The strike Israel launched against Iran on Oct. 26 was in retaliation for the ballistic missile barrage Iran fired at Israel on Oct. 1. Now, the satellite imaging company Planet Labs released photos showing damage from the Israeli attacks at two different military facilities in Iran.
Analysis of the photos, taken from space, shows several buildings were hit. At least some were completely destroyed. These sites were believed to be used to create many of the components Iran uses to make its missiles and drones.
Israel said it used around 100 aircraft to carry out the operation, and all of its military objectives were achieved. The Israel Defense Forces released video of some F-15s and F-16s preparing for the mission, but the loadout on these planes suggests they were primarily used as refuelers for Israel’s F-35 stealth fighters, which likely carried out the actual strikes.
Before flying into Iran, though, Israel reportedly took out radar and anti-air defenses in Iraq and Syria, clearing a path to Iranian skies.
Once over Iran, the Israeli Air Force was able to operate freely. There is video of Iranian anti-aircraft artillery firing into the skies, but F-35s can easily avoid such rudimentary defenses.
That message is almost as impactful as the strikes themselves. Israeli planes were flying in Iran for hours. Those planes had the ability and opportunity to inflict much more damage on Iran — but didn’t.
In addition to the missile and drone-making sites, Israel launched precision strikes against about 20 military targets, mainly radars and Russian-supplied air defense systems.
Taking those targets out means any future assault by the Israeli Air Force will almost certainly encounter far fewer defenses.
It’s almost exactly what Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence officer and negotiator, said would happen when Straight Arrow News talked with him right after the Iranian ballistic missile attacks.
By not hitting nuclear sites or taking out Iran’s energy infrastructure or important monuments to the regime, Israel’s response leaves room for escalation if Iran chooses to retaliate for the retaliation.
Initially, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel’s strike shouldn’t be “exaggerated or downplayed” but that he didn’t want a war with Israel.
A few days later, however, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the regime will use all available tools to respond to Israel. Of course, a lot of that is likely bluster because, quite frankly, Iran just doesn’t have a lot of tools left to use with which to attack Israel.
The Israeli defense minister said Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon can no longer operate as effective proxies for Iran, taking away the possibility for Iran to launch a ground attack. Iran’s Air Force is laughably inferior to Israel’s, and the regime’s ability to make missiles and drones was just severely limited.
So, while Iran’s leaders may make plenty of public statements about the need to hit back against Israel, there’s a growing belief the recent tit-for-tat nature of strikes between the arch-enemies may be coming to an end.
