By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – According to Iranian health ministry on Monday the death toll in Israeli strikes which began on Friday has reached 224 people, with 1,277 injured.
Iran launched fresh missile attacks on Israel after the latter’s strikes killed the chief of Iran’s armed forces intelligence unit.
These attacks come hours after Iran confirmed that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps intelligence unit chief Mohammad Kazemi, his deputy Hassan Mohaqeq and commander Mohsen Baqeri have been killed in Israeli strikes on Sunday.
Israel has destroyed Iranian early warning radars and surface-to-air missile systems, gaining air superiority in the country in less than 48 hours of fighting, the media reported.
It said that with the help of its intelligence agency Mosad, Israel has successfully targeted top military leadership, nuclear sites and energy infrastructure in Iran.
Some reports claimed that Israel had the chance of eliminate its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei but this was stopped by US President Donald Trump.
The conflict has exposed the weaknesses of the Iranian Air Force, which flies old Cold war era jets like F4 Phantoms and F-14 Tomcats. They are no match to Israel’s 4.5th generation F-15s and F-16s.
Iran has launched barrages of ballistic missiles deep into Israel. Many were intercepted, a significant number of them managed to hit their targets.
Some 5 people have died and 90 others were wounded in overnight Iranian attacks in central Israel, taking the death toll to 15 with more than 250 injured and many still feared trapped under the debris of damaged buildings.
Iranian Armed Forces have warned people to leave the “Israeli occupied territories” while they can said the “punitive Iranian strikes” will target the entire “Israeli-held territories”.
Colonel Reza Sayyad, spokesperson for the Armed Forces, was quoted as saying by Iranian news agency IRNA that “Warnings for you in the coming days: Leave the occupied territories, because, certainly, they won’t be inhabitable in the future!”.
The fighting between Iran and Israel started after the latter’s targeted air strikes on Iranian nuclear and military facilities on Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attacks were part of Israel’s operation “Rising Lion” and will continue for as many days as it takes to remove the threat Iran poses to Israel’s existence.
“The objective of Israel’s operation is to prevent the Islamic regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile threat. As we pursue our goals, we are also paving the way for you to achieve your freedom,’ Netanyahu said in a public address.
Israel fears Iran was weeks away from achieving weapon-grade uranium enrichment.
Had it completed this, the country would have become a nuclear power and Israel could be its first target.
