Iran Starts Attack on Israel, Launches Drone Swarm
i24NEWS TV channel: “IDF confirms over 100 UAVs have been launched toward Israel.”
Iran appears to have launched the anticipated strike on Israel, launching a swarm of drones towards the Israeli air space.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the incoming Iranian aerial onslaught. “A short while ago, Iran launched UAVs from within its territory toward Israel,” the Israeli military posted on its Telegram account.
“Together with our partners, the IDF is operating at full force to defend the State of Israel—and the people of Israel. This is a mission that we are determined and ready to fulfill.”
IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari on the current attack from Iran: pic.twitter.com/rjNqLPFs9X
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 13, 2024
“The IDF is on high alert and is constantly monitoring the operational situation. The IDF Aerial Defense Array is on high alert, along with IAF fighter jets and Israeli Navy vessels that are on a defense mission in Israeli air and naval space. The IDF is monitoring all targets,” the military added.
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS cited IDF sources saying that “100 UAVs have been launched toward Israel.”
According to initial media reports, it may take several hours for the drones to enter the Israeli air space.
Some reports suggest that the IDF has already begun intercepting some of the drones.
Live update: Israel has reportedly begun intercepting Iranian drones over Jordan and Syria https://t.co/NKy0Nd1Fmx
— ToI ALERTS (@TOIAlerts) April 13, 2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter addressed the people of Israel in Hebrew, assuring that the nation and its armed forces were prepared for “any scenario, both defensively and offensively.”
With Iranian killer drones approaching, the Israeli war cabinet met Saturday night to review the situation. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night decided to convene the War Cabinet and then the broader Security Cabinet,” the Jewish News Syndicate news agency reported.
In recent years, and especially in recent weeks, Israel has been preparing for a direct attack by Iran.
Our defensive systems are deployed; we are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong. pic.twitter.com/ykeItV7ZRi
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 13, 2024
The Iranian regime-run media also acknowledged the commencement of hostilities. “According to the Iranian Fars news agency, Iranian drones have entered Iraqi airspace and are nearing Syria and Jordan,” the Israel-based ILTV reported on Telegram.
Now I’m hearing fighter planes out my window.
— David Hazony (@davidhazony) April 13, 2024
Israel orders school closures, bars large gatherings amid Iranian terror threat
Amid fears of am Iranian attack on Israeli soil, the country’s Home Front Command, a unit set up to deal with threats to civilian population, has issued new guidelines aimed at preventing large gatherings in case of a terror strike.
Under the new guidelines, restrictions, which are already in place in areas along the border with Gaza and Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon, have now been extended to the rest of the country.
Schools, colleges, and all other educational institutions have been closed, and Israel’s air defense array is monitoring the skies for any incoming incursions. “Israel closed its schools and canceled all extracurricular educational activities starting Sunday as the IDF remained on high alert for an attack from Iran with dozens of planes already in the sky prepared to defend the country,” the Jerusalem Post reported Saturday afternoon.
Israel’s Home Front Command orders schools to be closed for next 48 hours, ahead of anticipated tension with Iran. pic.twitter.com/M4eCFlg5fO
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) April 13, 2024
The Times of Israel reported the new restrictions:
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari announces new restrictions on civilian gatherings amid threats of an Iranian attack on Israel.
The Home Front Command guidelines prohibit educational activities nationwide and restrict gatherings to 1,000 people. In some areas, such as near the Gaza and Lebanon borders, stricter gathering restrictions already exist.
While most educational institutions are currently out due to the Passover holiday, Hagari says the restrictions also apply to school trips and camps.
The restrictions are valid through Monday at 11 p.m.
Hagari says Israel’s air defenses “are on alert” and “dozens of planes are ready in the sky.”
Israeli Defense Minister's Office: Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant is currently conducting an operational situation assessment together with the IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and additional senior defense officials. pic.twitter.com/55M8Ix6YLN
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) April 13, 2024
Meanwhile, a cyber attack on Iranian web sites posted alarming messages calling Tehran residents to stock up on food and water—suggesting a supposed armed conflict, Arabic language news outlets reported.
BREAKING:
A cyber attack penetrates Iranian sites, calling on Tehran residents to stock up on food and water in preparation for war. – Al-Arabiya https://t.co/9PRjbP3JaL
— FJ (@Natsecjeff) April 13, 2024
Iran’s IRGC hijacks Israeli-linked cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz
After days of threatening Israel, Iran appears to have kicked off its aggression by hijacking an Israeli-owned ship. Iran’s Islamic Guard (IRGC) forces took control of a cargo ship, partially linked to Israel, in the Strait of Hormuz and brought it into Iranian territorial waters, Iranian state media confirmed.
The crew of the India-bound vessel was largely made up of Indian and Filipino nationals. No Israeli was on board the hijacked ship, media reports confirm.
This is the first time since October 7 massacre that Iran has directly targeted Israel-linked ships in the region. Iran’s terrorist proxy Yemen-based Houthis have been seizing and firing at Israeli and Western-owned ships in the Red Sea since Hamas unleashed the deadly terror attack on Israel six months ago.
The Associated Press reported the latest act of Iranian aggression:
Commandos from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel Saturday in the latest attack between the two countries. (…)
Iran’s state-run IRNA said a special forces unit of the Guard’s navy carried out the attack on the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime.
Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC. Geneva-based MSC acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew members were on the ship.
“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel,” MSC said.
An Indian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief to journalists, said 17 of the crew were Indians.
IRNA said the Guard would take the vessel into Iranian territorial waters.
BREAKING:
Video released of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hijacking the Portuguese-flagged container ship MSC ARIES.
The regime in Iran just kidnapped 20 Filipino sailors
🇮🇳🇦🇪🇵🇭🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/a3J9VdGRl6
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 13, 2024
Shortly ahead of the cargo ship’s hijacking, Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, cautioned Tehran against ‘escalating’ the terror any further. He slammed Iran for ‘funding, training and arming’ Hamas and terror proxies across in the region and beyond.
The IDF spokesman also highlighted Tehran’s role in facilitating the October 7 massacre and supporting Hezbollah in the ongoing campaign of terror against Israel.
The IDF released Rear Admiral Hagari’s statement:
Iran-backed Hamas started this war on October 7th; Iran-backed Hezbollah expanded this war on October 8th; and since then, Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, have expanded this into a global conflict.
Iran is the world’s biggest state sponsor of terror. Its network of terror doesn’t just threaten the people of Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria; the regime in Iran fuels the war in Ukraine and beyond.
Iran will bear the consequences for choosing to escalate the situation any further.
Israel is on high alert. We have increased our readiness to protect Israel from further Iranian aggression. We are also prepared to respond.
The Israel Defense Forces is prepared for all scenarios and will take the necessary steps — together with our allies — to protect the people of Israel.”
“Iran will bear the consequences for choosing to escalate the situation any further.”
Watch IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari’s statement regarding Iranian involvement in the war and its effect on the Middle East: pic.twitter.com/AdaJB2WtJd
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 13, 2024
Judea & Samaria: Tensions rise after body of 14-year-old Jewish boy discovered
Clashes were reported between Jews and Palestinians in the Judea and Samaria region—also referred to as the West Bank—after the body of a missing Jewish teenager was discovered in the area. Benjamin Achimeir, a 14-year-old boy engaged in raising sheep, went missing on Friday from Malachei Shalom, a Jewish community near the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank town Ramallah.
Police drones located the boy’s body in a nearby field after 24 hours of searching. The child was murdered by Palestinian terrorists, initial investigation indicates. More details surrounding the gruesome killing are yet to be revealed.
There’s no depths to the evil of Palestinian terrorists. They murdered a 14-year-old Israeli boy in cold blood.
The IDF today located the body of Benjamin Achimeir who went missing on Friday. pic.twitter.com/6nc3isExJ2
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) April 13, 2024
The Times of Israel reported:
The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday found the body of a 14-year-old Israeli who went missing while shepherding in the West Bank a day earlier, as renewed clashes were reported between settlers and Palestinians.
Jerusalem resident Benjamin Achimeir was murdered in a terror attack, the IDF and Shin Bet security agency said in a joint statement. (…)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a similar plea, but also specifically warned the public: “Revenge attacks will make it harder for our forces in their mission. Do not take the law into your own hands.”
According to the IDF, Achimeir set out in the early morning hours of Friday from a farm near the outpost of Malachei Shalom to go shepherding. Hours later, the sheep returned to “Gal Farm” without him.
Malachei Shalom is located near the West Bank town of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah.
Achimeir’s body was spotted on Saturday morning by a drone operated by the Border Defense Corps’ 636th Combat Intelligence Collection unit, close to the farm where he initially went missing.
The murder was believed to have been carried out by Palestinian terrorists, and taken place in the late morning hours or early afternoon of Friday, according to an initial investigation.
Israeli teenager Benjamin Achimeir was found murdered this morning, after he disappeared yesterday while out shepherding near his home.
So many will scroll past this story. Consciously or not, they justify a child's murder in cold blood because the 14-year-old victim is "a… pic.twitter.com/GfrSvTHUxN
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) April 13, 2024
IDF retaliates after Hezbollah kamikaze drones hit border areas
The IDF on Saturday fired artillery shells at Hezbollah terror targets after multiple explosive-laden drones struck northern Israel. A military reservist and a civilian were injured in the cross-border drone attack, the Israeli media reported.
The IDF struck additional buildings it says are used by Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon's Tayr Harfa, Aalma ash-Shab, and Yarine.
Another explosive-laden drone launched by Hezbollah struck an area near Kfar Blum. The IDF says there are no injuries in the attack.
Several more… pic.twitter.com/IsHjnGioIf
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 13, 2024
i24NEWS reported:
A resident of northern Israel sustained serious injuries on Saturday after an explosive-laden drone, believed to be dispatched by Hezbollah from Lebanon, detonated in a kibbutz located in the Galilee region, according to the Israeli military.
The victim, identified as a member of the Hanita local security team who also served as an IDF reservist, was rushed to a hospital for treatment following the incident.
The Israeli army confirmed that his family has been notified of the situation.
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon, had previously claimed responsibility for targeting a building utilized by Israeli forces in the border community.
According to Hezbollah’s statement, the group launched suicide drones and rockets from Lebanon towards the northern Israeli community on Saturday afternoon. Sirens alerting residents of incoming drones were sounded in multiple towns near the northern border on two separate occasions.
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Comments
Pray for Israel…
Monsters, absolutely monsters
Biden-Obama criminal syndicates have created a very dangerous situation, starving Israel of convential weapons could easily trigger a nuclear response by Israel.
Dumb-Dumb-Dumb.
Thank goodness we have such competent leadership in the US during these troubling events.
OK, so maybe Pedo Joe Biden* has been, and continues to be, wrong on every major foreign policy issue over the past five decades. But at least we don’t have any mean tweets!
Amirite?
Stolen elections have dire consequences.
Xiden rushed back from his weekly vacation to be propped up in front of his security team. Jill will be issuing comments shortly. I know I’m feeling better knowing a PhD in Education is running things during these trying times! FJB
Portuguese flagged ship? Wonder what the Portuguese government will do about it. Perhaps they’ll send the Portuguese Navy to get the ship back and rescue the crew…
Israel could end this with one strike… something Carter should have done. This is no longer a proxy war.
“Elections have consequences”,….stolen elections have catastrophes
This is a FAILURE of the Obama/Biden/Blinkin/Rice/Jarret diplomacy. Of course, it was totally expected. Should a nuke go off in Israel, I wouldn’t mind Israel correcting the Junta’s mistake. There may be dancing in the streets in Dearborn but those happy faces need a course in grimacing.
Those celebrations should end while they are happily cremated.
Except it’s not a failure. The Obama crew wants this to happen.
The lede should read “Obama’s Stunning Foreign Policy Success”.
With assist from John Kerry.
For once, the MSM was right.
They told me that if I voted for Trump, I should expect World War Three.
I did, and here it is now.
Sure does look like it, doesn’t it.
FJB.
Oh grow up. This is not World War III. You need to go crawl back under your rock with Alex Jones.
Look who’s simping again.
Adults are trying to talk here, dickweed.
The seriousness of this situation demands that you STFU and go away, you silly putz.
Begone.
Predictably, reports from just the last few minutes indicate a significant launch of land-attack cruise missiles from Iran that have now entered Iraqi territory.
With respect to that Portuguese container ship being boarded by IRCG forces, while the NATO charter doesn’t obligate nations under Article 5 to respond to acts of piracy, when something like this generally happens, there has been a coordinated NATO response in the past. Perhaps the fact that the crew is non-NATO will lessen the chances of some kind of kinetic response from NATO. But, we’ll have to see.
There’s also some reporting that Iran has also launched ballistic missiles as well although I’m not quite as confident about the veracity of that reporting….for now.
I live 3.5 air miles from Picatinny so it’s be over real quick i figure….
It would make sense to use drones to soak up/waste IDF defense upon then use follow on strikes of longer range missiles. Perhaps using a mixture of indirect fire and shorter range rockets and drones from their Hezbollah proxies or even Hamas if those knuckleheads are all hiding underground. Whatever comes I am sure the IDF has a plan for it and almost certainly the capability to defend against it, baring some unexpectedly intense level of attack.
Yesterday, Biden said he expected an Iranian attack “sooner [rather] than later” — but left for the beach anyway.
It should be noted… In November 2023, the Joe Biden administration extended a sanctions waiver that will allow Iran to collect another $10 billion in funds in order for the mullahs to fund their military operations in the region.
Joe Biden has now gifted the Iranian regime with $80 billion since entering the White House.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/04/update-centcom-commander-leaves-israel-joe-biden-returns/
All part of the Democrats plans as they hate Israel as much as Iran does.
Al-Arabiya is reporting that Saudi air defenses have engaged targets in Saudi airspace. It’s unclear if those targets were launched from Yemen or Iran, or both. This would be at least the 2nd time in several months Saudi assets have been used to protect the Israeli homeland. What a time to be alive.
Stupid sand monkeys took the bait.
Now the israel air force can justify taking out iran’s nuke facilities.
lol
One hopes
These seem to be lawnmower-powered drones, so just a substitute for proxy attacks. Low key enough not to justify a huge escalation. They go boom where they hit but military significance is nil.
It is r0ughly 1000 miles by air from Iran to Israel. And you have to adjust [either way] for launching location and target location. The only figure they are giving out is “several hours” for the flight time. If it is 3 hours, we are looking at 300+ mph. 4 hours would be 250 mph. Granting that we are deep into the fog of war, but a drone/UAV with that speed and a warhead is probably well over lawnmower class.
Of course, we shall see but between the blatancy and the indicated possible size we may be over low key. I also note that North Korea has been making and selling drones/UAV’s to Russia which has been using them against the Ukraine. Pariah state North Korea selling to pariah state Iran actually makes a certain amount of sense.
Subotai Bahadur
They are piloted by disposable children, I bet 15-16 year olds.
Horseshit. These are NOT “lawnmower-powered” drones. They SOUND like a lawnmower, but have a range of over 2000 miles, and can carry a warhead of approximately 100lb. The drone is called a “Shahed” in Farsi.
The Russians have been using these drones against the Ukrainians with devastating effect.
Tell the Ukrainians their “military significance is nil.”
Jesus.
1) May our country be better protected than the actions of its ruling class deserve.
2) Once this immediate attack is dealt with, I suspect that the amount of sympathy for Gaza and Hamas will be considerably less.
3) While not the scenario for invocation of “the Samson Option”, the Iranian attack places the topic on the table.
Subotai Bahadur
Fifty-plus years of feckless accommodation, deference, appeasement, kowtowing and dhimmitude from multiple Dhimmi-crat presidential administrations, since the 1979 Islamic revolution, have predictably led to this outcome.
Iran’s malignant and despotic regime should have been decisively dealt with, a long, long time ago.
“Forty-plus years…”