Israel yesterday said it conducted airstrikes against Iran that hit military bases and missile sites in retaliation for the Islamic republic’s attacks, warning it would “pay a heavy price” if it responds.
The Israeli military said its strikes hit Iran’s missile manufacturing facilities, missile arrays and other systems in several regions.
Iran confirmed an Israeli attack had targeted military sites in the capital Tehran and other parts of the country, but said it had caused “limited damage.”
Photo: AFP
Israel had vowed to hit back at Iran for its Oct. 1 missile strike, the second-ever direct attack by the Islamic republic on its archfoe.
The rapid escalation of violence has heightened fears across the region and beyond of a wider war, pitting Israel against Iran and the allies it dubs the “axis of resistance” on multiple fronts.
“Based on intelligence, IAF [Israeli Air Force] aircraft struck missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the State of Israel over the last year,” Israel’s military said in a statement.
“Simultaneously, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] struck surface-to-air missile arrays and additional Iranian aerial capabilities,” the Israeli army said, adding that the “retaliatory strike has been completed and the mission was fulfilled.”
Since the deadliest attack in its history on Oct. 7 last year, Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza, and since late last month, it has been at war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah and Hamas are allies of Iran, as are armed groups in Yemen and Iraq, and the government in Syria.
In a statement announcing the operation, the Israeli military said it was conducting “precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” in response to what it said were “months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran.”
“The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7th — on seven fronts — including direct attacks from Iranian soil,” the Israeli military said.
Iran yesterday suspended all flights until further notice, the Iranian aviation authority announced.
Iran in April launched its first-ever direct assault on Israeli territory in retaliation for a deadly strike on Iran’s consular annex in Damascus.
Hamas’ attack last year on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 42,847 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
Israel has since broadened the scope of its operations to Lebanon, vowing to secure its northern border after nearly a year of attacks launched by Iran-backed Hezbollah in support of Hamas.
At least 1,580 people have been killed in Lebanon since Sept. 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese Ministry of Public Health figures.
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm named Trami at 2am yesterday, and is projected to move west-northwest toward waters east of Luzon Island, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Trami’s center was 700km east of Manila, or 1,180km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving in a northwesterly direction. It was carrying maximum sustained winds of 65kph, with gusts of up to 90kph, CWA data showed. The weather agency forecast the center of the storm would be over waters 470km east-northeast of Manila or 820km southeast of Oluanpi at 8am today, and urged ships
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday temporarily shut down the nation’s nuclear energy generation as the state-run utility started regular maintenance on the remaining reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant for 41 days. The No. 2 reactor of the nation’s only active nuclear plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) is set to be decommissioned next year. The No. 1 reactor has been offline since July. The shutdown is to perform equipment maintenance and fuel replacement in preparation for the power plant’s next operating cycle, Taipower said in a statement. With support from other energy sources, Taipower would ensure sufficient power supply
BIGGEST TROUBLEMAKER: China should not be carrying out any such exercises given the threat to regional peace and stability, Premier Cho Jung-tai said yesterday The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that live-fire Chinese drills in a province facing Taiwan are part of routine annual drills, but also possibly part of China’s “deterrence effect” in the waters of the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration, in a notice late on Monday, said an area around Niushan Island in China’s Fujian Province would be closed off for four hours from 9am yesterday for live-fire drills. Niushan sits just south of the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands. The ministry in a statement said that the exercises are part of routine Chinese training and it was keeping a close watch, but
‘NO POSITION ON TAIWAN’: ‘I welcome the European Parliament’s focus on this issue and this important debate,’ European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit said on Tuesday The European Parliament yesterday passed a resolution stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not have any bearing on Taiwan’s participation in the UN or other international organizations, and rejected as unacceptable any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait. The motion passed by 432 votes in favor and 60 against with 71 abstentions during a plenary vote. The resolution condemned China’s continued military provocations against Taiwan, including drills around the nation on Monday last week. “Any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, particularly by means of force or coercion, will not be accepted and will