Israel News for 10-28-2024
News Update
The exact damage caused by Israel’s strike against Iran on Saturday is still unclear. We know that over 100 Israeli fighter jets, in several waves, destroyed several advanced Russian made Iranian aerial defense systems and damaged facilities related to missile production and storage in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces as well as air-defense batteries in Syria and Iraq. One of Israel’s hits was at the Parchin military site, where Iran once worked on nuclear weapons capabilities, according to the U.N. atomic agency. Four buildings were hit there, including three solid-propellant facilities for missiles. The entire attack took 4 hours and all Israeli aircraft returned safely. Israel avoided hitting Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields due to pressure from the U.S.
Afshon Ostovar, an expert on Iran’s military at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. said, “Iran’s anti-air defenses are vulnerable to superior strike technology. They’re insufficient to protect Iran’s airspace from better-equipped adversaries, Israel in particular. Those systems aren’t easily replaced. Iran probably has some redundancies, but even so, Israel might have paved the way for future attacks to be easier and less restricted.”
While the massive attack cause significant damage to Iran’s missile production and aerial defense capabilities, at least in the short term, it did not cross any of Iran’s “red lines”, like nuclear or oil related facilities, which gives Iran the chance to call it even with Israel and not retaliate again. Israel has warned that an Iranian retaliation would cause Israel to strike Iran even harder, possibly targeting nuclear sites.
Israel reportedly informed Washington and several Arab countries prior to the strike, and some of those Arab countries reportedly informed Iran. Prime Minister Netanyahu denies the notion that Iran was informed prior to the attack.
Police are investigating the suspected ramming attack at the Glilot junction near Herzliya yesterday, in which 1 man was killed and 36 injured, to determine whether it was an attack or just a freak accident potentially caused by a heart attack to the driver. The driver, identified as Rami Nasrallah from Qalansawe, reportedly had about 70 previous traffic violations and had recently undergone open heart surgery. His family claims that he had no connections to any terror groups or activities. For more, click here.
Mossad Director David Barnea began talks in Doha on Sunday with CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani to try to reach an agreement to release the hostages. The Egyptians proposed a brief 48-hour cease-fire and the release of some Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of four hostages, but Hamas is not willing to budge from its demands for a permanent cease-fire and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza. For more, click here.
Israel is moving forward with the development and production of the Iron Beam defense system, which uses lasers to destroy missiles, mortar shells and drones, at a fraction of the cost of conventional systems. For more, click here.
