On the night of Saturday to Sunday, the Islamic Republic of Iran launched Operation “True Promise” as a “punishment of Israel for its crimes,” according to Iranian state television. The attack was carried out using over 300 drones and missiles, with 99 percent of them intercepted by Israeli forces. The extent of the attack remains unclear, but it is believed that over 200 Iranian drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles were involved. Some Iranian missiles caused minor damage to a military base and injured a ten-year-old girl in Israel.
The Israeli army reported that it intercepted most of the incoming threats with the help of its Iron Dome missile defense system. Residents in certain areas were asked to stay near air raid shelters as tensions heightened. The attack is considered a response to the suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus earlier this month. Iran’s allies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, were potential candidates for carrying out the attack, but Iran chose to launch it from its own territory.
The possibility of further attacks by Iran’s allies remains high, with Hezbollah firing rockets into the Golan Heights just days after the operation began. The situation has put the Middle East on the brink of a major war, with heightened alert levels for American, British, and other regional forces. It is unclear whether this was a single wave of attacks or if more will follow in what could be one of the most significant escalations in tensions between Israel and Iran since their conflict began over two decades ago.
