The Israeli military issued a new warning to Iran this week following a swath of Iranian drone attacks.
On Monday, Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said the recent Iranian drone attacks "will be met with a response," the Associated Press reported. Halevi did not provide any further details on a possible response but noted that Israel is still considering a number of different plans.
The context:
Over the weekend, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed to Newsweek that Iran had launched an attack of several unmanned aerial vehicles, (UAVs) on Israel amid their ongoing war with Hamas militants in Gaza.
IDF said Israel's air-defense system, which includes the Iron Dome missile defense, is prepared for the drone attacks, which Iranian officials said were launched in response to an Israeli strike that killed two Iranian generals earlier this month.
"The IDF Aerial Defense Array is on high alert, along with IAF fighter jets and Israeli Navy vessels that are on a defense mission in Israeli airspace. The IDF is monitoring all targets. We ask the public to adhere to and follow the instructions of the Home Front Command and the official IDF announcements regarding the matter," the IDF told Newsweek in a statement.
What we know:
The attacks by Iran came shortly after an Israeli strike that killed 12 people in total, including two Iranian generals and five other officers, earlier this month in Syria. Tensions between Israel and Iran have continued to increase following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants.
In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden said, "At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week. Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles."
Views:
During a press conference on Monday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked if Biden would consider increasing the U.S. posture on Iran to more than just saying "don't" as he previously did.
"Let's talk about 'don't' and did. Let's talk about Saturday night," Kirby said. "He added military resources to the region right after October 7...we can talk about the 'don't' word all you want but let's talk about what did happen, and what did happen was Iran utterly failed."
Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg News also reported on X, formerly Twitter, that Kirby said the U.S. was not informed by Iran prior to the attacks.
"Iran did NOT provide any early warning, and Iran did NOT mean to fail, White House's John Kirby says of missiles and drones attack on Israel," Jacobs wrote.
What's next:
In a statement released by the White House, G7 leaders issued a statement condemning Iran's attack and said, "We will also strengthen our cooperation to end the crisis in Gaza, including by continuing to work towards an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas, and deliver increased humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in need."
Newsweek reached out to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
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