Friday morning at 4:30 am Israel responded to Iran’s major attack with a small, but calculated hit. News outlets report that the United States pressured Israel into lessening the blow in an effort to prevent further escalations. Israel needed to respond, but not so hard that Iran would look foolish if they did not strike again.
Instead of deploying fighter jets into Iranian airspace, Israel opted for a different approach, launching a small number of missiles from aircraft positioned hundreds of miles away. Israel also employed small attack drones, referred to as quadcopters.
During Friday’s early morning operation, one missile targeted an anti aircraft battery in a strategically significant area of central Iran, while another either malfunctioned or was intentionally destroyed by Israel while it was mid-air. Israeli officials say they decided to destroy the second missile after they realized the first had accomplished its mission.
Israel’s objection in its counter attack was to allow Iran to refrain from feeling a need to respond in a large-scale attack, but also to demonstrate the army’s capacity to target central parts of Iran that house threatening nuclear facilities.
Leftover Rockets
Leftover rockets are surfacing around Israel days after Iran’s major air strike on Israel. The IDF says 99% of Iran’s 300 combined missiles and hostile UAVs were intercepted. There were no deaths, but 1 severe injury of a 7-year-old Bedouin girl who was hit by shrapnel. Now, enormous missiles which fell from the sky into Israel territory are surfacing around the country in open fields and even in the Dead Sea.
The missile in the photo is just one of the 120 ballistic missiles sent to Israel. It traveled more than 1,500 kilometers from Iran to the Holy Land in around 12 minutes. Each missile can carry up to 900 pounds of explosive materials. People around the country are shocked to see the size of the missiles that were launched. The IDF is reminding people that the Iranian missiles were not simply a “show of force.”
