Israel's Retaliation Against Iran Begins with Massive Airstrike

Israel is bringing terror home to Tehran.

The Jewish state launched a wave of 140 warplanes against military targets in the Islamic Republic of Iran early Saturday, Fox News reported, including bases near the country’s capital.

And Israel is vowing to do more — if necessary.

“I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks against Israel. We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran — thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel.”

Watch IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari talk about the… pic.twitter.com/1OOss3etpV

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 26, 2024

“We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran thwarting immediate threats to the state of Israel,” Israel Defense Force Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video posted to the social media platform X.

“The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission. If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond. Our message is clear:

“All those who threaten the state of Israel and seek to drag the region into wider escalation will pay a heavy price.”

The extent of the damage from the attack wasn’t clear on Saturday, though Iran called it “limited,” according to The Washington Post. Iranian media reported two soldiers had been killed.

According to Reuters, Iranian news outlets “reported blasts over several hours in the capital and at nearby military bases.”

The Israeli action was the largest Israeli attack on Iran in history, as Fox reported.

It was a response to an Oct. 1 missile attack by Iran on Israel that was itself a retaliation for Israel’s air raid on Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 27 that killed an Iranian general as well as Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-supported terror group Hezbollah.

It marked the second direct military action by Israel against Iran. In April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launched a drone and missile attack against Iran after an Iranian attack on Israel, which was itself a retaliation for an April 1 Israeli air raid in Syrya that killed several members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

And all of this attack-counterattack cycle is coming as Israel wages a war against the Iranian-supported terrorist group Hamas, which sparked the latest round of Israel’s decades-long fight for existence with the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

Appearing on Fox News on Friday night Eastern Daylight Time, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley reacted to Israel’s attack by blaming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for a foreign policy that amounts to appeasing Iran — and has led directly to war.

October 7th wouldn’t have happened if Iran hadn’t funded it—and Harris, Biden, and Obama helped fill Iran’s coffers.

The U.S. must stand with Israel as it stands up to the terrorist Iranian regime pic.twitter.com/LDtlx8RDx8

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 26, 2024

“Israel, again, is doing the world’s work here,” Hawley told Fox host Sean Hannity.

“It’s doing us a huge favor. It’s helping our national security.

“This really shows why Israel is arguably our most important ally out there.

“They are standing up to Iran. And they’re helping to reverse what Biden and Harris have done over the last few years.”

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