At 2:30 AM, the Israel Defense Forces reported that they were carrying out «precise strikes on military targets in Iran» in response to attacks on Israel from Iran and its allies across the Middle East. At 6 AM, it was announced that the attack had ended.
Three Israeli officials told The New York Times that more than 100 combat aircraft, including fighters and drones, participated in the attacks. According to the officials, to prevent interception by Iran's allies, the fighters first targeted air defense batteries and radars in Syria and Iraq. Clearing the way, the fighters flew towards Iran, located more than 2,000 km from Israel, and struck its air defense systems. According to two officials, a second wave of fighters later targeted Iranian long-range missile production sites. The attack concluded around 5 AM after about 20 targets were hit overnight, the officials said.
Iran's national air defense forces stated that Israel attacked military bases in three provinces, causing «limited damage». Iranian air defenses were able to reduce the damage, the statement said. However, analysts believe that the damage assessment is significantly underestimated.
The IDF stated that Israeli aircraft, acting on intelligence, «struck missile production facilities that Iran had used to fire at the state of Israel over the past year. These missiles posed a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of the state of Israel». At the same time, according to the military, they struck «surface-to-air missile complexes and additional Iranian aerial assets».
Israeli military warned Iran against further escalation, stating that they «would be obliged to respond».
A senior official in the Joe Biden administration stated that Israeli strikes on military facilities in Iran were a proportional response to Tehran's previous attacks, with a low risk of harm to the civilian population. «If Iran decides to respond, we are fully prepared to defend Israel and support it, and if Iran makes such an unfortunate decision, it will have consequences», an American official told Reuters. The White House representative also noted that the US «was not a participant in this military operation», and «the president and his national security team, of course, worked with the Israelis over the past weeks to encourage Israel to a targeted and proportional response».
The Israeli attack was the first instance of foreign air forces striking Iranian security facilities since the war with Iraq in the 1980s.
Israeli strikes on Iran were carried out 25 days after Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, forcing millions of Israelis to take shelter in bomb shelters and damaging several homes and airbases. Israeli air defenses intercepted many Iranian missiles, which killed one Palestinian in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but did not kill any Israelis.
Photo: Reuters