Israel has reportedly delayed plans to strike back at Iran after U.S. intelligence on the country’s military preparations and capabilities were leaked to the Iranians.
The intelligence leak has ‘forced’ Israel to put aside plans for a military response to Tehran’s recent missile attack, The Times of London reported Thursday. “Israel has delayed its retaliatory strike against Iran because of a leak last week of potentially sensitive military information from the US,” the British newspaper said.
Last week, highly classified U.S. documents on a possible Israeli counter-strike against Iran appeared on Tehran-affiliated social media channels. Documents showed U.S. satellite imagery and intelligence assessment on an impending Israeli military retaliation to the October 1 Iranian missile strike.
The Times of London reports:
The leak revealed Israel’s well-advanced plans to respond to a salvo of nearly 200 Iranian ballistic missiles fired against it earlier this month, which was a retaliation by Tehran for Israel’s attacks on its Middle Eastern proxy groups.The top-secret document was published on a pro-Iranian Telegram channel last Friday and appeared to be a US assessment of Israel’s likely response, based on satellite imagery and other intelligence.Israel has been holding military drills for a major ballistic missile attack on Iran, according to American satellite intelligence documents that have been leaked to pro-Iranian social media accounts.The exercises involved at least 16 airborne missiles, 40 state-of-the-art “Rocks” missiles and refuelling tankers, indicating targets across the country.
The U.S. intelligence leak came days after President Joe Biden declared that he was looking for a “way that potentially ends their conflict in the Middle East for a while,” suggesting that Israel may have to abandon its retaliation plan.
On October 1, the Iranian regime launched more than 180 missiles, including long-range ballistic ones, at Israel. On October 19, the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group came close to assassinating Prime Minister Netanyahu after it flew an explosive drone into the bedroom window of his private home. The Israeli PM and his family were not at their seaside residence in central Israel at the time of the Hezbollah strike.
Israeli fighter jets on Wednesday night hit Hezbollah targets in the terrorist stronghold of Dahieh near southern Beirut despite pressure from the Biden White House to agree to a ceasefire.
“Overnight, the IAF conducted intelligence-based strikes on several weapons storage and manufacturing facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut,” the Israeli military said Thursday morning.
The Israeli strikes near Beirut came hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel, pressing for a ceasefire with Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon. “Blinken Urges Netanyahu to Seek Truces in Gaza and Lebanon,” The New York Times noted Wednesday.
The Israeli news website YNET reported the details of the overnight IDF strikes:
Lebanese reports on Wednesday reported significant airstrikes were seen in Beirut’s Dahieh district, considered to be Hezbollah’s stronghold in Lebanon, following the terror group’s targeting of central Israel with four rockets fired at the area earlier.The strikes come after the IDF’s Arabic Spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee called on residents of the area to evacuate prior to the military’s actions. Footage from the scene showed massive explosions and smoke plumes.Following Hezbollah’s firing toward central Israel, Palestinian sources reported late Wednesday one rocket fell in the West Bank town of Qalqilya, resulting in one man receiving minor injuries.
While Hezbollah has a long-standing strategy of hiding its terrorist command centers and weapons underneath Lebanese neighborhoods, the Israeli armed forces took every possible measure to minimize civilian casualties.
“All the sites are located by Hezbollah under and inside civilian buildings in the heart of populated areas, in yet another example of Hezbollah’s systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure and willingness to endanger the population in the area,” the IDF noted in its statement. “Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including advancing warnings to the population in the area.”
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