Israel Hitting Iran; Explosions Rock Tehran
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
TEHRAN/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel says it struck military sites in Iran early on Saturday in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks earlier this month when the Islamic Republic fired some 200 missiles at the Jewish nation.
Several explosions were heard in the capital, Tehran, nearby Karaj, and Damascus in Syria. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Footage reviewed by Worthy News showed blasts seen near Tehran amid ongoing Israeli attacks on Iran.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was directing the attacks from a secure complex in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israeli officials said.
Footage obtained by Worthy News also showed the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Herzi Halevi, commanding the strike on Iran from the Israeli Air Force underground command center in Camp Rabin with the Commanding Officer of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Tomer Bar.
Iranian media reported at least two waves of multiple explosions over more than two hours in the capital and at nearby military bases after authorities initially played down the attacks.
There were reports of widespread internet outages across Iran as the attacks continued.
ISRAEL MILITARY CONFIRMS
As explosions were heard, Israel’s military confirmed the attacks in a statement. “In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel – right now the Israel Defense Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” it said.
Israel has the right and duty to respond to attacks from Tehran and its proxies, which have included missile strikes launched from Iranian soil, the military added.
Two Israeli officials said the strikes on Iran were not targeting nuclear or oil facilities, but the government did not yet confirm that.
U.S. President Joe Biden had warned that Washington, Israel’s main backer and supplier of arms, would not support a strike on Tehran’s nuclear sites and said Israel should consider alternatives to attacking Iran’s oil fields.
As news of the strikes broke, international flights began diverting around Iran, flight-tracking data showed.
Yet besides Iran, Syria’s state news agency SANA also reported “barrages of missiles from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanese territories targeting some military sites in the southern and central regions” of Syria early Saturday.
It said Syria’s air defenses shot some missiles down, with no information immediately available on casualties. Israel says Iran-backed proxies and personnel are also based in Syria.
BALLISTIC MISSILES LAUNCHED
Iran launched two ballistic missile attacks on Israel 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 in southern Israel killed some 1,200 people, including babies and women raped by Hamas fighters, while 250 persons were kidnapped and brought to Gaza.
In the time since, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Hamas-run authorities who do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Israel maintains that nearly half of the reported deaths are comprised of “Hamas terrorists.”
The latest strikes by Israel came as it also continued its ground operation in Lebanon, where it targets Hezbollah.
The Iran-backed group had fired a barrage of rockets, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in northern Israel.
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