An Israeli airstrike on Iran damaged an air defense system on Friday, Western and Iranian officials said, in an attack designed to send the message that Israel could bypass Iranian defensive systems undetected and cripple them.
The strike damaged a defensive battery near Natanz, a city in central Iran that is key to the country’s nuclear weapons program, according to two Western and two Iranian officials. The attack – and Saturday’s revelation of its target – was in retaliation for the Iranian strike in Israel last week after Israel bombed its embassy compound in Damascus. But it used only a fraction of the firepower deployed by Tehran to launch hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel.
Friday’s strike was the latest salvo in a series of retaliatory attacks between the two countries this month that have heightened fears of a broader regional conflict. But the relatively limited scope of the Israeli strike and the discreet response of Iranian officials appear to have eased tensions.
Iran and Israel have led for years shadow warbut the conflict intensified on April 1, when Israeli warplanes killed seven Iranian officials, including three senior commanders, at an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria, which Israel says was used as a military site. Iran responded last week by firing a barrage of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Israel, almost all of which were shot down by Israel and its allies. But the strikes nevertheless shook the Israelis.
The attack was Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israeli soil, highlighting the two countries’ clandestine war – long waged on land, in the air, at sea and in cyberspace. The Israeli government has vowed to respond, even as world leaders and their Western allies, including the United States, have rushed to defuse the situation, urging Israel not to react in a way that could lead to to a regional war.
Although Israeli leaders came close to ordering a broader attack on Iran, Friday’s attack appears calibrated to send a warning about Israel’s military capabilities – but without further escalating tensions as Israel continues to fight the Hamas in Gaza.
The two Iranian officials who discussed the Israeli attack said Israel struck an S-300 anti-aircraft system at a military base in Isfahan province. The officials’ account was supported by satellite images analyzed by the New York Timeswhich showed damage to the radar of an S-300 system at the Eighth Shekari Air Base in Isfahan.
It is unclear exactly what type of weapon hit the S-300 system. Three Western and two Iranian officials confirmed Friday that Israel had deployed aerial drones and at least one missile fired from a warplane. Earlier, Iranian officials said the attack on the military base was carried out by small drones, most likely launched from inside Iranian territory.
Two Western officials said a missile was fired from a warplane far from Israeli or Iranian airspace, and that the weapon included technology that allowed it to evade Iranian radar defenses. The two Iranian officials said the military did not detect anything entering the country’s airspace on Friday, including drones, missiles or planes.
Efforts to ease tensions between Israel and Iran came as Israel’s war against Hamas, now in its sixth month, continued Saturday with reports of a deadly attack in the southern Gaza.
Israeli airstrikes in Rafah on Saturday killed at least 10 civilians, including women and children, according to Palestinian state media, spreading fear in an area where more than a million Palestinians have been displaced.
Palestinians have been preparing for weeks for an Israeli ground offensive on Rafah, the southernmost part of Gaza, where the majority of the Gaza Strip’s 2.2 million residents fled after being forced from their homes. Israel’s bombings and ground invasion have killed more than 30,000 people, according to local authorities.
Israeli airstrikes on Saturday hit two houses, and missiles and artillery hit other areas in and around Rafah, according to the Wafa news agency. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
“It was like an earthquake,” Mohammad al-Masri, 31, said of the tremors caused by the strikes.
The first strike occurred just after midnight, and the second shortly after, said Mr. al-Masri, an accountant who was sheltering with his family in a tent in a large encampment in Rafah.
“When we hear these strikes, we don’t know what to do,” he said. “Everyone says the same thing: ‘Where can we go?’ »
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli army planned to invade Rafah to “complete the elimination of Hamas battalions” and destroy its tunnel networks. World leaders, including President Biden, have urged Israel not to invade the city due to the risk of heavy civilian casualties.
About 500 miles away, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader, traveled to Turkey on Saturday to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has strongly condemned Israel and its leaders since the war began in October.
Turkey was once Israel’s closest friend in the Muslim world, but relations have become increasingly turbulent since Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Mr Erdogan has backed the Palestinian cause, which enjoys broad public support in Turkey, defended Hamas since the October 7 attack and strongly condemned Israel and its leaders.
On Saturday, Mr. Erdogan’s office said the two leaders discussed Israeli attacks on “Palestinian territory, mainly on Gaza; what needs to be done to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza adequately and without interruption.
After the meeting, Mr. Erdogan told reporters that he would use every opportunity to draw attention to the suffering in Gaza and that he hoped Israel would one day be held accountable.
“Israel will certainly one day pay the price for the atrocities it inflicted on the Palestinians,” Erdogan told reporters.
Earlier Saturday, one person was killed and eight were injured in an explosion at a military base in Babylon province, Iraq, used by an Iranian-backed armed group, Harakat al Nujaba, according to Iraqi military command.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the strike.
In a carefully worded statement, the Iraqi military did not attribute the explosion to an air attack with a missile or drone. However, privately, military officials said it appeared at least one projectile had hit inside the base’s perimeter. Video taken shortly after the explosion and posted on social media showed damaged buildings and a large crater filled with rubble. A second video showed several parts of the base on fire.
The American army, which has already carried out strikes against armed groups supported by Iran in Iraq, said in a statement shortly after the attack, that it had not participated in any strikes in Iraq. The Israeli military declined to comment.
Liam Pile, Raja Abdulrahim And Alissa J. Rubin reports contributed.