Iran warned on Saturday that it would defend itself after an Israeli airstrike killed at least two soldiers and further raised fears of an all-out regional war in the Middle East.
Israel has warned that Iran will “pay a heavy price” if it responds to an attack, while the United States, Germany and Britain have called on Iran not to escalate the conflict any further.
Other countries, including many of Iran’s neighbors, condemned Israel’s attack, and some, including Russia, called on both countries to show restraint and avoid what Moscow called a “catastrophic scenario.”
The Islamic Republic said it had a “right and duty” to defend itself, while Lebanese ally Hezbollah said it had already fired a volley of rockets at five residential areas in northern Israel.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 80 projectiles were fired across the border.
After explosions and anti-aircraft fire sounded around Tehran, the Israeli military confirmed its own attack and said it had struck Iranian missile factories and military facilities in several areas.
“The retaliatory attack has been completed and the mission accomplished,” a military spokesperson said, adding that the Israeli plane “returned safely.”
Iran confirmed that Israel targeted military facilities in the Tehran province surrounding the capital as well as other parts of the country, and said the attack caused “limited damage” but killed two soldiers.
direct attack
Israel had vowed to retaliate after October 1, when Iran launched around 200 missiles in its second-ever direct attack on its archenemy. Most of the missiles were intercepted, but one person was killed.
Israel’s retaliation drew condemnation from Hamas, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, which warned of further escalation. Jordan said Israeli jets were not using its airspace. Turkey was one of the most outspoken critics, calling for an end to “Israel-created terrorism.”
Israel is already engaged in fighting on two fronts.
Since last month, the group has been at war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, including an attack that killed the group’s senior leadership and a ground invasion aimed at destroying a missile base.
And more than a year after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, Israel continues to wage war in Gaza, causing massive civilian casualties in the densely populated Palestinian territory.
The United Nations has warned that the conflict’s “darkest moments” are unfolding, with Palestinians facing a dire humanitarian crisis and daily bombing by Israel.
In addition to Hezbollah and Hamas, Iranian-allied groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria have also carried out attacks in the aftermath of the Gaza war.
At about the same time that Israel struck Iranian targets, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Israeli airstrikes targeted military positions in south-central Syria.
“Iranian agent”
Iraq’s Islamic Resistance Movement, a loose pro-Iranian network, claimed responsibility for a drone attack on “military targets” in northern Israel early Saturday.
Two people died from shrapnel injuries Friday after a barrage of Hezbollah rocket fire in northern Israel, Israeli officials said.
In addition to attacks on homes, Hezbollah reportedly fired rockets at Israeli soldiers and intelligence bases near the village of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, and launched drones at Israel’s Telnov air base south of Tel Aviv. Announced.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced on Saturday that an Israeli airstrike had killed a Hezbollah-affiliated medic in Baziryeh, in the south of the country.
US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savet said Israel’s response to Iran was an “exercise of self-defense.”
He called on Iran to “cease its attacks on Israel in order to end this cycle of hostilities without further escalation.”
The Israeli military has accused “Iran and its proxies” in the region of “relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7,” when Hamas’ attacks on Israel sparked the Gaza war.
The attack killed 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli statistics.
Dozens of hostages captured that day are still being held by armed groups in Gaza.
Israeli retaliatory shelling and ground fighting in the Gaza Strip have killed 42,924 people, most of them civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run region’s health ministry, a figure the United Nations considers reliable. It is.
In late September, Israel shifted its focus to attacking Lebanon, attacking Hezbollah targets and leaders, and deploying ground troops.
Israel says its aim is to allow tens of thousands of displaced civilians to safely return to their northern part of the country.
At least 1,580 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, according to figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health and tallied by AFP.
In April, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles in its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory.
Tehran said the barrage was in retaliation for an attack on the Iranian consulate annex in Damascus that killed a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In late April, an explosion occurred in Iran’s Isfahan province, which U.S. officials quoted in U.S. media said was Israeli retaliation.
Hospitals under threat
Iran said its October 1 missile attack on Israel was in retaliation for the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. .
The Gaza Health Ministry on Friday accused Israeli forces of attacking the last functioning hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, killing two children.
The Israeli military said its troops were operating near the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, but that it was “not aware of any live ammunition or attacks in the vicinity of the hospital.”
The Israeli military has said it is trying to destroy operational capabilities that Hamas is trying to rebuild in the north.
Also on Friday, Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency announced that an Israeli drone strike had killed 12 people waiting for aid near al-Shati refugee camp.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
