On Tuesday night, the eve of the Jewish new year, nearly ten million Israelis ran for
bomb shelters as sirens blared across the country following the launch of 181 ballistic
missiles towards the country by Iran, marking the largest-ever single ballistic missile
attack.
This is the second time that Iran has launched direct attacks on Israel – the first being
in April this year – but this week’s attack was far more threatening due to the
exclusive use of ballistic missiles, considerably more dangerous than most of the
drones and missiles fired at Israel by Iran in April.
With assistance from the US, UK and other countries, including Arab partners,
Israel’s multi-layered air defence system intercepted a large proportion of the aerial
attacks.
Responding to the attack, Keir Starmer gave a press conference and said that the UK government “utterly condemns this attempt by the Iranian regime to harm innocent Israelis, to escalate this incredibly dangerous situation and push the region ever closer to the brink. It cannot be tolerated.
We stand with Israel, and recognise her right to self defence in the face of this aggression.
Iran must stop these attacks, together with its proxies like Hezbollah.
Iran has menaced the Middle East for far too long. Chaos and destruction brought not just to Israel, but to the people they live amongst in Lebanon and beyond.
Make no mistake, Britain stands full square against such violence. We support Israel’s reasonable demand for the security of its people.”
