By JON GAMBRELL, ADAM SCHRECK and TIA GOLDENBERG TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel attacked military targets in Iran with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month. The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used […]
Israel attacked military targets in Iran with a series of pre-dawn airstrikes Saturday in retaliation for the barrage of ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired upon Israel earlier in the month.
The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel as well as surface-to-air missile sites. There was no immediate indication that oil or missile sites were hit — strikes that would have marked a much more serious escalation — and Israel offered no immediate damage assessment.
Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital, Tehran, though the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only “limited damage” and Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks. Iran’s army said two of its troops had been killed in the attack, Iran’s Al-Alam television reported.
Still, the strikes risk pushing the archenemies closer to all-out war at a time of spiraling violence across the Middle East, where militant groups backed by Iran — including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — are already at war with Israel.The first open Israeli attack on Iran
“Iran attacked Israel twice, including in locations that endangered civilians, and has paid the price for it,” said Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
“We are focused on our war objectives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It is Iran that continues to push for a wider regional escalation.”
Photos and video released by Israel showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a black casual jacket, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meeting with military advisers and others in a conference room at a military command and control center in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.
The strikes filled the air for hours until sunrise in Iran. They marked the first time Israel’s military has openly attacked Iran, which hasn’t faced a sustained barrage of fire from a foreign enemy since its 1980s war with Iraq.
Israel is also widely thought to have been behind a limited airstrike in April near a major air base in Iran in which the radar system for a Russian-made air defense battery was hit.
Saturday’s attack came as part of Israel’s “duty to respond” to attacks on it from “Iran and its proxies in the region,” Hagari said.
“The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission,” Hagari said. “If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.”
Israel’s attack effectively sent the message to Iran that it would not remain silent, while not taking out highly visible or symbolic facilities that could prompt an significant response from Iran, said Yoel Guzansky, a researcher at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies who formerly worked for Israel’s National Security Council.
