Iran reported Saturday “limited damage” after airstrikes against missile manufacturing sites carried out by Israel, which threatened the Islamic Republic with “pay a high price” if she replied.
These bombings come a month after Iranian missile strikes on Israel, at a time when the Israeli army has been at war against two Islamist movements supported by Iran, Hamas in the Gaza Strip for more than a year and the Hezbollah in Lebanon since the end of September.
The Israeli attack on “military sites in the provinces of Tehran and those of Khuzestan (southwest) and Ilam (west)”bordering Iraq, caused “limited damage”assured the Iranian air defense forces.
The Israeli army said it had “hit missile manufacturing sites (…) that Iran has been firing at the State of Israel for a year. These missiles were a direct and immediate threat to the citizens of Israel.”.
After the firing of some 200 Iranian missiles on October 1, Israel vowed revenge and Tehran assured it was ready to respond to an attack, raising fears of a regional war.
“The Iranian regime and its relays in the region have relentlessly attacked Israel since October 7 (2023) on several fronts, including direct attacks from Iranian soil”the army said on Saturday.
“Loud explosions”
This screenshot from a video released by the Israeli military on October 26, 2024 shows military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari calling on Israelis to be “vigilant” as his troops carry out strikes in Iran / – / Israeli Army/AFP
According to the Israeli army, which announced the end of the operation, the strikes also targeted “batteries of surface-to-air missiles and other aerial systems that were intended to restrict Israel’s freedom to operate in Iran”.
“Our message is clear: all those who threaten the State of Israel and attempt to plunge the region into broader escalation will pay a high price”said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the army, while Iran had promised in recent weeks to retaliate in the event of an Israeli attack.
He assured that the Israeli army had “completed the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks on Israel”.
In Iran, the official Irna news agency reported the first detonations around 2:15 a.m. local time, mainly west of Tehran, while state television reported “six loud bangs” around Tehran, “related to the activation of the air defense system”.
AFP journalists heard continuous detonations accompanied by streaks of light in the sky seen from the center of the Iranian capital.
Iran announced in the morning the reopening of its airspace, closed after the attack, from 9:00 a.m. local (05:30 GMT).
Almost at the same time in Syria, whose regime is allied with Iran, the state news agency announced on Saturday that Israel had carried out an air attack from the occupied Golan and the airspace of neighboring Lebanon against “military positions” on its territory during the night, ensuring that the Syrian anti-aircraft defense had shot down “a number of enemy missiles”.
In Iraq, factions of the “Islamic resistance”a nebula of Iraqi armed groups allied with Tehran, claimed responsibility for a drone attack at dawn on Saturday against a “military target” in northern Israel, after the announcement of Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iraq has announced the suspension of traffic at all its airports until further notice due to “regional tensions”.
“Cycle of battles”
Israeli strikes near the Lebanese village of Odaisseh, October 26, 2024 / – / AFP
In Washington, the White House described the Israeli strikes as “self-defense maneuvers” and called on Tehran to “stop its attacks against Israel so that this cycle of violence can end without further escalation”.
Regional heavyweight, Saudi Arabia has ” sentenced “ these strikes and warned against an escalation.
On the Lebanese front, the Israeli army said on Saturday that it had struck 70 Hezbollah targets and was continuing its ground operation in southern Lebanon launched on September 30.
She also announced the interception of a drone coming from Lebanon, where Hezbollah opened a front in support of Hamas on October 8, 2023.
After weakening Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli army moved the heart of its operations to Lebanon with the objective of neutralizing Hezbollah in the border areas and allowing the return to northern Israel of 60,000 displaced due to the rocket attacks from the Islamist movement for a year.
Bombings in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, October 26, 2024 / – / AFP
But since October 6, the Israeli army has resumed its offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip, where according to it Hamas is regrouping its forces, at a time when a resumption of talks with a view to ending the war is taking shape. , after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinouar, killed by Israeli soldiers on October 16.
But the north of the Palestinian territory is experiencing its “darkest hours”alerted the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity.
The Israeli offensive launched to wipe out Hamas has cost the lives of at least 42,847 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health, deemed reliable by the UN.
