‘Operation Days of Repentance’ – How Israel’s strike on Iran unfolded
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.
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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.
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How strikes on Iran unfolded
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.
The confirmed locations that were hit. Pic: ISW
Pic: ISW
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.
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Tehran factory damaged by Israeli strike
“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.
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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.
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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
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
World
Brazil implores businesses to attend major climate summit, despite ‘second thoughts’ amid Trump backlash
The Brazilian hosts of the biggest climate meeting of the year have implored businesses to attend in November, amid concerns some are backing away from the climate agenda into the shadow of Donald Trump.
In an interview with Sky News, Ana Toni, chief executive of the COP30 climate summit in November, admitted some companies were having “second thoughts” about the global switch to green economies because policymakers were creating uncertainty.
The US President Donald Trump has been attacking wind farms and waging tariff wars that could slow the transition to green energy.
Banks including HSBC and Barclays have ditched a net zero alliance set up just four years ago by Mark Carney, now the Canadian Prime Minister.
Ana Toni, Brazil’s climate secretary, is chief executive of the COP30 climate talks. Pic: Reuters
But even before Trump took office, tech companies were quietly dropping climate targets to prioritise energy-hungry AI, and other businesses were “greenhushing” their climate initiatives for fear of backlash.
In this environment, there are fears fewer business leaders will attend the annual talks, which are also being hosted in a city on the edge of the Amazon that hasn’t enough hotel rooms.
On Friday, the COP30 team wrote to business leaders urging them to “step forward, not back” and travel to Belem, despite “logistical challenges” and the “background of systemic uncertainty”.
Ana Toni told Sky News: “We are very concerned that the enabling conditions must be there so that the private sector can also deliver where they do best, which is bringing in technology, bringing innovation and accelerating the process of decarbonisation.”
In August the share price of Danish wind farm developer plummeted after the US halted its Rhode Island wind farm, while the British Tories and Reform parties are also attacking net zero.
Ana Toni met with King Charles and leaders of other COP summits at Clarence House last year. Pic: Reuters
But Ms Toni there is “nothing to panic [about], because we can see that the transition is inevitable,” citing major progress in China, India and Europe and Brazil.
Referring to the US’s withdrawal from the COP process, she said: “198 countries minus one is not zero. And we will put all our efforts of working with the 197 countries that want to go forward and want to protect their population.”
“Climate action is not only [still] cool, it is necessary,” Ms Toni said.
“We all need to face reality. We are going through a huge climate crisis… If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Companies understand that.”
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