Updated at 8.28pm.

Israel fended off a major missile attack on Tuesday evening, its Iron Dome system intercepting some 180 missiles launched by Iran. 

Iranian media confirmed the attack, which came after warnings by Teheran of retaliation for Israel's killing of Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The official IRNA news agency said Iran had launched "a missile attack on Tel Aviv", without elaborating. 

AFP reporters said they had heard explosions over Jerusalem. A BBC reporter said the explosions sounded like interceptions by Israel's Iron Dome.

Israel's military on Tuesday intercepted a large number of missiles fired by Iran at the country, the army spokesman said, adding that there were a few "hits" during the barrage.

"We have carried out a large number of interceptions. There were a few hits in the centre and other areas in the south of the country," Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. No serious damage appears to have been caused. Social media showed footage of a missile striking close to a supermarket. 

The White House said the attack on Israel was 'defeated and ineffective'.

Palestinian man killed by missile shrapnel

Emergency services said two suffered slight injuries, possibly from fragments from an intercepted missile. 

In Jerico, a man died from shrapnel from an Iranian missile.

"A Palestinian worker in Jericho was killed when pieces of a rocket fell from the sky and hit him," Jericho governor Hussein Hamayel told AFP.

Israel warns of 'serious consequences'

Hagari warned the attack would have 'serious consequences' on Iran. "This attack will have consequences. We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide,"

But even as the attack was underway, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned in a statement: "If the Zionist regime reacts to Iranian operations, it will face crushing attacks."

The US earlier in the day warned that Iran was preparing to fire ballistic missiles at Israel. 

The warning came as Israel said it had launched a ground offensive in Lebanon to target the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, whose top leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike last week.

"The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel," a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack."

The United States and other western allies stepped in to help defend Israel against a combined Iranian missile and drone attack in April, which Tehran launched in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

Eight dead in shooting incident in Tal Aviv

Earlier on Tuesday afternoon eight people were shot dead in a suspected attack in Tel Aviv, police said, adding that the two assailants had been "neutralised".