In an unprecedented attack in a region troubled since October 7, Iran launched a massive attack Saturday night using explosive drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles against Israel from its territory and not, as one might expect, through its militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Tehran has called the operation «True Promise,» claiming it is a response to the deaths of several Revolutionary Guards commanders in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus on April 1.
Tel Aviv says the vast majority of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran have been intercepted. Tehran has been launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles, according to Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, who assessed the Israeli response as «a very significant strategic success». Several ballistic missiles reached Israeli territory and caused Minor damage to an air base. And the country has also reopened its airspace.
With words of the same force as those used last time 7-0, Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter: «We will win.» Previously he had addressed the country by stating that the army was «prepared for any scenario».
The outcome of Iran’s unprecedented attack will determine the intensity of its great enemy’s reaction in a dynamic that was unthinkable until a few months ago between two countries fighting an intense but indirect and shadowy duel. «The response will be significant,» warn Israeli sources quoted by local media, who also report that their country has neutralized 100 Iranian ballistic missiles. An Israeli Bedouin girl was injured in the Negev desert as a missile hit an air base also in the south of the country, causing «minor damage», according to the army.
The Israeli defensive systems, already activated against the 16,000 shells and drones launched from various fronts over the last 6 months, have been tracking the waves of drones. At midnight, like the United States, they started shooting down some in the area of Syria and Iraq. The multi-layered Israeli defensive shield and the American, Jordanian and British systems in the region have managed to neutralize the different types of assets used by Iran.
At 1.42 am, practically throughout Israel, anti-aircraft sirens began to be heard for 15 minutes, with numerous explosions deriving from interceptions carried out by the Army’s vast defensive system.
“Iran recently launched unmanned explosive devices and killer drones from its territory against the territory of the State of Israel,” announced army spokesman Daniel Hagari, who in an attempt to calm his population noted: “The anti-aircraft defense system is on maximum alert and at the same time the fighter planes and ships of the Naval Force are now on a defensive mission.»
The Israeli defensive systems, already activated against the 16,000 shells and drones launched from various fronts over the last 6 months, have been tracking the waves of drones. At midnight, like the United States, they started shooting down some in the area of Syria and Iraq. If they manage to bypass the sophisticated Israeli defensive shield, composed of multiple layers and supported by US systems in the region, they will reach Israeli territory in full dawn.
At 1.40am anti-aircraft sirens began to be heard practically throughout Israel with numerous explosions resulting from interceptions carried out by the Army’s vast defensive system.
“Iran recently launched unmanned explosive devices and killer drones from its territory against the territory of the State of Israel,” announced army spokesman Daniel Hagari, who in an attempt to calm his population noted: “The anti-aircraft defense system is «active on maximum alert and at the same time fighter planes and Navy ships are now on a defensive mission.»
«The defense is not airtighttherefore it is important to obey the instructions of the Civil Protection», he added, responding to a situation that reminds many Israelis of the rain of Scuds from Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.
The attack comes after nearly two weeks of tense anticipation in Israel and the region amid threats of retaliation from Iran over the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guard officers in Damascus, including the former head of Syria’s Quds Force and Lebanon, Mohamed Reza Zehadi.
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Iran intercepts a ship «connected» to Tel Aviv in the Gulf
Iran intercepts a ship «connected» to Tel Aviv in the Gulf
“The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished, and will be,” Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, joining the Revolutionary Guard’s vehement vows of revenge.
With the airspace closed and all school activities cancelled, the security cabinet met urgently at the Defense headquarters in Tel Aviv not only to review the defense but also to study what type of response to implement. «We are prepared for any scenario, both in terms of defense and attack,» said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding a message repeated in his country in recent days: «Whoever harms us, we harm him.»
Reflecting concern and fear that Iran’s attack on Israel would take place this Saturday evening, Jordan had decided hours earlier to temporarily close its airspace starting Saturday evening, while US President Joe Biden has decided to cut short his weekend in Delaware to hold meetings with his national security advisers at the White House. At 4 a.m. Biden and Netanyahu had their first telephone conversation since the Iranian attack.
Biden’s strong warnings, accompanied by the strengthening of US defensive capabilities in the region, failed to stop the attack so widely announced by Iran. He will not even avoid a direct attack from his own territory, limiting himself to retaliation through his militias present in the region. Tehran has opted for the scenario that brings war closer to its great enemy.
The chain of warnings from Iran and counter-warnings from Israel has raised the already high temperature in a region in turmoil since Hamas’ jihadist attack and massive military response turned into a devastating war.
A prime example of the beginning of the attack was the assault carried out this Saturday morning by the maritime special forces of the Revolutionary Guard on «a container ship called MCS Aries in an operation carried out with a helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz» and which they brought into their territorial waters.
It would be a ship which, according to the Iranian agency, flies the «Portuguese flag, managed by the Zodiac company and belonging to the Zionist capitalist company Eyal Ofer«, alluding to a well-known Israeli businessman whose ships have been attacked in the past by Iran and its related forces in a strategic area of global maritime trade.
“The Ayatollah regime of (Iranian leader Al) Khamenei is a criminal regime that supports the crimes of Hamas and is now carrying out a pirate operation that violates international law,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said. «I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization and sanction Iran,» he added.
Iran, for its part, claims to have the «right to defend itself» and therefore to respond to the Israeli attack, which it defines as a «crime» and a «violation of international law». Before launching the attack, several Iranian spokespersons and media highlighted this Saturday «the panic created in the Zionist entity» in the face of the announced retaliation. A retaliation that had unpredictable effects for both countries and for the entire region.
