That is NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv and Jane Arraf in Beirut. Thank you to both of you.
ESTRIN: You're welcome.
ARRAF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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