Tel Aviv, April 14, (dpa/GNA) – Israeli airspace was reopened on Sunday morning, following Iran’s unprecedented major attack on the country, local media reported following a seven-hour airspace closure.
Ramon Airport in the south of the country is to remain closed for the time being, the reports said.
The Israeli military said it has intercepted 99% of the projectiles fired from Iran.
Tehran had launched “over 300 threats of various types,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Sunday. “The Iranian threat met the aerial and technological superiority of the IDF, along with a strong fighting coalition – which together intercepted the overwhelming majority of the threats.”
Hagari spoke of a “a very significant strategic achievement.” Of the 170 unmanned missiles launched by Iran, “zero crossed into Israeli territory.”
Dozens were shot down by Israeli fighter jets, Israeli air defences and “the aerial defense systems and aircraft of our partners,” he said. Of more than 30 cruise missiles fired by Iran, none had reached Israel.
“Out of over 120 ballistic missiles, only a few crossed into Israeli territory, with the rest being intercepted,” Hagari continued. “These fell at the Nevatim Air Force Base, causing only minor damage to infrastructure.” The base was continuing to function normally, he added, musing that Iran had thought it could paralyse the base.
Attacks had also been launched from Iraq and Yemen, but had not reached Israel, the spokesman said. Dozens of rockets had been fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, but no one was injured in the attacks, he added.
“Over the past six months, we have been operating in close coordination with our partners, led by US CENTCOM, the UK, France, and other countries that operated last night,” Hagari noted.
For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic, Iran directly attacked its arch-enemy Israel. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said they had fired dozens of drones and missiles.
The operation was a retaliatory strike for the killing of high-ranking Iranian officers in Syria. On April 1, two brigadier generals were killed in a suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran’s embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus.
GNA