West Jerusalem has launched its retaliatory strike against Tehran, the Israel Defense Forces has confirmed.
On October 1, Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the killings of the Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general. While the IDF has insisted that the majority of the projectiles were intercepted, Tehran claimed to have hit several Israeli military targets.
Israel has since threatened to deliver a “deadly, pinpoint accurate, and surprising” retaliation, without specifying any time frame.
Tehran has warned Israel against conducting any strikes, vowing a “decisive and regretful” response, should it do so.
26 October 2024
The Israeli military is currently conducting “situational assessments” and is prepared for further “defensive and offensive action,” the IDF said.
“The State of Israel reserves the right to defend its citizens if the Iranian regime continues attacks against the State of Israel and its civilians,” the statement said.
“The IDF has a range of offensive operational capabilities, some of which were deployed today during the strikes on strategic assets deep within Iranian territory.”
The IDF says it has “completed precise and targeted strikes against military targets in a number of areas in Iran,” adding that the Israeli planes have now “safely returned home.”
“Based on intelligence, IAF aircraft struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the State of Israel over the last year. These missiles posed a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of the State of Israel. Simultaneously, the IDF struck surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aerial capabilities that were intended to restrict Israel’s aerial freedom of operation in Iran,” the IDF wrote in a statement.
Tehran has not officially confirmed any damage to its military infrastructure, with local media so far claiming that the country’s air defenses successfully intercepted most of the incoming missiles.
The Israeli attack ended around 5am local time, two Israeli officials told the New York Times. In total, the IDF allegedly struck “roughly 20 sites” in multiple waves, although Tehran has yet to confirm the scale of the attack and its impact.
Israel’s “target list contains military assets, particularly missile manufacturing facilities and aerial defense sites,” the Washington Post reports, citing a person briefed on Israel’s military planning.
There have been three waves of strikes against Iran so far, according to US and Israeli officials cited by Axios reporter Barak Ravid. The first round allegedly targeted Iranian air defenses, while the follow-up strikes were “focused on missile and drone bases and production sites.”
The Israeli raid is expected to last “several more hours,” a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The first strikes hit Iran early Saturday morning local time, with the second wave reported several hours later.
There have been no attacks on military centers belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Tehran “so far,” Tasnim reports citing informed sources.
Iran reserves the right to respond to the Israeli attack, and there is no question it would react “proportionally,” Tasnim news agency reports citing a “well-informed source.” Iranian authorities have yet to confirm any damage following the IDF air raid.
Iraq’s Ministry of Transport has announced the suspension of air traffic at all of the country’s airports “until further notice,” Al Jazeera reports. Iranian and Israeli authorities have also closed their respective airspaces
Israel apparently targeted “several military bases in the west and southwest of Tehran,” but there was no official confirmation of any casualties or damage, according to Fars News Agency.
Israel’s attack on Iran is “expected to be a one-night affair,” ABC News reports citing a source with direct knowledge. According to the same source, there were “no reports of any Israeli casualties or damage to Israeli warplanes.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris has also been briefed on the Israeli attack and is “closely following developments,” according to a White House official.
New footage is circulating online purportedly showing Iranian air defenses air engaging incoming hostile targets.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, “tonight,” two defense officials told NBC. The reports did not specify whether the conversation took place before or after the Israeli raid against Iran.
More explosions were heard in Tehran, allegedly due to the “activation of air defense systems,” according to local media reports.
“Over 100” Israeli jets, including F-35s, were involved in the raids against targets some 2000 km away from the country’s borders, the Walla news agency has claimed.
Syrian air defenses reportedly intercepted several Israeli missiles over the southern and central parts of the country, according to a statement from the military cited by SANA.
“At approximately 02:00 [11pm GMT Friday], the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack with a salvo of missiles from the territory of Lebanon and the occupied Golan Heights, attacking a number of military positions in the southern and central regions,” the military source said, adding that air defense systems “responded to the enemy missiles and shot down several of them.”
Iran has closed its airspace until 9am local time, according to a notice issued by the civil aviation authority.
Footage has emerged showing Israeli military officials supervising the operation from an underground command-and-control center of the Israeli Air Force.
Iranian authorities have yet to confirm any damage or casualties following the Israeli raid, with local media warning that most of the footage circulating online is old and unrelated to the ongoing attack.
The situation in Tehran is “normal,” with no reports of fire or smoke, according to the Iranian state news agency Tasnim. There were no explosions at the Tehran refinery, and no incidents at Imam Khomeini and Mehrabad airports, which continue to operate normally, according to the agency.
US President Joe Biden, who is currently in Delaware, has been briefed on the Israeli attack and is closely following developments, but his advisers are not planning to convene in the Situation Room, a White House official told CNN.
Washington was given a heads-up but was not involved in the Israeli strikes, three US officials told NBC News.
At least some of the blasts heard in Tehran were caused by the “defense activity,” a security source told IRNA, insisting the Iranian air defenses successfully repelled the attack.
Israel has so far limited its strike to Iranian “military targets,” an Israeli official told NBC News. “We’re targeting things that might have threatened us in the past or could do in the future,” the official said.
In another photo released by the IDF, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and the chief of the IAF, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, are seen commanding the strikes from the Israeli Air Force’s command center.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally directed the operation, alongside Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other military officials from the IDF’s underground headquarters, according to a redacted photo released by the PM’s office.
The Israeli strike “appears to have targeted” a weapons depot and a barracks or office in Tehran, NBC News reports citing two senior Arab officials.
“We understand that Israel is conducting targeted strikes against military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1st,” spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement to NBC News.
Israel notified the US about the looming strikes “shortly” before launching its raid, Fox News reports.
The scale of the attack was not clear, and there was no immediate information on damage in the Islamic Republic. A Tehran resident told AP that at least seven explosions could be heard in the capital.
25 October 2024
The Israel Defense Forces is conducting “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari has confirmed.
Sources told CNN, Fox News and Axios that West Jerusalem launched its attack early Saturday morning local time.
Multiple loud blasts were heard around Iran’s capital and the nearby city of Karaj, Iran’s state TV said. There was no official comment about the source of the explosions.