Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attack will be “deadly, pinpoint accurate, and surprising,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has warned.
Tehran’s missile barrage pummeled Israel earlier this month, in what was said to be reprisal for the killings of the heads of Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as a general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
”The Iranian attack was aggressive but inaccurate,” Gallant said on Wednesday. “In contrast, our attack will be deadly, pinpoint accurate, and most importantly, surprising – they will not know what happened or how it happened. They will just see the results.”
Gallant was speaking to Intelligence Unit 9900 of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), charged with visual intelligence collection and analysis. He credited their work with Israel’s “air supremacy” and ability to see “very precisely and in every place what we want to,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
Iran had launched a number of missiles and drones at Israel in April, in response to a deadly air raid on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Israel and the US claimed to have intercepted the attack entirely, with no damage or casualties. The October 1 barrage was more extensive, and videos of multiple missile impacts posted on social media clearly showed failings in the Israeli air defenses.
The IDF has vowed a “serious and significant” response, though Tehran has warned both Israel and the US that it would no longer exercise “unilateral self-restraint” and strike even harder instead.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly been trying to coordinate a strike with the US. Gallant’s planned trip to Washington on Tuesday was canceled after Netanyahu said he had not been able to get a hold of US President Joe Biden yet, according to media reports.
Biden has publicly warned Israel not to go after Iran’s nuclear program or oil facilities. According to both US and Israeli media, the IDF is now expected to target military and intelligence sites instead.
Meanwhile, the IRGC-affiliated news agency Tasnim has reported that the Iranian military has worked up at least ten contingency plans for responding to any Israeli attack. Tehran is “not afraid of war,” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi stated on Tuesday.