News Update
Israel struck an air base near the Iranian nuclear facility in Isfahan last night. The attack was apparently done with drones, and it’s unclear whether the drones were launched from Israel or from inside Iran and if any damage was caused. Explosions were heard in Isfahan, which Iran claims was the shooting down of suspicious objects. The very limited nature of the attack was meant to serve as a warning that Israel has the capability to breach Iranian air defenses and strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and military bases. The Iranian airbase targeted is similar in nature to the Iral airbase at Netavim that was slightly damaged in the Iranian attack. Syrian state media reported that Israel also attacked air-defense sites in Syria. Israel did not openly claim responsibility for any of the attacks. Iran said that is would not retaliate.
Israel reportedly informed the US right before the strike. In its symbolic response against Iran, Israel has abided by the requests of the US and European allies to not escalate the situation into a regional war while sending a clear message to deter Iranian attacks against it. Israel has hopefully gained some goodwill and given itself some breathing room to deal with Hezbollah and Hamas, possibly including a green light from the US to invade Rafah.
Iran, on the other hand, had the world squarely against Israel and had Israel under pressure from both Hezbollah and Hamas, but lost their upper hand, at least temporarily, by choosing to directly attack Israel and score points with their people and proxies.
The United States vetoed a resolution that would have granted the Palestinians full membership in the United Nations Security Council and essentially recognizing it as a state. The resolution was supported by Russia, China and France. Great Britain abstained.
Israel attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon this morning.
International ratings agency S&P has announced that it has cut Israel’s credit rating from AA- to A+ due to the conflict with Iran, the ongoing war in Gaza and the escalation on the northern border. In addition, Israel’s credit outlook has been downgraded from ‘stable’ to ‘negative.’ For more, click here.
For a complete list of the soldiers killed in the Gaza ground offensive, click here.
