Israel, Battered but Unbowed, Suffers a Bloody Weekend and Delivers Body Blows to the Iranian Regime
A barrage of rockets at dawn from the Islamic Republic claims lives even as the Israeli air force achieves ‘total air superiority’ in the skies over Iran.
TEL AVIV — A significant attack by Iran on Israel’s heartland at about 4 a.m. Monday sent some 40 ballistic missiles screaming toward the Jewish state, killing eight people and wounding 95. In all 24 Israelis have been killed by the Islamic Republic since Friday.
The latest barrage also inflicted light damage on the American embassy outpost in Tel Aviv. This correspondent, sheltering blocks away, could hear the effect of impact. Broken glass was evident on Monday morning. Those Israelis who lost their lives hailed from Petah Tikva, Haifa, and Bnei Brak. Iran has now fired some 350 missles at Israel since Friday.
The Israel Defense Forces is notching yet more successes against Iran. It now claims “total air superiority.” Israeli air force jets had the run of Tehran during the day on Sunday, a fresh demonstration of air superiority. Israel also claims to have struck the command center of Iran’s Quds Force, a special unit that coordinates the works of Iran’s terrorist proxies and reports directly to the country’s supreme leader.
Weekend targets included a terminal at Mashhad Airport — 1,400 miles from Israel — used for refueling planes, military infrastructure, nuclear headquarters, and senior military officials. Israeli pilots are also working to destroy Iran’s missiles before they are launched. More than 120 missile launchers were eliminated Sunday night. The IDF’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, says the army is “continuing to operate according to a structured, thorough, professional and evolving plan.”
Iranian officials raised the death toll to 224 and claimed at least 1,400 injured. Iran’s intelligence chief and his deputy perished, Prime Minister Netanyahu said in an interview with “Special Report with Bret Baier” from an undisclosed location in Israel on Sunday. “We have a free highway to Tehran and we can now pick off the targets that we need in Tehran and other places,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
Saturday night into Sunday morning was also a bloody interval for Israel, as 14 citizens were killed by two barrages of Iranian missiles. The first wave hit the northern city of Tamra, and claimed the lives of four Arab Israeli civilians — Manar Fakhri Dhiab Khatib, Shatha Khatib, Hala Khatib, and Manar Al-Qassem Abu Al-Hijaa Khatib.
The second barrage, which landed a few minutes before 3 a.m. local time, was so loud that the ground seemed to shake beneath my feet. Those booms were likely the aftershocks of a direct hit on a residential building in a suburb of Tel Aviv, Bat Yam. That claimed the lives of seven persons, including a 10-year-old boy and an 80-year-old woman. Some 200 were wounded in that barrage. A baby was rescued from the rubble.
This correspondent can confirm that many of those who lived in the building hit at Bat Yam checked into a hotel at Tel Aviv, the Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv Beach. Some were wearing bandages. One resident told me that his parents hurried to their safe room only after they felt the missiles’ impact.
I have seen parents bringing sleeping bags to shelters for their children, reasoning that remaining in the bunker was better than racing between home and safety. Dogs of all shapes and sizes are also part of the menagerie that trundles down to shelters once the alarms begin to sound. One shelter that I visited was so stocked with musical equipment it could have doubled as a recording studio.
Even with eyes focused on the skies, Israel’s Defense Forces are working on the ground to protect the borders from infiltration. Israeli troops are being relocated to the northern and eastern borders from Gaza in an attempt to prevent Hezbollah or other jihadists from Jordan and Syria potentially infiltrating the country.
There was weekend news out of Gaza, too. Mr. Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the kidnapped soldier whose body was retrieved last week from the Hamas enclave is Aviv Atsili. He was protecting his kibbutz, Nir Oz, when he was killed and his body taken. Monday morning saw the detection of a projectile from Yemen. Residents of southern Israel were ordered to shelters.
Even in the midst of war, a semblance of normalcy holds — at least during daytime hours. Sunshine, shawarma, and strategy were on the menu on Sunday at an outdoor eatery minutes from the beach in Tel Aviv, where a recent immigrant, Benjy, tells me that the “great war between Israel and Iran” is well under way. Israeli airspace has now been closed for longer than at any time since the War of Independence.
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