Former president Donald Trump claims that his administration would not have authorized this weekend’s massive aerial assault on Israel. Israel warns that the escalation in hostilities is “not yet over.”
The probable Republican presidential nominee stated on Saturday at a rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, “God bless the people of Israel; they are currently under attack.”
“The weakness that we’ve shown is unbelievable,” Trump asserted. “It would not have happened if we were in office.” He subsequently shared commentary and footage from the rally on his Truth Social platform.
Overnight, Iran initiated a significant aerial assault against Israel, marking the initial direct strike from Tehran’s territory into Israel after years of escalating tensions. Tehran stated that the attack was retaliation for an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the capital of Syria, that it has attributed to Israel since the beginning of this month. Multiple personnel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran were slain. Israel has neither denied nor asserted culpability.
Following the October 7 attacks of the previous year, which incited a six-month vicious war between Israel and the Hamas, an Iranian-backed Palestinian militant organization, tensions in the region have escalated. Saturday’s barrage was characterized by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari as a “significant escalation.”
Hagari stated that Tehran targeted Israel with 170 explosive drones, over 30 cruise missiles, and over 120 ballistic missiles. A “small number of hits were identified,” according to the IDF, one of which was a military base in the southern region of the country, which sustained “minor damage.”
Tehran asserted that it conducted a “series of military strikes against Israeli military bases” in response to what it deemed “Israel’s recurring military aggressions” and in exercise of “its inherent right of self-defense.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Saturday that “dozens” of missiles and drones en route to Israel from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen had been intercepted by U.S. forces in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden stated that over the past week, the United States military has deployed ballistic missile defense destroyers and aircraft to the region, and that the United States “assisted Israel in shooting down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”
“We condemn these reckless and unprecedented attacks by Iran and its proxies, and we call on Iran to immediately halt any further attacks, including from its proxy forces, and to de-escalate tensions,” Austin stated in a press release.
“The world witnessed Iran’s true nature overnight—a terrorist state that launched hundreds of missiles and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) at Israel,” wrote Yoav Gallant, the Defense Minister of Israel, in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “Israel, the U.S. and partners, thwarted this attack in a way that is unparalleled.”
“The campaign is not over yet and we are alert and strong,” Gallant asserted. The Iranian military stated on Sunday that it had no additional intentions to conduct operations against Israel, as reported by the IRNA, the state news agency of Iran.
António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, expressed “deep alarm regarding the imminent peril of a catastrophic escalation that could affect the entire region.”
“I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East,” he stated in a written statement. “I have repeatedly stressed that neither the region nor the world can afford another war.”
