Palestinian Death Toll In Gaza Tops 34,000
South Front, Apr 19 2024
The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Apr 19 that at least 34,012 people were killed in the Palestinian enclave during the past six months as a result of the war waged by Israel. More than 76,833 others have been wounded since the war first broke out after Oct 7 the Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel, the ministry said in a statement. Most of the casualties are reportedly women and children. According to the ministry, the toll includes at least 42 deaths over the past 24 hours. During the same period, 63 others were wounded.
In addition to the high number of casualties, the Israeli war, now in its 195th day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the Strip’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN. In recent months, the IOF withdrew from most of the areas it invaded in the northern and southern parts of Gaza. Nevertheless, it continues to maintain a large presence in the central part, where its troops split the Strip in half. The IDF has lost 260 soldiers and officers since the start of ground operations in Gaza. The exact number of Israeli troops wounded during these operations remains unknown, but it is reported to be way above 1,560.
Israel is yet to achieve any of the objects it launched the war for. Hamas is still in charge in Gaza, around a hundred Israeli hostages taken during the Oct 7 attacks are yet to be freed and rockets are still being fired from the Strip every few days. Despite the heavy human cost and the lack of any achievement, Israel is still determined to go on with its war against Hamas and other Palestinian armed factions in Gaza. The IOF is reportedly still preparing to launch an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, where more than 1.5m Palestinians have been taking shelter. Israel is facing pressure over the planned operation, including from allies like the US. However, the pressure may be not enough to cancel the operation.
Israel Used Secret Missiles In Attack On Iran’s Isfahan Air Base
South Front, Apr 19 2024
The Israeli military used a secret air-launched missile with two stages and a fairly long range in its attack on an air base near the Iranian city of Isfahan early on Apr 19, photos showing the wreckage of the missiles’ used in the strike suggest. The attack came in response to the Apr 13-14 Iranian missile and drone strikes on Israel, which was a retaliation to an Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, at the beginning of the month that claimed the lives of several senior members of the IRGC. Iranian media reported the interception of drones over Isfahan air base during the Israeli attack, and didn’t report any losses. Israel didn’t acknowledge the attack, neither was officially blamed for it by Iran. However, officials from the two countries as well as the US confirmed to several news outlets that the Israeli military was responsible.
While Iranian media reported that the attack was carried out using drones, wreckage of missiles used in the attack was found in central Iraq, close to the towns of Latifiya and Aziziyah. Iraqi media reported that the wreckage belonged to failed Israeli missiles. However, photos posted to social media indicate that the remains found there were only the main booster, or first stage, of a two stage ballistic missile. The first stage also had lugs typically used for loading onto warplanes, which means that the missile in question is air-launched. The missile’s first stage appears to be similar in general to Israel’s Sparrow family of air-launched target missiles, which were initially developed to mimic ballistic missiles and test anti-missile systems. In 2013, Rafael, which makes the Sparrow targets, tested the latest version, dubbed Silver Sparrow. This two-stage version was designed to simulate Iranian Shahab-3 class ballistic missiles with a 1.5k km to 2k km range and can notably carry a live high-explosive warhead.
And in 2019, Rafael unveiled an air-launched ballistic missile dubbed Rocks, which was apparently based on the Black Sparrow, the earliest version of the target missile family. At the time, the Israeli defense company didn’t disclose the range of Rocks. However, it said that the missile has “a very significant standoff range” and “a high-velocity trajectory towards the target.” Rafael also produces the Blue Sparrow version, which is size wise in the middle between the Silver Sparrow and the Black Sparrow. Rocks missile is made up of a single stage. This means that the missiles used in the attack on Iran were based either on the Silver Sparrow or more likely on a secret, modified version of the Blue Sparrow, whose size is more comparable to the remains found in Iraq. These two types are typically deployed from F-15 fighter jets.
Isfahan air base is located more than 1k km away from Israel. However, it is unlikely that Israeli F-15 fighter jets launched from within the country’s airspace. A series of Israeli strikes that targeted radar and air defense sites in southern Syria around the same time as the attack on Iran and the fact that the missiles’ first stage were found in central Iraq indicate that Israeli F-15 fighter jets launched their missiles from some area along the border between Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Thus, the range of the secret Israeli missile could be around 800 km. The attack on Isfahan, home to several key nuclear facilities, was not apparently meant to cause damage to the air base, but rather to send a message to Iran that the Israeli military can strike deep in its territory. However, in doing so Israel exposed one of its top secret capabilities and provided Iran with an example of the tactics it will use during an all-out conflict.
Iranian Air Base Attacked In Israeli Retaliatory Strike
South Front, Apr 19 2024
Explosions were heard near the Iranian city of Isfahan early on Apr 19 with several news agencies reporting an Israeli retaliatory strike against an air base near the city. Iranian state TV said:
Three drones were observed in the sky over Isfahan. The air defense system became active and destroyed these drones in the sky.
Local officials initially grounded flights and cleared its airspace over Isfahan, but lifted restrictions on flights soon after. State TV later said the situation in the city was normal and no ground explosions had occurred. Senior military commander, Second Brigadier General Mihandoust, told the semi-official Tasnim news agency there was “no damage” and the noises heard overnight were due to air defense systems targeting a “suspicious object.” Other semi-official news agencies reported that sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program in Isfahan were “completely secure” and the attack appeared to be limited in scope.
However, unnamed Israeli and American officials told US news outlets that Israel had carried out a retaliatory strike against Iran. The NYT said that three Iranian sources confirmed that an air base near Isfahan had been hit. The air base is the home to Iran’s fleet of US-made F-14s. Meanwhile, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters the US was not involved but was notified by Israel before the attack. Another source from Iran said that the country has no plan to strike back immediately. The Iranian official told the news agency on condition of anonymity:
The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack.
CNN quoted a senior US official as saying that Israel told the US the attack was not targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. Both CNN and Fox News quoted officials describing the Israeli attack on Iran as “limited.” An Israeli source told the WaPo that the attack was meant to serve as a warning that Israel’s military has the ability to reach Iran. Separately, “material losses” were reported in Syria around the same time as the attack on Iran after an Israeli strike targeted “air defense sites” in the country’s southern region, SANA reported citing a military official. A radar site in the governorate of al-Suwayda, near the border with both Jordan and Iraq, was reportedly struck. The IRGC launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel over the night of Apr 13-14 in response to an Israeli strike that targeted Iran’s embassy in Damascus at the beginning of the month and killed a number of its senior members. Israel has vowed to respond, without saying when or how, while its allies have called on both sides to avoid further escalation.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had warned Israel before the attack on Isfahan that Tehran would deliver a “severe response” to any attack on its territory. Iran told the UNSC on Apr 18 that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the UN secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.” Israel’s leadership and the military were silent after the reports of the attack on Iran, likely in an attempt to avoid further escalation. Overall, the attack on Isfahan appears to be Israel’s response to Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone strikes. The attack was likely carried out using drones, which may have been launched by Israeli intelligence from Iranian territory, or missiles launched by Israeli fighter jets from the direction of Syria, Jordan or Iraq. The limited scale of the attack suggests that Iran has reestablished deterrence with Israel.
Niqnaq 