The Israeli military struck military targets in Iran, officials said

By JOHN GAMBREL

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran early Saturday, saying it targeted military facilities in retaliation for barrage of ballistic missiles Earlier this month, the Islamic Republic fired at Israel. Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, although there were no reports of damage or casualties.

The attack risks pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war increasing violence in the Middle Eastwhere Iranian-backed militant groups, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, are already fighting Israel. It also marked the first time the Israeli military had openly attacked Iran, which had not faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since the Iraq war in the 1980s.

The hours-long Israeli attack ended shortly before sunrise in Tehran, with the Israeli military saying the target was “rocket factories used to produce rockets that Iran has fired at the State of Israel over the past year.” He also said it hit surface-to-air missiles and “additional Iranian air assets.”

Both Israel and Iran have not provided an initial estimate of the damage.

“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have relentlessly attacked Israel since October 7 … including direct attacks from Iranian territory,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a pre-recorded video statement early Saturday. “Like any other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and duty to respond.”

Nuclear and oil facilities were initially considered possible targets for Israel’s response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack, but by mid-October the Biden administration believed it had won assurance of Israel that it will not hit such targets that will be a more serious escalation.

Explosions rang out all over Tehran

Iranian state media acknowledged the explosions heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defense systems around the city.

But apart from a brief reference, Iran’s state television gave no other details and even began showing what it said was live footage of men loading trucks at a vegetable market in Tehran in an attempt to downplay the attack.

A resident of Tehran told The Associated Press that at least seven explosions were heard during the first wave of attacks, which shook the neighborhood. The resident wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

As the explosions rang out, people in Tehran saw what appeared to be a tracer fire in the sky. Other footage showed the launch of a surface-to-air missile.

Iran closed the country’s airspace early Saturday, and flight tracking data analyzed by the AP showed that commercial airlines had largely left the skies over Iran, but also over Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed and would continue to receive updates.

In Syria, the state news agency SANA, with reference to an unnamed military official, reported on missile attacks on military facilities in the central and southern regions of the country. It said Syrian air defenses shot down some of the missiles. There was no information about the victims.

Iran’s missile attacks led to Israel’s attack

Iran fired a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel last April after two Iranian generals were killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Syria on an Iranian diplomatic post. The rockets and drones caused minimal damage, and Israel — under pressure from Western countries to demand restraint — responded with a limited strike that it has not publicly announced.

But after Iran’s missile strike in early October, Israel promised a tougher response. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately declared that Iran “made a big mistake.”

Israel’s forceful strike against Iran risks further confusing the United States, which maintains a large troop presence in the Persian Gulf and helps Israel defend against attacks by Iran and its proxies.

Iran fired at least 180 rockets into Israel on the evening of October 1, forcing the Israelis to retreat to bomb shelters but causing only minimal damage and a few injuries. Iran said the shelling was in retaliation for attacks in recent months that have killed leaders of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Iranian military.

Before the Iranian attack in October, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes devastating blows against Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets at Israel almost daily for more than a year — ever since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

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 near Beirut killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders.

Israel then increased pressure on Hezbollah by launching a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. More than a million Lebanese have been left homeless and the death toll has risen sharply as airstrikes continue in and around Beirut.

Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until Israeli citizens displaced from their homes near the Lebanese border are safe to return. Hezbollah has vowed to continue firing rockets at Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel’s strike is the latest in a series of wars in the Middle East

When Hamas and other militants attacked Israel on October 7 last year, they killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages in Gaza. In response, Israel launched a devastating air and ground offensive against Hamas, and Netanyahu vowed to continue until all hostages were released. About 100 remain, and about a third are believed to be dead.

More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of the dead are women and children.

Israel’s strikes on Iran came on Saturday as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken returned to the US from a trip to the Middle East where he and other US officials warned Israel to respond in a way that would not further escalate the conflict in the country. region.

Two U.S. officials said Israel notified the U.S. of the strikes in advance. They said the US was not involved in the operation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation.

Israel and Iran have been bitter enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel views Iran as its biggest threat, citing its leaders’ calls for the destruction of Israel, their support for anti-Israel militants and the country’s nuclear program.

Israel and Iran are engaged in a multi-year shadow war. A suspected Israeli assassination campaign has claimed the lives of top Iranian nuclear scientists. Iran’s nuclear facilities have been hacked or sabotaged, all mysterious attacks blamed on Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks on shipping in the Middle East in recent years, which later escalated into attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping through the Red Sea corridor.

After the Hamas attack on October 7, the shadow war is increasingly coming to light.

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Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Abby Sewell in Beirut; and Lolita S. Baldor, Farnoosh Amiri and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

Originally published: October 24, 2024 at 10:31 p.m