An Iranian missile Photo by Iran's Defence Ministry/WANA
Tehran has warned it will strike again with greater force if Israel or the US retaliate for the Iranian strike on Israel that used more 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night.
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The air raids, the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on the Israeli state, brought a years-long shadow war into the open and threatened to draw the region into a broader conflagration as Israel said it was considering its response.
“Our response will be much larger than tonight’s military action if Israel retaliates against Iran,” the Iranian armed forces’ chief of staff, Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, told state TV, adding that Tehran had warned Washington that any backing of Israeli retaliation would result in US bases being targeted.
Israel, with the help of key western allies including the US, UK and Jordan, claimed to have intercepted 99% of the launches during the mass strike, but added that some ballistic missiles had reached Israel, damaging the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel, which remained operational.
As the UN security council prepared to convene an emergency session, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said more than 350 missiles were launched during the attack from Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and called the interception rate a “significant strategic success”.
Commenting on Israel’s response to the attack, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, posted on X: “We intercepted, we repelled, together we shall win.”
Israel’s military spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari, said in a televised statement that “the Iranian attack was foiled”, no drones or cruise missiles had entered Israeli territory and “only a few” ballistic missiles reached the country.
Although Israel moved to reopen its airspace, officials said the incident was not yet over.
As of Sunday morning, Israeli officials indicated no decision had been made about a response to the Iranian attack, as an official said any potential response would be discussed at the war cabinet meeting.
However, Israeli war planes were reported to be bombing Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.
On the Gaza front of the fast-expanding regional war, Netanyahu said Hamas had rejected a ceasefire proposal and that Israel would continue to pursue its conflict there with “full force”.
While many of the missiles and drones were brought down outside Israel’s airspace, others were intercepted over Israeli territory by its air defence interceptor system, which lit up the night sky with detonations, while air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and other cities.
[Source: https://www.theguardian.com/]
