Jerusalem.- “We will win,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said forcefully on Twitter following announcing that 99% of the drones and missiles launched by Iran had been intercepted in an unprecedented attack.
On Saturday night, Iran began a massive explosive drone attack once morest Israel from its territory and not, as might be expected, through its militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
The different Israeli defensive systems were activated to intercept an attack in several waves.
The attack comes following almost two weeks of tense waiting in Israel and the region in the face of threats of retaliation from Iran for the death of seven Revolutionary Guard officers in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus.
“The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished, and it will be,” said the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, adding to the vehement promises of revenge from the heads of the Army and the Revolutionary Guard.
The Israeli army stated this Sunday that it managed to “thwart” Iran’s attack on its territory. According to Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari, “only a few” ballistic missiles reached Israel. One of them “slightly hit the Nevatim base,” he added, although he assured that the military base “continues to function” and the planes take off and land, Afp reported.
An Israeli Bedouin girl was injured in the Negev Desert while a missile hit an Air Force base also in the south of the country, according to the Army. The little girl was taken unconscious to Soroka Hospital.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated in a statement that “together with the United States and other allies we managed to defend the territory of the State of Israel.” “The campaign is not over, we must remain alert,” Gallant added.
Israeli airspace reopened this Sunday morning, although the Airport Authority warned that there will be changes to flight schedules. The country’s domestic airports will also reopen throughout the day, according to Haaretz.
The commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, General Hosein Salami, warned this Sunday that Tehran will counterattack more severely than last night’s bombings if Israel attacks its interests or citizens from any point: “If the Zionist regime (Israel) ) attacks our interests, authorities or citizens from any point, we will counterattack,” said the head of Iran’s elite military corps and ideological army, Press TV reported.
For his part, the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, stated this Sunday that the Revolutionary Guard gave a lesson to Israel: “Last night, the brave sons of the Revolutionary Guard, with the collaboration and coordination of all the defense and political sectors of the country, opened a new page in the history of Iran’s authority and taught a lesson to the Zionist enemy,” the president said in a statement reported by Iranian media.
More than 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles were launched last night from Iran, Iraq and Yemen, according to the Israeli Army. The attack, which came following weeks of cross-threats between Iran and Israel, sought to respond to a bombing on the Iranian consulate in Damascus in early April in which several members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard died, and for which Tehran blames Israel.
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2024-04-22 13:51:50
