‘Operation Days of Repentance’ – How Israel’s strike on Iran unfolded

Published

9 months ago

October 28, 2024

admin

Israel’s pre-dawn attack on Iran was one of the biggest and most complex air assaults the country has ever conducted.

Dozens of aircraft, including Western-made fifth-generation F-35 stealth jets as well as F-16 and F-15 warplanes, flew more than 1,000 miles to strike multiple targets inside Iran, including the regime’s prized, Russian-provided S-300 air defence systems.

An Israeli source said four of the S-300 systems were hit along with radars and other air defence capabilities, reducing the risk to Israeli aircraft should they be deployed on any future mission against the Iranian regime.

Middle East latest: Israel hit former nuclear test site, images reveal

The raid – codenamed “Operation Days of Repentance” – also targeted sites where Iran was manufacturing missiles used to threaten Israel.

“It was a significant attack… We were able to achieve all the goals,” the source said.

The Israeli government had vowed to retaliate after Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on 1 October in response to Israeli attacks against Iranian interests.

Israeli air defences, supported by the US military, intercepted between 85-90% of the projectiles, according to the Israeli source.

However, a number of the 1,000-ton warheads did impact on Israeli targets.

“It is a threat that we cannot accept,” the source said.

Long anticipated, Israel’s weekend retaliation came in three waves, with the first strike hitting at about 2am on 26 October and the last Israeli jet safety returning to Israel by 6am.

No aircraft were lost or damaged in the mission.

In what was described as a “complex” operation, Israeli fighter jets, supported by air-to-air refuelling aircraft and reconnaissance planes, left their bases before midnight on 25 October.

They had to fly more than 1,000 miles to be within range of their targets – a journey that would have required the warplanes to refuel en route and fly over hostile airspace.

The aircraft were armed with so-called “stand-off munitions” – missiles that can be launched from a distance, meaning they did not need to enter Iranian air space to achieve their goal.

‘Picked off with impunity’

Israel has not publicly acknowledged the route for its operation.

However, it is thought the Israeli Air Force, including 201 Squadron, which operates F-16s, flew over Syria and then into Iraq, firing their weapons from Iraqi airspace, before returning home.

The Iraqi government on Monday made a formal complaint to the United Nations, accusing Israel of a “blatant violation” by using its airspace to attack Iran.

Open-source reporting indicates that Israel then hit targets in around 20 locations across Iran, including close to Tehran and in the west of the country.

The choice of targets is key.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said its aircraft went after missile manufacturing sites as well as Iranian air defence capabilities – including the S-300 systems, manufactured by Russia.

Analysts said Israel’s ability to strike these air defence systems, with the help of Western technology such as the F-35 jet, would be causing alarm in Tehran because it undermines Russian claims that they provide an effective defensive shield against airstrikes.

“It shows that even top-end Russian air defence systems can be picked off almost with impunity, which must worry those countries whose capitals are protected by these systems,” said Air Marshal Edward Stringer, a former senior Royal Air Force officer and fighter pilot.

Russia provided the S-300 system to Iran. It has also recently supplied the upgraded S-400 system. These are the most capable air defence systems that the Iranian military operates.

Iran has downplayed the impact of the weekend strikes, but the Israeli military has said the mission was a success.

Degrading Iranian air defences will reduce the threat to Israeli jets on any future attack, while targeting Iranian missile manufacturing capabilities is intended to reduce the ability for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to strike back against Israel.

Potential future targets in Iran

“We were not just attacking to do something symbolic,” the source said.

“It was very much practical.”

As for how Israel expects Iran to respond, it is not yet clear whether even Tehran has decided what to do.

“We are monitoring the situation and waiting to see how it develops,” the Israeli source said.

“We achieved what we wanted to achieve. We did our retaliation. Now the ball is in the Iranian court. We are ready for any case.”

World

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

15 hours ago

July 11, 2025

admin

'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

22 hours ago

July 11, 2025

admin

At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

admin

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.

Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.

The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.

Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.

Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.

“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.

The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.

It said three children and their mother were among the dead.

Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.

On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.

A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.

People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.

Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.

A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.