Memories fresh in Israel of previous war with Iran
Lucy Williamson
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Tel Aviv
Israel has woken up this morning at war with Iran for the second time in less than a year.
Tel Aviv’s beaches are largely empty this weekend morning, as the city waits for Iran’s response. Memories are fresh here of Iranian ballistic missiles slamming into apartment blocks during the 12-Day War last June.
Iran’s own air defences were severely depleted in that war, and its key nuclear sites badly damaged. Internal protest, and the weakening of its proxy militia around the region have left it extremely vulnerable.
But where Israel sees an opportunity to strike its regional enemy, Iran’s weakness may become a reason for it to respond more forcefully than in the past.
Israelis across the country are waiting.
Sirens have sounded across Israel
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem
Sirens sounded across Israel at around 08:15 local time (06:15 GMT), alerting people of the threat of a possible missile attack. The Israeli strikes happen amid diplomatic efforts between US and Iranian officials for a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme and avert a war, and negotiations were expected to continue next week.
Iran had made concessions in the talks, although US President Donald Trump - who had previously threatened to attack Iran to put pressure on its leaders to accept a deal - said yesterday he was not “thrilled” with the way the discussions were going.
Trump has ordered the largest US military build-up in the Middle East since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, but has done little to explain why there could be the need to take military action now. Iran, meanwhile, has vowed to respond to an attack with force.
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the “pre-emptive strike” was to “remove threats against the State of Israel”. Last June, Israel launched an attack on Iran, leading to the 12-Day War. The US eventually joined Israel in the conflict, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Recently, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had warned of what they described as a threat posed to his country by Iran’s ballistic missiles, and expressed his opposition to a deal that focused only on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran had rejected discussing limits to its ballistic missile programme as well as ending its support for proxies in the region, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen, saying those demands were a breach of its sovereignty.
