Iran attacks Israel in retaliation, raises fears of a regional war

Mangalore Today News Network

Jerusalem, April 14, 2024: Iran has launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in its first direct attack on Israeli territory, in a retaliatory strike that wounded a seven-year-old girl and caused minor damage at an Israeli military facility.

The attack late on Saturday night set off air raid sirens in cities across Israel, including in Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem, and explosions were heard as Israeli air defences intercepted the projectiles.

Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said the Iranian salvo consisted of more than “200 killer drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles”, but that the vast majority were shot down outside Israel’s borders, with help from forces from the United States and the United Kingdom.

“A small number of hits were identified, including at an [Israeli military] base in southern Israel, where minor damage was caused to infrastructure,” he said.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) confirmed the attack, saying it launched the drones and missiles under the operation “True Promise” as part of the punishment for “the Zionist entity’s crime of targeting the Iranian consulate in Syria” on April 1.

The raid in Damascus killed 12 people, including two senior generals in the IRGC’s elite Quds force.

The Israeli army said that Iran’s attack on Israel using hundreds of drones and missiles had been "foiled," with 99 percent of them intercepted. Troops are deployed on all fronts, prepared, and continuing to defend Israeli territory, the statement said.