Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system was launched to intercept missiles fired from Iran into central Israel last weekend.
Tomer Neuberg/AP
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Tomer Neuberg/AP
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system was launched to intercept missiles fired from Iran into central Israel last weekend.
Tomer Neuberg/AP
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1. Iran launched a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles on Israel over the weekend.
Here’s what we know about the attack:
- US intelligence agencies and even President Biden had warned that an attack was imminent.
- There were no major civilian casualties or infrastructure damage from the attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
- Almost all of the weapons were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States.
- A few Iranian ballistic missiles passed through defenses, seriously injuring a 7-year-old girl and lightly damaging a military base in southern Israel, according to Israeli officials.
On Sunday, a senior Iranian military official said Iran’s “operation” against Israel was over and there would be no more attacks, according to Iranian state media.
2. This was in retaliation for Israel’s deadly attack earlier this month.
Iran said it launched its attack on Israel in response to an airstrike earlier this month that hit the Iranian consulate in Syria and killed seven Iranian military officials, including two generals.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attack in Syria, although the Pentagon has said Israel was responsible.
Sima Shine is a former senior Israeli intelligence official. She now heads the Iran desk at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. She says this attack “crosses the Rubicon” from Iran’s point of view.
“Iran has never done anything like this before. I think it’s not just that it’s unprecedented. You also have to take into account that… although everyone has told the Iranians not to do it, they decided to do it and they accepted it themselves – the responsibility for the escalation.
3. What we know so far about Israel’s potential response.
An Israeli military spokesperson said Sunday that the leadership had “approved operational plans for offensive and defensive actions,” without going into further details.
Shine sees two options for an Israeli response, one that seems possible and one that she believes would be more sensible. Given that most of the missiles were intercepted and there was no major damage, Shine says Israel could use the opportunity to de-escalate or postpone the response.
“…and not do it while we’re in Gaza and fighting in the north and everything. We could choose the best time. But from what I hear – and I say these are only, you know, from open sources – it seems that there is a feeling within the army and security services that Israel cannot afford not to fight back.
Shine believes the Iranian regime does not want war, and she hopes it does not escalate into a full-scale war due to its impact on the region. “I think the (Iranian) regime knows that its economic situation is terrible… and (a) large percentage of the population doesn’t like the regime and I think they don’t want a war,” he said. -she declared.
“But many times in history, no one wanted war. And yet miscalculations led to war.”
This episode was produced by Jonaki Mehta. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and James Hider. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
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