Israeli air defenses are “fully operational”
Iran has launched dozens of attack drones and ballistic missiles from its territory in at least three waves that are already heading towards the territory of Israel, which has already activated its anti-aircraft defenses and its aviation to try to intercept these devices.
Israeli media have reported that the drones are estimated to arrive in Israeli airspace around 2:00-3:00 a.m. (1:00-2:00 a.m. Spanish peninsular time) and that the objective of the Israeli Armed Forces is to shoot them down before they enter their territory. air space.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has reported in a statement the launch of “dozens” of drones and missiles against targets within the “occupied territories”, in reference to Israel, to “punish the illegitimate and criminal regime.”
This attack is “in response to the numerous crimes of the evil Zionist regime, including the attack on the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus” on April 1 in which 16 people died, most of them members of the Revolutionary Guard.
Later, the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, reported the launch of a first wave of ballistic missiles towards Israeli territory. An “informed source” has explained to IRNA that the projectiles have targets “deep inside” the “territories occupied” by Israel.
The spokesman for the Israeli Armed Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Hagari, has also confirmed the start of the attack. “Iran has just launched unmanned aerial vehicles from its territory and towards the territory of the State of Israel,” Hagari said in an official statement.
“The Israel Defense Forces are on alert with a situational perspective at all times. The air defense system is on alert and Air Force aircraft and Navy ships are on a mission to protect the country’s skies. “The IDF is following all targets,” the spokesperson added.
Thus, he highlighted that “the air defense system is fully operational and intercepts threats where necessary” and referred to both the ground defenses and the Israeli Air Force planes “that are operating in the sky and are prepared against any threat.”
The military official has also called on the population to “comply with the instructions of the Home Front Command and the official announcements of the IDF spokesperson in this regard.” Whenever warning sirens are heard, the population must go to the shelters and stay there for at least ten minutes.
“You may hear explosions due to interceptions or drops. Since we are talking about different types of threats, it is possible that the alerts operate over large areas,” he indicated. Hagari has also asked that the spread of rumors and unverified information be avoided and that people act responsibly and calmly.
Hagari has also announced that there will be cuts in the GPS signal due to the use of the military to intercept these drones and has recalled that the warning sirens will only sound if the drones enter Israeli airspace in the affected regions.
POSSIBLE OBJECTIVES
The Israeli Armed Forces have warned the population of the Negev, Eilat and Golan Heights regions to be especially alert to the attack with drones and cruise missiles launched from Iranian territory. The projectiles are expected to impact in the next few hours.
“In accordance with the assessment of the situation, residents of the northern Golan Heights, the Nevatim area, Dimona and Eilat are asked to remain until further notice near a protected area that can be reached for self-defense.” , the Israeli Armed Forces have published on their official Telegram channel.
“Upon receiving the notice, you must enter the protected area. If there is no protected area you must act according to the rule of the ‘most protected area available’. In any case you must wait ten minutes, no less. You must stay aware of the messages distributed in the media and wait for further instructions,” the Armed Forces noted in their statement.
The Golan Heights is the part of Syria occupied by Israel since 1967 and has a strong Israeli military presence. Eilat, for its part, is the city located in the extreme south of the country and has a strategic military port that gives Israel access to the Red Sea.
As for Dimona and Nabatim, they are both located in the Negev desert that covers southern Israel. In Dimona there is a nuclear power plant, where uranium is enriched for Israeli atomic weapons, although it has never been officially recognized, while in Nabatim there is a military air base.
The Israeli press has highlighted that the official plane of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ‘Kenaf Zion’, which had not yet been released, has taken off and is in flight. Netanyahu himself reportedly met with the Government’s security cabinet at the headquarters of the Israeli Armed Forces, in the Kirya neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon have closed their airspace and at least four planes bound for Israel have turned around. Shortly after learning of this information about changes in course of commercial aircraft, the Israel Airports Authority reported that the country’s airspace will be closed indefinitely starting at 0:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. Spanish peninsular time).
