Israel launches three waves of strikes against military targets in Iran, as allies warn against further escalation
26 October 2024, 01:04 | Updated: 26 October 2024, 06:39
Israel's military said it is "conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran", as Western allies warned Tehran not to respond.
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The IDF confirmed it had launched airstrikes on military targets in Iran on Saturday morning, in response to what it called "the continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against Israel".
The attacks did not target nuclear or oil facilities, two Israeli officials said.
Israel said early on Saturday morning that its missions had been completed successfully and its planes had returned home.
The US and UK said that escalation was in no-one's interest, with Washington warning Iran not to respond.
A senior White House official said the administration believed the Israeli operation should "close out" the direct military exchange between Israel and Iran, saying other allies were in agreement.
A British government spokesman said on Saturday morning: "We are monitoring this situation closely."
The Number 10 spokesman added the Government supports
"Israel's right to self-defence and to protect itself in line", so long as it adheres to "international humanitarian law."
"Further escalation is in no one's interest," the statement said.
Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions around the capital Tehran without immediately elaborating.
An Israeli military statement said that Israel "has the right and the duty to respond."
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 - on seven fronts - including direct attacks from Iranian soil," the statement read. It also did not elaborate on the targets.
Iranian state television later identified some of the blasts as coming from air defence systems.
Explosions could be heard in the Iranian capital Tehran, although the Islamic Republic insisted they caused only "limited damage."
Israel's hours-long attack ended just before sunrise in Tehran, with the Israeli military saying it targeted "missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year."
It also said it hit surface-to-air missile sites and "additional Iranian aerial capabilities".
"The Israel Defence Forces has fulfilled its mission," Mr Hagari said in a later video.
"If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond."
"The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7... including direct attacks from Iranian soil," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a pre-recorded video statement.
"Like every other sovereign country in the world, the state of Israel has the right and the duty to respond."
Iran's military said the strikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces and caused "limited damage," without elaborating.
Iran's state-run media acknowledged blasts that could be heard in Tehran and said some of the sounds came from air defence systems around the city.
But beyond a brief reference, Iranian state television for hours offered no other details and even began showing what it described as live footage of men loading trucks at a vegetable market in Tehran in an apparent attempt to downplay the assault.
Iran closed the country's airspace early Saturday, and flight-tracking data showed commercial airlines had broadly left the skies over Iran, and across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
In Syria, the state news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, reported missile fire targeting military sites in the country's central and southern regions.
It said that Syria's air defences had shot some of the missiles down. There was no immediate information on casualties.
