Iran launched a missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.

The announcement by the Israeli military came hours after a White House official told NBC News that the United States had seen indications that Iran is preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack on Israel “at short notice” in the wake of Israel’s ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

The White House official warned that any direct attack on Israel by Iran “will have serious consequences for Iran.”

“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official said.

That official and a Defense Department official said Iran was expected to target military and government sites, not civilian ones.

President Joe Biden met with Vice President Kamala Harris and national security officials on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the expected attack, the White House said.

“They assessed the status of U.S. preparations to help Israel defend against attacks and protect U.S. personnel,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Emilie Simons said in a post on the social media site X.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem has ordered all US government employees and their families in Israel to “shelter in place until further notice.”

The embassy said in the same message that it “reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and intrusions by unmanned aircraft systems, UAS, often occur without warning.”

“The security environment remains complex and can change rapidly depending on the political situation and recent events,” the statement said.

Iran’s suspected planned attack came as Israeli ground forces entered southern Lebanon as part of an attack on Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group. The number of Israeli troops that have entered Lebanon is in “the low hundreds,” an Israeli official told NBC News.

Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a bomb attack in Beirut last week.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the killing of Nasrallah and a senior Revolutionary Guard commander in that attack “will not go unanswered.” Araghchi said the United States was “complicit in this crime.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 250 points at 10 a.m. ET, fueled by a rise in the cost of West Texas Intermediate crude oil on fears of heightened tensions in the oil-rich Middle East.

The November WTI contract was up nearly 3% by mid-morning, hovering below $70 a barrel.

In April, Iran launched an attack on Israel, deploying more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles, after two top Iranian commanders were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Syria.

Most of the missiles and drones were shot down by the Israeli and US military.

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