Israel carries out retaliatory attacks on Iran

The Israeli army responded to one Iranian missile attack by carrying out “precise strikes on military targets” in Iran on Friday, a move that appeared to push the Middle East into a new, more dangerous phase of multi-front conflict, a year after Hamas’ attack. October 7 attacks on Israel.

“The regime in Iran and its allies in the region have been ruthlessly attacking Israel since October 7 – on seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the Israel Defense Force said in a statement. “Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and obligation to respond.”

Israel said its “defensive and offensive capabilities have been fully mobilized.”

“We will do whatever is necessary to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel,” the Israeli military said in its statement.

In Washington, a senior administration official said the US had been informed in advance of the Israeli attacks but did not participate in the military operation.

“We understand that Israel is conducting targeted attacks on military targets in Iran as an exercise of self-defense and in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1,” said National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett.

He referred other questions to the Israeli government.

The scale of the attack was not immediately clear. According to Iranian state television, several strong explosions were heard around the capital Tehran. Semi-official Iranian media said explosions were also heard in the nearby city of Karaj.

The Tasnim news agency said that “nothing has been reported so far about hearing the sound of missiles or aircraft in Tehran’s skies.”

State television quoted unnamed Iranian intelligence officials as saying the origin of the loud explosions “could be the result of the activation of Iran’s air defense system.”

The Israeli operation came after Iran fired about 180 rockets into Israel on October 1, in what Tehran described as retaliation for the killing of Israel. Hassan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon. Most Iranian missiles were intercepted with the help of the US military. A Palestinian man was murdered in the West Bank.

An all-out war between archenemies Israel and Iran has been threatened for decades.

But the two regional superpowers have entered an escalating spiral after Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel last year, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 251. Israel responded by launching a war in the Gaza Strip that has killed and destroyed tens of thousands of Palestinians. to Gaza and led to an increase in military actions against Israel by groups that Iran trains, finances and arms to further its interests.

Dubbed Iran’s “axis of resistance,” these groups include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Houthis rebels in Yemen and several Iraq-based militias. Their shared interests with Iran include opposition to the state of Israel and a desire to expel Western powers, mainly American forces, from the Middle East.

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Iran launched one barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones in Israel in April. Israel, along with American and Western allies, shot down almost all of them. During the summer, Hamas was political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by a bomb hidden in the wall of a government guesthouse in Tehran. Israel is believed to be behind the murder.

Yahya Sinwarthe elusive leader of Hamas who is considered the mastermind behind the group brutal attack about Israel last year, was killed last week during an Israeli military operation in Gaza. His body was found in the rubble of a building. DNA testing confirmed his identity.

In recent days, Israel launched what it described as a “limited” ground operation in Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure. Israel’s new attacks on Iran mean the country is effectively waging a multi-front war against a web of non-state and state actors spread across four countries: Iran, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.

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President Joe Biden has ordered the US military to help Israel defend itself, a move that some national security experts say risks pushing the US into war in the Middle East.

Rosemary Kelanic, Middle East director at Defense Priorities, a Washington think tank that advocates for a smaller U.S. global military footprint, said the recent deployment of more U.S. troops to the region “has only emboldened Israel’s mismanagement and risk of war with Iran.” serves no American interest.”

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Kelanic said: “If the past two decades of failed policies have taught us nothing else, the conflict in the Middle East is quicksand. The more the US fights it, the deeper we are drawn into it.”

Contributions: Reuters