Israel-Hamas War Day 196: Israel strikes Iranian air base

Israel targeted the defense system of the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran during its strikes Friday morning, ABC quoted a senior American official as saying.

The Israelis were targeting an air defense radar site near Isfahan that’s part of the protection of the Natanz nuclear facility," ABC said, in the name of the official. 

"The first assessment is that the strike took out the site, but assessment hasn’t been completed, the official said."

The official noted, however, that the strike was meant to send a signal to Iran about Israeli capabilities, but not to escalate the situation. 

A general view of the Bushehr main nuclear reactor, Iran (credit: REUTERS/RAHEB HOMAVANDI)

Iran has downplayed the attack's significance

The attack, which Israel has not claimed credit for, was launched in response to the aerial barrage of ballistic missiles and attack drones that Iran sent to Israel last Saturday night following an airstrike in Damascus, widely attributed to Israel, that killed a senior officer in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The officer was connected to Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy that has been attacking Israel almost daily since Hamas's attack on October 7.

In the hours since the strikes in Iran Friday morning, Iran has downplayed their effect and significance, declining to directly point the finger at Israel and announcing that no damage was done to any nuclear sites. The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) also reported that no damage was done to nuclear sites, and there were no reported casualties. 

Palestinian reports on Friday said that IDF forces killed "Abu Shujaiya," the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad's local battalion in the West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams, during an operation of the IDF and Border Police that began there yesterday.

Four IDF soldiers are said to have been wounded during the course of that operation, two in moderate condition and two lightly.

This is a developing story.

The European Union announced new sanctions on Friday against four people and two entities that it said were "responsible for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians."

The abuses include "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" and "the violation of [the] right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank,"  the Council of the EU said in a statement.

The listed entities are Lehava, the Jewish extremist group known for campaigns against Jewish-Arab relationships, and what a statement referred to as "Hilltop Youth," a term used to refer to a loosely-organized cluster of extremist, often violent settlement activity that is illegal under Israeli law.

In 2022, National Unity party leader Benny Gantz, now a minister-without-portfolio in the war cabinet, called for Lehava to be designated a terrorist organization. The group is led by Bentzi Gopstein, a far-right activist who was convicted in January of incitement to racism. 

European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, January 18, 2018. (credit: REUTERS/FRANCOIS LENOIR/FILE PHOTO)

Four individuals sanctioned

Two leading figures among the 'hilltop youth', Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered, are also listed. "Both were involved in deadly attacks against Palestinians in 2015 and 2023," the statement added.

Also sanctioned are Neria Ben Pazi, "who has been accused of repeatedly attacking Palestinians in Wadi Seeq and in Deir Jarir since 2021," and Yinon Levi, "who has taken part in multiple violent acts against neighbouring villages from his residence in the Mitarim farm illegal outpost," the statement went on.  

French police arrested a man who had threatened to blow himself up at Iran's consulate in Paris, police said on Friday.

A police source had told Reuters the man was seen at about 11 am entering the consulate, carrying what appeared to be a grenade and explosive vest.

The man exited the consulate and was being searched by special police forces and was not actually carrying explosives, a police source said.

French police earlier cordoned off the Iranian consulate, Reuters reporters saw.

In the operations that began Thursday in the West Bank's Nur Shams refugee camp, just east of Tulkarm, two combat soldiers— one a soldier from the LOTAR counter-terrorism unit and one an officer in the Al-Hamarom Brigade— were wounded and are in moderate condition. 

Two other soldiers were lightly wounded today.

President Biden has been clear he cannot support a major military operation in Rafah, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday morning, a day after US and Israeli officials met again to discuss Israel's battle plans for the southern Gazan city. 

It's imperative that people are able to get out of the way of any conflict and be supported with humanitarian assistance, Blinken said, and doing that in Rafah is a monumental task for which the US has yet to see a plan. 

"Even if people are largely out of harm's way, inevitably there's going to remain a pretty significant civilian population in Rafah," Blinken said. "And we believe that a major military operation with a large presence in the civilian population would have terrible consequences for that population."

Ensuring Hamas has no future in the Gaza Strip

Blinken reiterated the US is as committed as Israel is to ensuring that Gaza cannot be controlled by Hamas due to the devastation and destruction caused by the organization and its leadership well before October 7. 

Security personnel guard trucks carrying aid as they arrive in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip January 17, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM/FILE PHOTO)

Blinked added Hamas made clear its concern had nothing to do with the Palestinian people and everything to do with its objectives to destroy Israel. 

"Making sure that Hamas cannot repeat the events of October 7, that's something that we are united," Blinken said. "But in terms of major military operations in Rafah, it's something that we don't support and we believe that the objective can be achieved by other means."

Blinken said he urges the rapid implementation of Israel's humanitarian assistance commitments, more aid crossings and better deconfliction and better distribution of the assistance to all who need it. 

"We've seen important steps over the last couple of weeks with more crossings opening, more aid getting in and more aid getting around," Blinken said. "But we need to see sustained results."

The world needs to understand the only thing standing between the Gazan people and a ceasefire is Hamas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday morning from the G7 summit in Capri, Italy. 

Hamas continues to move goal post for ceasefire deal, Blinken says

Hamas rejected generous proposals from Israel and seems more interested in a regional conflict than a ceasefire that would immediately improve the lives of the Palestinian people, Blinken said. 

Hamas continues to "move the goal post," Blinken added. 

Blinken said the US is in constant engagement with Israel, allies and partners throughout the region and world, calling it a collective effort to bring the conflict in Gaza to a close and to achieve a ceasefire in the release of hostages. 

"A number of other countries around the table today also have hostages in Gaza held by Hamas and other groups," Blinken said. "And it's also important to remember, because I sometimes think that people have forgotten this, we have American hostages who've been held in the most deplorable conditions all of this time."

The reports of attacks in Iran yesterday attributed to Israel, which lead to a short period of chaos in which commercial flights deviated and videos of explosions circulated online, sparked much enthusiasm and intense discourse from online users.

Analysts noted a general trend within formal circles in the Islamic Republic attempting to minimize the attack and its implications, broadcasting livestreams of downtown Esfahan as if to show that nothing had happened, and at times even refusing to name Israel as the potential aggressor. In this context, the IRGC’s Telegram channel quoted National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s tweet hinting at the attack, which included only one slang word, ‘dardale,’ meaning weak, poor, or disappointing. Here, too, the IRGC referred to ‘the events of today morning,’ without mentioning Israel or an attack.

Kioumars Heydari, Commander of the Islamic Republic’s Army's Ground Forces, announced today that the IR’s aerial defense systems managed to intercept an attack launched by “very small drones” inside Esfahan earlier this morning, also not referring to outside sources.

User pointing to the office of the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, urging Israel to strike it. (credit: SOCIAL MEDIA)

Other reports attributed these blasts to Iran's air defenses intercepting three drones. Notably, they too refrained from labeling the incident as an Israeli attack, instead describing it as infiltration, thereby possibly circumventing the immediate need for retaliation. A spokesperson for Iran, speaking to Reuters, indicated that there were currently no plans to retaliate against Israel following this ‘event’, adding that no external assault has been identified and that the prevailing speculation suggests infiltration rather than a direct attack.

The online arena: between mockery and hope

In the virtual arena, conflicting narratives arose for the attack.

User referring cynically to the Israeli attack, adding that this the tiny quadcopter is how Israel intends to fight the Islamic Republic. (credit: SOCIAL MEDIA)

Media outlets and mouthpieces affiliated with the regime mocked what they deemed the ecstasy of anti-regime and Western media, accusing them of exaggerating reports of large-scale attacks for internal purposes, while the real repercussions of the attack were practically non-existent.

In Al-Mayadeen, a mouthpiece accused of being a Hezbollah proxy loyal to Iran, correspondent in the Islamic Republic Malik Abeda also downplayed the attack and accused Western and Israeli media of exaggerating reports to “deceive general opinion and influence the Iranian home front” as well as “portray as if Israel had retaliated to the Iranian operation.”

Many pro-regime users resorted to mocking the alleged quadcopter strike. One pro-Islamic republic user mocked the Israeli air force posting a picture of a store-bought drone and adding that these truly are the renown Israel’s F35 fighters; while a pro-Islamic Republic news outlet showed pictures of a cruise missile and a little drone, claiming that this is a comparison between an Iranian retaliation and an Israeli one. Others joined the trend of accusing dissident media of exaggerating the strikes, accusing that “Israel’s retaliation was only on Iran International,” referring cynically to the well-known Persian-speaking anti-regime outlet. One user wrote: “as a result of the Israeli attack, five Iranians died of strong laughter and 10 others were injured from it as well.”

Likewise, one user denounced “sellouts” who cling to Israel in the hope of regime change; while another one taunted those who called Israel to strike Iran, adding that they are as sad as those who for weeks have been calling Iran to strike them yet all they got was this ridiculous scene, showing a hand-sized quadcopter.

However, those were not the only voices prominent online. For the past week since the Iranian missile and drone hostility against Israel, the hashtag “Israel, strike!” has gone viral, appearing both offline as graffiti paintings inside Iran also going viral online, with almost 30,000 appearances in the past seven days alone, and growing even stronger following yesterday’s events. Some of these posts which featured the hashtag included maps or pictures pointing at buildings of the regime, urging Israel to strike them. 

One different user who wasn’t particularly impressed by the Iranian regime’s attempt to downplay the attack, uploaded a screenshot of an Iranian TV presenter who claimed that the situation in Esfahan was as usual, attributing an ironic quote to the presenter which read “and we don’t even have a city named Esfahan.” Similarly, another user referred to the continuous live broadcasts from downtown Esfahan adding unimpressed that Israel would never target the city center and thus implying that such broadcasts are meaningless.

Some users responded to mockery of Israel claiming that these strikes were only a first phase of Israel’s retaliation, an attempt to test Iranian air defense systems, or rather a statement of intent and warning to the Iranian regime; while others reminded their followers that everyone knows ahead of time before Iran attacks Israel, but Iran does not know when Israel would strike. One hopeful user also called on Israel to “return favor” to historical Persian King Cyrus who allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile and build the temple – by destroying the Islamic Republic.

The monthly compensation towards the families of hostages still held captive in Gaza will double, according to Walla, citing an announcement by the Defense Ministry and National Insurance Institute on Friday.

Compensation for the families will rise from NIS 1,375 to NIS 2,600 per month after an amendment was advanced to to expand aid.

Explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.

The limited scale of the attack and Iran's muted response both appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working round the clock to avert all-out war since an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel last Saturday.

Iranian media and officials described a small number of explosions, which they said resulted from Iran's air defenses hitting three drones over the city of Isfahan. Notably, they referred to the incident as an attack by "infiltrators," rather than by Israel, obviating the need for retaliation.

An Iranian official told Reuters there were no plans to respond against Israel for the incident.

"The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack," the official said.

An Iranian woman walks past an anti-Israel banner with a picture of Iranian missiles on a street in Tehran, Iran April 19, 2024. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)

Israel said nothing about the incident. It had said for days it was planning to retaliate against Iran for Saturday's strikes, the first ever direct attack on Israel by Iran in decades of shadow war waged by proxies which has escalated throughout the Middle East through six months of battle in Gaza.

No mention of Israel

Did Israel use the IDF Home Front command as a fake out weapon to surprise Iran?

The Jerusalem Post has confirmed that long-range missiles launched from aircraft caused the attack on an Iranian Air Force facility at Isfahan, and multiple sources confirmed to the New York Times that this was Israel.

Yet only a few days ago, the IDF Home Front Command lifted basically all restrictions on normal life in Israel, something which suggested that Jerusalem was not that close to striking back.

A false impression that Israel would not strike back 

It suggested this because if the Jewish state was close to striking back, this would make another counter-strike from the Islamic Republic more likely, in which case it would be dangerous and foolish to lift home from restrictions which could expose Israeli civilians to more risk in the event of an Iranian attack.