Israel announced the launch of “precise strikes” on military targets in Iran on Saturday in retaliation for Iranian missile attacks, as an AFP journalist in Tehran reported hearing several explosions.
“In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel –- right now the Israel Defense Forces (Israeli military) is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” the military said in a statement.
srael had vowed to hit back at Iran following its October 1 missile attack, with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant saying the response would be “deadly, precise and surprising”.
Israel has been fighting Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza since the deadliest attack in its history on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
It 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.
“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are fully mobilised,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari in a separate statement urged people to be “alert and vigilant”.
Iran’s October 1 strike, its second direct attack on Israel, came after an Israeli air raid killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Revolutionary Guards general Abbas Nilforoushan in Lebanon on September 27.
It also followed the killing of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, on July 31 in Tehran in an attack widely blamed on Israel.
The rapid escalation of violence has raised fears across the region of a wider war, pitting Israel against Iran and the allies it dubs the “axis of resistance”.
