The Israeli army has confirmed that one of its bases was damaged in the Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13, 14, 2024, online news magazine The Cradle reports.
"Some damage has been recorded, including at a military base in the south of the country," Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari has been quoted as saying by The Cradle.
Daniel Hagari added that minor damage was inflicted on the base and that one girl in the Negev region was injured by shrapnel. According to another report the injured has been identified as a 7-year-old Muslim girl.
Israel, according to Al Jazeera, said that more than 300 drones and missiles were launched at it from Iran, Iraq and Yemen. Israel added that the vast majority of the drones and missiles have been intercepted.
The Times of Israel quoting the IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said early Sunday that in total, Iran launched more than 300 projectiles at Israel –170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles — and that 99 percent of them were intercepted by air defenses.
The Israeli multi-language online newspaper quoted the US President Joe Biden as saying that the United States helped Israel take out almost all of the around 300 drones and missiles fired at it in a “unprecedented attack” from Iran, amid reported fears in Washington that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will try to pull the Americans into wider regional conflict.
US military aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers that were moved to the region over the past week assisted Israeli air defense systems in intercepting a large wave of drones and missiles launched toward the country from Iran late Saturday.
“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” Biden was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel.
Iranian media confirmed Tehran's ballistic missile attack on Israel's Nevatim air base in the southern Negev desert. The ballistic missiles were launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, in coordination with other units of Iran's army, a report said.
The strikes were reportedly in retaliation for Israel's airstrike of April 1, 2024, that destroyed the Iranian consulate annex building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus killing 16 people including two senior generals and five members of its Revolutionary Guard.
Iran had vowed retaliation for the April 1 strike.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Biden has been pressuring Netanyahu to avoid a retaliatory airstrike in Iran, urging him to instead focus on the successful interception of drones and rockets.
Iran’s foreign ministry meanwhile summoned the ambassadors from the United Kingdom, France and Germany after the countries condemned Tehran for its unprecedented attack against Israel.
The director for Western Europe at Iran’s foreign ministry accused the three countries of “double standards” as they opposed earlier this month a Russian-drafted UN Security Council statement that would have condemned Israel’s attack on Iran’s embassy compound in Syria.
Iran condemned Western members of the UN’s Security Council for failing to denounce Israel’s attack on its consulate in Syria on April 1, which killed seven members of its Revolutionary Guard, including two senior generals, according to Al Jazeera.
Against this backdrop, several Iranian airports, including Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International, have cancelled flights until Monday, The Guardian cited Iranian state media as reporting on Sunday.
“All flights from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport have been cancelled until 6 a.m. (0230 GMT) following an announcement by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation,” the airport’s executive told the Iranian Student news agency.
Domestic flights from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport and airports in Shiraz, Isfahan, Bushehr, Kerman, Ilam, and Sanandaj have also been cancelled until Monday morning, according to Iran’s Airports and Air Navigation Company, as the country’s western airspace remains off limits to flights.
Major airlines across the Middle East have announced the cancellation of some of their flights, while having to reroute others, though Israel reopened its airspace as of 7.30am local time on Sunday morning.
Beirut airport also reopened this morning and flights in and out of the Lebanese capital have reportedly resumed, reported The Guardian.
Tehran has warned it will strike again with greater force if Israel or the US retaliate for the Iranian strike on Israel by more 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night.
Earlier, The Washington Post reported that senior Pentagon officials were frustrated that Israel did not notify the United States before conducting the April 1 strike in Damascus, an escalation that they assess increases risks to American forces in the Middle East.
The Biden administration, according to The Washington Post, immediately distanced itself from the strike on the Iranian compound in Damascus, which Tehran said was especially egregious because it hit a diplomatic facility. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
In the wake of Iran's strike on Israel, The Times of Israel noted that even among Israel’s closest allies, pressure had been growing to end the war in the Gaza Strip..."With its missile and drone attack on Israel, Iran succeeded in rallying the US and top European powers to Israel’s side. Not only did the US, the UK, and France express their unequivocal support for Israel; they actively took part in its defense, using a network of satellite, planes, and radars on the ground and at sea."
"And instead of the UN Security Council discussing the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, it will be debating the Iranian threat and Israel’s right to self-defense on Sunday, with three permanent members sure to band together to condemn Tehran and Moscow," the report added.
In Gaza, six months of Israel’s siege, bombardment and ground offensive have reportedly killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
