America News Agency

"Iran made a big mistake tonight and will pay the price for it. The Iranian regime does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies... They will understand," Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his security cabinet late Tuesday.

Iran's unprecedented salvo of more than 180 ballistic missiles came less than 24 hours after the Israeli prime minister ordered the biggest ground attack on southern Lebanon in a generation.

Air sirens were heard in Israel as the Iranian missile strikes began. Most of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli air defences and left red and gold trails in the night sky. Other missiles, still intact, continued toward the coast and central Israel despite the distant sounds of explosions.