After days of great tension, Iran launched a massive drone and cruise missile attack on Israel on Saturday night (13), marking the first direct military action by the Iranians against their former enemy. Israeli media reports that part of the attack is being repelled by US and UK fighter planes deployed in the region.
According to Channel 12, British and American fighter planes took off to shoot down drones and missiles launched from Iran against Israel. Military ships anchored near Israel, already monitoring the tension in the region, would also have fired at Iranian drones.
So far it is not known which planes were used to defend Israel and how many drones were shot down. According to Israeli radio GLZ, more than 100 of the launched drones have already been intercepted outside Israeli territory by the US and Great Britain.
# BREAKING: Israeli source tells @GLZRadio that more than 100 of the drones launched in Israel have already been intercepted outside Israeli territory by the USA and Britain, out of hundreds of UAVs in total launched https://t.co/z2qsEuOnZX
- ELINT News (@ELINTNews) April 13, 2024
Is it possible that British planes are Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets deployed at the British base of Akrotiri, Cyprus. As for North American planes, it is believed that they could be F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters embarked on aircraft carriers and other models, such as F-15 and F-16, deployed in the region a few months ago due to the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team are in the conflict management office, along with the top brass of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
“Iran launched a direct attack from Iranian soil against the state of Israel. We are closely monitoring en route Iranian killer drones sent by Iran. This is a severe and dangerous escalation.”, IDF spokesman Rear iral Daniel Hagari said in a statement. “Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness prior to this large-scale attack by Iran. Together with our partners, the Israel Defense Force is operating at full strength to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel."
Iran, in turn, confirmed the attacks, in what it called Operation True Promise. The exact number of missiles and drones, as well as their types and models, are still unknown. Reports point to waves of hundreds of Shahed 136 drones and dozens of cruise missiles, some of which were seen crossing Iraqi territory towards Israel.
Additional Footage showing what is believed to be Iranian Land-Attack Cruise Missiles heading West over Eastern Iraq. pic.twitter.com/3gQYKOPxhn
- OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 13, 2024
ADVERTISING
Israel got the iron dome, those drones aren't fucking with that anti-defense, it's the best in the world… pic.twitter.com/PccEXaiHiQ
— JP 🏁 (@400Italy) April 13, 2024
Moments ago over Dewania, Iraq pic.twitter.com/YU1ziEAnhz
- Steven Nabil (@thestevennabil) April 13, 2024
“The Aerospace Division of the IRGC [Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] has launched dozens of missiles and drones against certain targets within [Israel],” says an IRGC statement to Iranian state media, further stating that the attack is a response to the “crimes of the State of Israel”.
*This article will be updated with more information.
