Iran warned on Saturday it would defend itself after Israeli air strikes killed at least two soldiers and raised fears of a full-scale regional war in the Middle East.
Israel warned that Iran would “pay a heavy price” if it responded to the attacks, and the United States, Germany and Britain called on Tehran not to escalate the conflict.
Other countries, including several of Iran’s neighbors, condemned Israel’s attacks and some such as Russia urged both sides to show restraint and avoid what Moscow termed a “catastrophic scenario”.
The Islamic Republic insisted it had the “right and duty” to defend itself, while its Lebanese ally Hezbollah said it had already launched rocket attacks targeting five residential areas in northern Israel.
The Israeli military said 80 shells were fired from across the border on Saturday.
Confirming its strikes after echoes of explosions and anti-aircraft fire around Tehran, the Israeli military said it had targeted Iranian missile factories and military facilities in several areas.
A military spokesman said “the counter-attack has been completed and the mission has been accomplished”, while the Israeli aircraft “returned safely”.
Iran confirmed that Israel had targeted military sites in Tehran province around the capital and other parts of the country, and said the raid caused “limited damage” but killed two soldiers.
direct attack
Israel vowed to retaliate after October 1, when Iran fired nearly 200 missiles in only the second direct attack against its arch enemy. Most of those missiles were intercepted but one person was killed.
Israeli retaliation was condemned by Hamas, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, and warned of further escalation. Jordan said Israeli jets did not use its airspace. Türkiye was one of the most vocal critics, calling for an end to the “terror perpetrated by Israel”.
Israel is already engaged in a fight on two fronts.
Over the past month, it has been waging a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including attacks that killed the group’s senior leadership and ground incursions that sought to destroy missile sites.
And, for more than a year since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Israel has been waging a war in Gaza, causing massive civilian casualties in the densely populated Palestinian territory.
The UN has warned that a “dark moment” is looming in the conflict, with Palestinians facing a severe humanitarian crisis and daily Israeli bombardment.
Along with Hezbollah and Hamas, Iranian-allied groups in Yemen, Iraq and Syria have carried out attacks during the fallout from the Gaza war.
Around the same time that Israel attacked targets in Iran, Syrian state news agency SANA said an Israeli airstrike targeted military targets in central and southern Syria.
‘Iranian proxy’
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose network of pro-Iran factions, claimed responsibility for a drone strike against a “military target” in northern Israel before dawn Saturday.
Israeli officials said two people were killed by shrapnel after a Hezbollah rocket attack in Israel’s north on Friday.
In addition to the residential attacks, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli troops near the village of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon and at an intelligence base, as well as launched drones against Israel’s Tel Nof air base, south of Tel Aviv.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike killed a doctor linked to Hezbollah in Bazuriya in the south of the country.
US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said Israel’s response to Iran was “an exercise in self-defense”.
He urged Iran to “cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation”.
The Israeli military has blamed “Iran and its proxies” in the region for “continuous attacks on Israel since October 7”, when the Gaza war was triggered by Hamas attacks against Israel.
That attack killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Dozens of hostages captured that day are still held by militants in Gaza.
Israeli retaliatory bombardments and the ground war in Gaza have killed 42,924 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures the United Nations considers credible.
In late September Israel turned its attention to attacking Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah and its leaders and then sending in ground forces.
Israel says it aims to make its country’s north safe for the return of thousands of displaced civilians.
At least 1,580 people have died in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
In April, in its first direct attack against Israeli territory, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles.
Tehran said the attack was in retaliation for an attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, which killed members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Later in April, explosions rocked Iran’s Isfahan province, which US media, citing US officials, described as Israeli retaliation.
hospital in danger
Iran said its October 1 missile attack on Israel was retaliation for an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah as well as the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas political leader in Tehran.
On Friday, Gaza’s health ministry accused Israeli forces of attacking the last functioning hospital in the north of the territory, which it said killed two children.
The Israeli military said its forces were operating around the Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, but that it was “not aware of live fire and attacks in the area of the hospital”.
The Israeli military says it is trying to destroy the operational capabilities Hamas is trying to rebuild in the north.
Also on Friday, Gaza’s civil protection agency said Israeli drone strikes killed 12 people waiting to receive aid near the al-Shatti refugee camp.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
