ISRAEL’s war cabinet has drawn up plans for a revenge attack after Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone blitz – but world leaders fear the outbreak of an “uncontrollable war”.
From a fighter jet blitz on Tehran’s nuclear facilities to a submarine strike or large-scale cyberattacks – there are five major ways Israel may choose to hit back at its enemy.
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On Saturday night, Iran attacked Israel with a wave of hundreds of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones – the first ever direct attack by Tehran on its enemy.
Israel’s Iron Dome defence system and its allies warplanes – including the UK’s RAF Typhoons – shot down 99 per cent of the projectiles.
The aerial attack was a major departure from what has been a long-running shadow war between the two states and sparked the grim possibility of an all-our war across the region.
Israel has vowed a “significant response” in revenge for the 110 ballistic missiles, 36 cruise missiles and 185 attack drones – which Jerusalem saw as a “declaration of war”.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called off an immediate retaliation after US President Joe Biden pushed for restraint and warned him to “think carefully” about his next move.
But Israel states it reserves the right to strike Iran “at a manner and time” of its own choosing and told the UN that Iran has “crossed every red line” in its attack.
Jonathan Conicus, senior fellow at the The Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former IDF officer, said this is the “opening act” of Israeli-Iran relations.
He told The Sun: “Iran for the first time stepped out of the convenience and protection of the shadows, and decided to take on Israel directly, and by doing so, of course, Iran presents itself as a target as well.
“How will Israel retaliate? And how will Israel carry a message to the Iranians that they have definitely crossed one bridge too far?”
As the world braces for Israel’s response, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told an emergency Security Council meeting on Sunday: “The Middle East is on the brink.
“The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate.”
PM Rishi Sunak condemned Iran’s attack as “reckless” and called for calm, while a joint statement from G7 yesterday also urged caution, fearing an “uncontrollable” war in the region.
But the question on everyone’s lips is how will Israel choose to respond.
The IDF announced last night it had approved “both offensive and defensive actions” – but did not reveal further detail.
Netanyahu is due to reconvene its war cabinet today, which largely want a response to Iran’s attack – but are said to be split on the scale and timing of it.
Here are five ways Israel could orchestrate an attack:
1. Submarine strike
Israel has five German-made submarines which are capable of firing cruise missiles.
A report in Foreign Policy suggested the subs could be deployed in the Indian Ocean where their projectiles could fly over international water to strike Iran directly,
However, it noted that Israel only has limited numbers of cruise missiles and submarines – making such an attack risky and potentially minimal in scale.
2. Attack on nuclear facilities
Israel could seek to try and blitz Iran’s top nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz – a plan that is said to have been years in the making.
The sites have long been a source of friction between the archenemies, but an attack on the nuke sites has always been considered a precursor to a direct war.
However, defence expert Conricus told The Sun: “I think that nothing’s off the table.
“Israel is considering various targets and nuclear related targets are definitely high up on the list of priorities.”
According to a Jerusalem Post report, a wave of Israeli F-35s into Iran would likely be followed by further waves of F-15 eagles and F-16 fighting falcons.
They could first help to destroy Iran’s air defences – which Conricus pointed out are “significant and nothing to be played around with” – and pave the way for Israel to strike at the chosen nuclear facilities.
But the key would be the arrival of heavily-loaded F-35s carrying American-made “bunker buster” 30,000lb bombs.
These weapons can penetrate up to 80m below ground to reach the underground nuke sites, including Fordow.
However, the US has always refused to provide Israel with such weapons.
Instead, the report stated that Israel may have to rely on surface-to-surface ballistic missile and attack drones to block Tehran’s access to electric power and bury its entrances and exits.
However, it is very unclear whether Israel would pursue such a dramatic response.
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3. Attack Iran’s military bases
A more likely scenario would see Israel launch a coordinated series of long-range missile strikes that would first target the missiles bases that Iran used to launch Saturday’s attack.
This could then be broadened out to target training camps, command-and-control centres and airbases belonging to Iran’s fearsome Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Conricus stated: “Israel has a formidable Air force which displayed its defence capabilities just two days ago.
“It is also very well practised with the high level skills of delivering ordnance to far away targets.”
4. Strikes on proxies in Syria & Lebanon
Instead of a direct counterstrike on Iran, Israel may choose the less escalating path of continued attacks on its regional proxies in Lebanon and Syria.
As part of its shadow war with Tehran, Israel has orchestrated assassinations and sabotage attacks against Iran’s terror puppets, including Hezbollah, and carried out hundreds of strikes against targets in Syria and Lebanon.
Saturday’s attack – which Iran claimed was “legitimate self-defence” came in response to a deadly strike on its embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier this month, which Israel is widely believed to be behind.
Now in the wake of Iran’s direct confrontation, analysts say Israel could be looking to expand its strikes on Iranian personnel and military assets in Syria and elsewhere.
Israel has already pummelled Hezbollah targets in Lebanon during a barrage in the early hours of Sunday – targeting weapons manufacturing facilities and targets.
5. Cyberattacks
With Western leaders’ calls for restraint, Israel could choose more covert military actions.
Israel has previously launched cyberattacks on Iran, including targeting its petrol stations in the past.
Former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus warned CNN on Sunday that Israel’s military might “pursue asymmetric attacks, cyberspace and so forth”.
An IDF official also confirmed to USA Today that cyberattacks are something that is being considered.
“Sometimes you have to plan three or four moves in order to understand what is the right way,” the unnamed official added.
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What is Israel’s Iron Dome & how does it work?
ISRAEL’S Iron Dome helped shoot down 99 per cent of the missile and drones it launched on Saturday. But what is it?
ISRAEL’S air defence system is one of the best in the world having successfully intercepted thousands of rockets.
The mobile all-weather Iron Dome is at the forefront of that and was central to fending off Iran’s recent missile and drone attack.
Here’s the lowdown on the high tech system.
What is Israel’s Iron Dome?
Iron Dome is a counter rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) short range air defence system.
It is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 2–43 miles away.
It intercepts rockets that are travelling in the direction of urban areas and brings them down – the first system of its kind in the world.
Israel hopes to increase the range of the dome’s interceptions to 250km and make it able to stop rockets coming from two directions.
Developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, it can be operated in all weather conditions including fog, dust storm, low clouds and rain.
From 2011 to 2021, the United States contributed a total of $1.6billion to the Iron Dome defence system, befor another US$1billion was approved by the US Congress in 2022.
How does it work?
The dome is made up of missile batteries which are shaped like giant match boxes and are tilted in the direction of Gaza.
The Iron Dome monitor detects a target using radar and monitors its trajectory.
A control centre then calculates an interception point and then commands a rocket to launch if the foreign missile is heading towards an urban area.
Once in contact with the missile, the rocket explodes and brings it down.
Each launcher contains 20 Tamir Missiles with proximity war heads and there are several batteries positioned around the country.
Since being implemented in 2011 the computer systems have been updated, improved and upgrades to improve the accuracy of the rockets.
I WAS IN JERUSALEM HOTEL WHEN IRAN LAUNCHED ITS ATTACK
By David Ross, Head of Video for The Sun, in Jerusalem
THE ALERTS came through on our phones after we arrived back at the hotel in central Jerusalem.
Like many others, we headed to our room knowing that Iran had just launched hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles in our direction.
Then, at 2am, we heard two enormous booms, followed soon after by emergency sirens.
Every Israeli knows the drill but for my wife Jess and I, it was the first time we’d experienced anything like it.
They call it terror for a reason: because it is terrifying. There’s a bizarre adrenaline rush too.
You don’t have no time to think and you act on instinct.
It’s about grabbing any clothing you can and dressing as you quickly move to the safety of a shelter.
We headed below ground to Level -4 and remained there as the sirens continued to blare all around us.
After what felt like a lifetime – but was probably only 20 minutes – we were given the all-clear to return to our rooms.
Our hearts were racing as the footage of what was happening overhead exploded over X and the TV news channels.
We huddled together, glued to the latest developments.
By the time it was all over, the Israel Defence Forces managed to intercept 99% of the drones and surface-to-surface missiles.
A combination of the Arrow Aerial Defence System, the Iron Dome, Israeli aircraft and warplanes from the UK and US had saved countless lives – ours included.
Credit Gist New Today News in Newspaper Nigeria Headlines