TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel attacked Iran with a series of airstrikes before dawn Saturday in what he said was a response to ballistic missile barrage The Islamic Republic fired on Israel earlier this month.

The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities Iran used to produce the missiles fired at Israel, as well as surface-to-air missile sites. There was no immediate indication that oil or missile sites had been hit — strikes that would have marked a much more serious escalation — and Israel offered no immediate assessment of the damage.

Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, although the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state media downplayed the attacks. Iran’s military said two of its troops were killed in the attack, Iranian Al-Alam television reported.

Still, the strikes risk pushing enemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiral of violence in the Middle Eastwhere Iranian-backed militant groups—including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — I already am at war with Israel.

“Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and paid the price for it,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video statement.

“We are focused on our war objectives in Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to push for broader regional escalation.”

Photos and videos released by Israel show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a casual black jacket, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with military advisers and others in a conference room at a military command and control center from the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.

Strikes filled the air for hours until sunrise in Iran. They marked the first time the Israeli military had openly attacked Iran, which had not faced a sustained bombardment from a foreign enemy since the 1980s war with Iraq.

Israel is also believed to have been behind a limited air attack in April near a major air base in Iran where the radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery was hit.

Saturday’s attack came as part of Israel’s “duty” to respond to attacks on it by “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Hagari said.

“The Israel Defense Forces have accomplished their mission,” Hagari said. “If the regime in Iran makes the mistake of starting a new round of escalation, we will be forced to respond.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the decision to avoid “strategic and economic targets” in the attack.

“We could and should have demanded a much higher price from Iran,” Lapid wrote in a post on X.

The United States has warned against further retaliation, indicating that the overnight strikes should end direct fire between Israel and Iran.

Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia condemned the attack, calling it “a violation of (Iran’s) sovereignty and a violation of international laws and norms.”

The kingdom’s foreign ministry said it rejected the escalation in the region and the “expansion of conflict that threatens the security and stability of countries and people in the region.”

Nuclear facilities and oil installations were seen as possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack before US President Joe Biden’s administration won. insurance from Israel in mid-October that it would not meet such targets, which would be a more severe escalation.

Iran’s military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, without giving details.

It closed its airspace during the attack, but Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said flights were resuming at 9 a.m., Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

Iran’s state media acknowledged the explosions that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city. But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television offered no other details for hours.

Iran’s move to quickly downplay the attack may provide a way to not respond, avoiding further escalation.

IRAN fired a barrage of missiles and drones in Israel in April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post. Missiles and drones caused minimal damageand Israel – under pressure from Western countries to show restraint – responded with a limited strike that it did not openly claim.

In Lebanon, dozens were killed and thousands injured in September when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in two days of attacks attributed to Israel. A massive Israeli airstrike the following week outside Beirut killed the old leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallahand some of his top commanders.