CNN
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According to a statement from the Israeli army, missiles have been fired from Iran towards Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, the White House warned that Iran was poised to launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel soon, immediately raising fears of an all-out war in the region.

In a statement released mid-morning, the White House said it had “indications that Iran is preparing to launch an early ballistic missile attack against Israel,” adding that the United States was “actively supporting defensive preparations to counter Israel’s defend attack.

“A direct military attack by Iran on Israel will have serious consequences for Iran,” a senior White House official said in a statement.

Israel assessed that Iran was likely to attack three Israeli air bases and an intelligence base just north of Tel Aviv, a person briefed on the matter said.

The intelligence base in Glilot was evacuated Tuesday afternoon, the person said, and the Israeli military has activated contingency plans for the safety of personnel at those bases.

The US warned Israel that an attack was likely within the next 12 hours, the person said.

An Israeli source told CNN shortly after the White House warning that intensive diplomacy is taking place behind the scenes.

After a year of heightened tensions between Israel and Iranian allies in the region – including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen – an attack by Iran on Israel could further tilt the region towards full-scale conflict.

American and Arab diplomats are already concerned about what might happen after Iran’s expected attack, including the scale of Israel’s response. One of the biggest concerns on their minds is that Israel may use an impending Iranian attack to respond by attacking inside Iran.

“There is no place in Iran that Israel’s long arm cannot reach, and that applies to the entire Middle East,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said during his speech at the United Nations last week.

The US is prepared to do whatever it can to help Israel intercept anything Iran sends its way, similar to how the US offered its help in April, when Iran launched a wave of drones and missiles towards Israel – one of which the vast majority were successfully intercepted. , a US official said.

The US expects Iran’s attack on Israel to be similar in scope and scale to April’s attack, a US official told CNN.

The US warned Israel early Tuesday morning (around noon Israel time) that Iran was about to launch an attack, according to a person familiar with the matter. The warning between the two countries came just hours before the White House publicly announced that it had indications that Iran was preparing an attack.

The official said Iran is poised to take swift action in the event of an attack. After the onslaught of drones and missiles fired into Israel in April, many Iranian assets remained in place.

Tensions between Israel and Iran have increased significantly in recent weeks as Israel has stepped up its efforts against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group, and Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon on Monday.

Netanyahu asked Israelis to “stand together” and continue to follow frontline commands as fears of an impending attack from Iran grow.

Netanyahu said Israel is in the grip of a “campaign against the Iranian axis of evil” and made specific demands to the Israeli public.

“What I ask of you are two things: one: strictly follow the guidelines of the frontline command, it saves lives. And second, to stand together,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

The United States is monitoring events in the Middle East very closely and is committed to Israel’s defense, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

“We are, as I said, closely monitoring developments at this time,” Blinken said in brief remarks alongside his Moroccan counterpart. Blinken did not make any specific reference to Iran or the possible attack.

The US Embassy in Israel has ordered all US government personnel and family members to “shelter in place until further notice” due to “the current security situation,” it said in a security alert on Tuesday.

“This is provided for your information as you make your own security plans,” the warning said, without mentioning specific warnings about an impending attack from Iran.

This story has been updated with additional developments.