JUST IN: IDF Says Iran Launched Ballistic Missiles At Israel, Sirens Sound In Tel Aviv

Update: The IDF announced around 12:35 ET that Iran had launched ballistic missiles at Israel. Rocket sirens have sounded across central Israel as missile defenses prepare to intercept the attack, reported the Times of Israel. CNN’s Jim Sciutto posted a clip soon after that appeared to show a missile hitting Tel Aviv.

A deadly shooting in Jaffa, a neighborhood in south Tel Aviv was also reported.

A senior White House official told Israel on Tuesday that Iran is planning an “imminent” attack with ballistic missiles, reported multiple media outlets.

Israeli media quoted IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari confirming the warning from the anonymous source in the Biden administration but said that Israel has not yet detected any launches from Iran, reported the Times of Israel.

The U.S. official was also quoted as warning Iran of consequences, saying “we are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack. A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran.”

Tensions between Iran and Israel have continued to escalate after the IDF killed Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Beirut last week. Iran attacked Israel in April following an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian target in Damascus that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander. Israel, the U.S., and other regional allies like Jordan successfully shot down most of the drones Iran launched at Israel, limiting the damage from the attack.

MSNBC anchor Ana Cabrera asked NBC News national security reporter Courtney Kube what an Iranian attack might look like and what the U.S. is doing to prepare.

“But what do we know about how the U.S. is communicating with Israel and so forth and what we are prepared for, the U.S. is prepared for in this moment?” Cabrera asked soon after the U.S. issued the warning of an impending attack.

“Yeah. And Ana, you hit the nail on the head here. So what were the big question right now is, Yes. We have officials telling us this is imminent, but has it actually begun? So think back to April,” Kube replied, adding:

You’ll remember that Iran and proxy groups started firing off projectiles like lording, loitering munitions or drones several hours before they actually started impacting or really threatening Israel. In the case of April, there was really a wave of launches that really culminated with the ballistic missile launches and the cruise missiles that we were just hearing about. So the U.S. has been expecting for some time because of exactly all the provocations and that we have heard about so eloquently from Matt over the last few minutes, the assassination of of Haniyeh back in July.

Of course, Nasrallah’s death last week by the Israeli military. There has been an expectation and Iran has threatened to respond. So what we keep looking back is how did they respond in April? The expectation here at the Pentagon is that we will see something that could go a little bit beyond April, but we shouldn’t just look at numbers. So as far as how it could escalate in April, remember, there were about 300 different projectiles, but they were all the different ones that we heard about. Officials are talking more specifically this time about ballistic missiles.

Now, there were more than 100 missiles that were launched in April, but it feels as if what we are looking at here is the potential for even more ballistic missiles, specifically this time. Now, why that is concerning. They move faster. They tend to have a much bigger payload. They have the possibility of a simply a bigger impact on the ground there. Now, the US has ever since all of these provocations and escalations really started back in July and culminating with over the weekend after the death of Nasrallah. The military has continually said, the US military, that they have a robust presence in the region, more frankly, than they had during those April attacks from Iran. And they are confident that they can they can help Israel defend itself.

Watch the clip above.

This is a developing story and has been updated.