Israel-Iran Strikes Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force launched a significant drone and missile attack on Israel from Iranian territory on April 13. This was the first direct attack from Iran on Israel, involving hundreds of drones, including Shahed-136 attack drones, along with cruise and ballistic missiles. The Iranian Supreme National Security Council approved the attack, which was supervised by the IRGC Aerospace Force and the Armed Forces General Staff. The IRGC announced the start of operation “True Promise,” with the attack occurring in at least three waves over several hours.
Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Jordan, intercepted these drones and missiles outside of Israeli airspace. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari stated that Iran had launched over 200 drones and missiles toward Israel. The Iranian Permanent Mission to the United Nations indicated that the operation was in response to an April 1 Israeli airstrike targeting IRGC officials in Damascus.
Israel carried out airstrikes against an Artesh (Iran's conventional armed forces) Air Force base in Esfahan City, Iran, on April 18 in retaliation for Iran's April 13 drone and missile attack on Israel. Western and Israeli media reported that Israeli aircraft fired at least three missiles targeting an Artesh airbase in Esfahan from unspecified airspace outside Iran.
Satellite imagery from commercial firm Hawkeye360 indicated that the strike might have damaged an S-300PMU2 surface-to-air missile battery's target engagement radar. Iran received the S-300 system from Russia in 2016. Iranian state media and social media suggested that the target was the Eighth Shekari Artesh Air Force Base. A senior US official told ABC News that the strike hit an Artesh radar site that is part of the air defense system protecting the Natanz Nuclear Complex, Iran's primary uranium enrichment facility located about 170 kilometers north of Esfahan. The International Atomic Energy Agency and other sources confirmed that no Iranian nuclear facilities were damaged in the strike.
Israel-Hamas War The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continued operations in the central Gaza Strip. The operations continue as the Israeli War Cabinet met on April 21 to discuss Israeli hostages in Gaza and ongoing ceasefire negotiations.
As of April 29, Hamas is considering a new Egyptian ceasefire proposal that involves releasing 20 to 33 living Israeli hostages. Egyptian officials presented the proposal to Hamas on April 26 after meetings in Egypt and Israel between Egyptian intelligence officials, the IDF chief of staff, and the head of Shin Bet.
Unnamed Israeli officials indicated that the proposal includes several Israeli concessions, such as discussing a "full return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza" and withdrawing the IDF from the Netzarim corridor, the only part of the Gaza Strip where Israeli forces are currently present.
The Israeli War Cabinet agreed to lower the number of hostages demanded because Hamas claimed it doesn't have 40 living hostages who are elderly, female, or injured. This adjustment came after some Israeli assessments suggested that some of the 40 hostages Israel originally demanded might have died in Hamas captivity. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron mentioned that the proposal could lead to the release of "thousands" of Palestinian prisoners. The proposal also includes a second phase focusing on a "period of sustained calm," but details of this are unclear. An anonymous Hamas official said on April 28 that Hamas had "no material problems with the current deal proposal." |