What we know about the Iranian attack on Israel

In these hours, trying to assess the Iranian attack on Israel is very difficult because the numerous sources available online, instead of simplifying the work, make it even more complicated, as it’s not always possible to rely on their reliability.

In this post, we try to summarize, without the intention of being exhaustive, what is known about the attack. Let’s start by saying that Teheran has not achieved any of the military objectives it had set for itself, as the vast majority of the missiles and drones launched against Israel have been destroyed.

In the attacks (because it is more accurate to speak in the plural since there have been multiple attacks, albeit coordinated) drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles were used. We speak of multiple attacks because launches were carried out from Iran but also from Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq.

It seems that the objective of the attacks was military targets (we know that the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel was hit, albeit without causing significant damage). The conditional is necessary because Israel declares that 99% of the attacks were thwarted thanks to the destruction of almost all the missiles and drones launched by Tehran, so we cannot know precisely where the destroyed missiles would have hit.

In detail, 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles were launched towards Israel. Many of these were destroyed even before they entered Israeli airspace, thanks also to the intervention of US, France, and UK fighter jets that intercepted many carriers in the skies of Iraq and Jordan.

The missiles and drones that reached Israel were then intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system and, it seems, also by the Arrow system (look at the video below). There are no casualties reported in the attacks, and the material damage appears to be minor.

At the moment (10:00 CEST), Israel has not responded to the attacks