Israel Strikes Back Against Iran
South Front, Apr 24 2024
Israel has launched a bold attack against Iran, however it failed to deter the country or any of its allies in the Middle East. The attack on Apr 19 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. Iranian media reported the interseption of at least three small drones over Eighth Shekari air base near the city of Isfahan. In addition to the drones, which were reportedly launched from within Iran, the Israeli military used three never-seen-before air-launched ballistic missiles at the air base. The first stages of the missiles fell in central Iraq.
Israeli strikes hit several air defense sites in southern Syria during the attack, leading to speculation that Israeli warplanes launched their missiles from some area along the country’s border with Jordan or Iraq. The main target of the attack was an air defense site housing one of Iran’s S-300PMU2 long-range systems within Eighth Shekari air base. Satellite images showed some burn marks near the fire control radar of the system. The targeted air defense site is reportedly responsible for the protection of the nearby heavily-fortified Natanz nuclear facility. Israel didn’t acknowledge the attack, neither was officially blamed for it by Iran.
The next day, Apr 20, an explosion rocked the Kalso military base in the central Iraqi province of Babylon which is used by the Iran-allied Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). At least one person was killed and eight others were wounded. The US denied responsibility, while some Iraqi sources said that it was the result of an Israeli attack. In a response to the suspected attack, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), which has links to the PMF, struck the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat with a suicide drone late on Apr 20. On Apr 21 and 22 there were two attacks against US bases near the town of Kharab al-Jir in the northeastern Syrian governorate of al-Hasakah and at Ain al-Assad in western Iraqi province of al-Anbar. They were the first attacks against American forces since February. The IRI was blamed.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah also escalated its operations against Israel, shooting down a Hermes-450 combat drone over Lebanon on April 22 and attacking a key base near the northern city of Akko with suicide drones on Apr 23. Overall, the Israeli attack has clearly failed to send a strong message to Iran. The results of the attack are questionable, and Tehran allies were not deterred. Now, Israel will likely escalate against the Hamas Movement and other factions in the Gaza Strip to make up for this failure. There are already reports of a US green light for an attack on the heavily-populated city of Rafah in the southernmost part of the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Army Is About To Attack Gaza’s Rafah – Reports
South Front, Apr 24 2024
The IOF has completed all necessary preparations to take the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and can launch a ground operation against the Hamas Movement there the moment it gets government approval, a senior Israeli ‘defense’ official told Reuters on Apr 24. Rafah, which is located right on the border with Egypt, shelters more than a million Palestinians who fled the half-year-old Israeli offensive through the rest of Gaza. In addition to Reuters’ report, Axios revealed that head of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar and IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Herzi Halevi visited Egypt in the morning to discuss the planned operation. The report, citing three senior Israeli officials, said that Bar and Halevi met with Egypt’s intelligence chief and other key officials to discuss the IOF’s looming operation in Rafah.
A day earlier, Israel’s state broadcaster reported that the IOF was preparing to begin the ground operation in Rafah “very soon,” beginning with a massive evacuation of over a million Palestinians, who will reportedly be required to evacuate in the next four to five weeks to tent complexes that international aid organizations had set up. The plan for the Rafah ground operation has been presented to US officials as well as several sides in the Middle East, the IBA said, noting that the operation will move forward in stages, based on a regional division of the city into defined areas. At each stage, the IOF will inform the local population before they advance into each area so the local population can evacuate before Israeli troops move forward.
While the IOF has been pushing hard for a ground operation in Rafah, it continues to face difficulties in areas already occupied by its troops in northern and southern Gaza. The IOF announced earlier in the week that a reservist was killed during fighting against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. The slain reservist was a tracker in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade. His death brings the toll of slain Israeli troops in the IOF’s ground offensive against Hamas to 261. More than 1.5k others have been wounded, so far. Overall, Israel appears about to launch a ground operation in Rafah. While the IOF has been promoting the upcoming operation as the final blow to Hamas, the only real outcome from the attack will likely be more dead or wounded Palestinian civilians. The Israeli war has already claimed the lives of 34,262 Palestinians and left more than 77,229 others wounded, according to the latest update by the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Niqnaq 