An Israeli official informed AFP on Saturday that the military is gearing up to retaliate against the Iranian missile barrage directed at Israel earlier this week. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to address the issue publicly, stated, “The IDF (Israeli military) is preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack on Israeli civilians and Israel.”
The official did not disclose details regarding the nature or timing of the response. However, Israel’s left-leaning newspaper, Haaretz, cited the military and reported that the impending response will be “significant.”
According to the report, “The IDF is preparing for a significant strike in Iran following this week’s missile attack from Tehran.” The military also expressed concerns about the possibility of Iran launching further missile attacks on Israeli territory in response to the Israeli strike.
On October 1, Iran carried out a missile assault on Israel, marking its second direct attack on the country in less than six months. Despite most of the missiles being intercepted by Israel’s aerial defence system, a few managed to hit military bases, causing limited damage and no casualties.
Iran claimed that the missile launch was a retaliatory measure for the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Lebanese capital on September 27. Additionally, Iran’s missile attack was linked to the death of the former political head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran on July 31. Both Iran and Hamas hold Israel responsible for Haniyeh’s death, although Israel has not officially commented on the matter.
