Iran launches aerial attack on Israel in major escalation » Capital News
Apr 14 – Iran has launched dozens of aerial drones and missiles at Israel, marking a widely anticipated reprisal attack.
It is the first such direct clash between the two enemies, who have been engaged in a years-long shadow war, with Iran using proxy forces.
The Israeli military said Israel and other countries had intercepted hundreds of cruise missiles and drones, mostly outside Israeli airspace.
US President Joe Biden said “we helped Israel take down nearly all” of them.
“Iran and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel,” he said, expressing strong condemnation.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack was aimed at “specific targets”.
Iran had vowed to retaliate for a strike on its consulate in Syria on 1 April which killed seven IRGC officers, including a top commander. It accused Israel of carrying out that attack, but Israel neither confirmed nor denied it.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a war cabinet meeting after the start of the Iranian attack, and later spoke to President Biden, who said he had reaffirmed “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel”.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said some Iranian missiles had hit inside Israel, causing minor damage to a military base but no casualties.
Israel’s ambulance service said a seven-year-old Bedouin girl had been injured by shrapnel from falling debris in the southern Arad region.
“Tonight’s wide-scale attack by Iran is a major escalation,” Mr Hagari said. “Together with our allies and partners, we are operating at full force to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”
In a separate briefing, he said Iran had fired more than 300 projectiles at Israel overnight, 99% of which were shot down. He added that some of the launches came from Iraq and Yemen.
About The Author
