Posted on 04/15/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
Jerusalem, Israel - Apr. 15, 2024 - American officials believe Israel is preparing to respond to Iran's massive assault in the near future, possibly even today, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Both the US and the G7 have called on Israel to show restraint after Iran launched over 300 explosive drones and missiles at Israel, including cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Nearly all of the projectiles were intercepted, many by the US, UK, France, and Arab nations, in addition to interceptions by the Israeli Air Force and Israel's David's Sling and Arrow missile defense systems. According to the IDF, the interception rate was 99%.
The US has called on Israel to treat the successful interceptions as a victory rather than retaliate.
Several scenarios for a possible retaliation were presented, including an indirect retaliation that targets Iran's proxies in the Middle East rather than Iran itself, strikes on Iranian military targets, and strikes on sites related to Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Washington Institute for Near East Policy fellow Ehud Yaari told the Journal that Israel will "have to do something about Iran at some point," but may decide not to retaliate now.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren noted that while the US and other Western countries can be counted on to support purely defensive actions such as the shooting down of missiles, such support quickly evaporates when Israel begins to take offensive action against its attackers.
"It’s when we move from defense to counter-offense, we hemorrhage American support," Oren said.
In the meantime, Israeli officials told CNN that Israel was supposed to start an operation against the final Hamas battalions in Rafah this week, but postponed its start at the last minute following the Iranian attack.