Why Israel military launched attack on Iran today
Israel early on Saturday, October 26, launched airstrikes on Iran’s “military targets”. The attack was conducted in retaliation to a ballistic missile assault by Iran on its territory on October 1, the Israel Defense Forces or IDF said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.(REUTERS)
News agency AP reported that there was no immediate information on damage in the Islamic Republic after the Israeli strikes.
The Israeli strikes, which were being threatened by Israel for almost a week, came at a time when the Middle East stands on the verge of an all-out regional war after the initial 2023 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas.
After last year’s Hamas attack, Israel launched a direct ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and an invasion of neighbouring Lebanon, targeting militants long-armed and aided by Tehran.
Pure retaliation: Why did Israel attack Iran?
The attack on Iran’s military target today by Israel was a retaliation to avenge the missile strikes by the former on the Israeli territory earlier this month. Soon after the airstrikes, Israel vowed revenge on Iran, which made a direct entry into the Hamas-Israel war.
The attack is hardly a surprise given Israel’s constant warnings to Iran about a retaliatory attack in the books.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s army said it would respond forcefully after Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, overwhelming its air defence on some sites at the start of October.
The two countries have been at odds since the Iran revolution in 1979, which brought a strict Islamic government unaligned to the US interest.
‘Precise Strikes: Israel on missile attack on Iran today
Israel’s military described the attack Saturday as “precise strikes’ on military targets in Iran,” without immediately elaborating.
“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 … including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a prerecorded video statement.
Seven explosions…’ Iran resident on Irael’s ‘precise strikes’
The sound of explosions could be heard in Tehran — the capital of Iran. The state media acknowledged the blasts and said some of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.
At least seven explosions could be heard after the Israeli rocket strikes on Saturday, a local resident in Tehran told AP.
The recent strikes triggered diversions of International flights around western Iran as news of the strikes broke, flight-tracking data showed.
Meanwhile, state media in Syria described its air defences as targeting “hostile targets” there as well.
Iran attack
On October 1, Iran launched high-speed missile barrages at Israel which was termed as Tehran’s largest-ever attack on Tel Aviv. The strikes, which Iran said were aimed at military bases, were largely foiled by Israel’s aerial defences.
Iran attacked Israel multiple times in recent months amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that began with the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
That initial attack killed some 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage back to the seaside enclave.
