IRGC chief Hossein Salami said Sunday that the ‘Operation True Promise’ missile and drone barrage against Israel was “more successful than expected,” with projectiles managing to pierce Israel’s powerful multilayered air defense system. The IDF says it intercepted “99 percent” of incoming Iranian projectiles.

Iran may have fired its brand new Fattah 2 hypersonic missile at targets inside Israel during Saturday’s overnight attack on Israeli military facilities, Dr. Ali Hamie, a Lebanese academic and national security expert, told Sputnik Arabic on Sunday.

“Iran launched hundreds of Shahid series drones and Fattah 2 hypersonic cruise missiles into Israel, which the Israeli Iron Dome air defense system was incapable of intercepting,” Hamie said.

The Lebanese expert suggested that Israel’s “foolish” decision to target the Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 – which triggered the Iranian retaliation Saturday night, could culminate in combined attacks against the Jewish State from Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, which Tel Aviv would have difficulty withstanding.

“If the United States intervenes, the war may not be limited to the region, but will expand beyond it,” Hamie warned, pointing to the presence of not only Iranian but Russian forces in Syria on a counterterrorism mission.

Dr. Hamie did not elaborate on the source or nature of his information regarding the Fattah-2’s possible use in Saturday night’s attacks, with Iranian officials and military commanders staying mum when it comes to the weapons used. Footage posted to social media showed Iranian Shahed-series drones flying low to the ground to evade radar, but the missiles involved in the strikes have yet to be confirmed, with the Islamic Republic known to possess a broad array of domestically-developed long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel from Iranian soil.

The Fattah-2 (lit. ‘Conqueror-2’ or ‘Victory Giver-2’) is virtually a brand new, liquid-fueled Iranian hypersonic missile which was unveiled in November 2023, and has a declared range of 1,500 km, a 450 kg warhead and the ability to accelerate to hypersonic speeds and maneuver in flight. The Fattah-2 is a successor to the Fattah-1, a two-stage, solid fuel missile with a 1,400 km range and a 350-450 kg payload. The Fattah-1 was unveiled in the summer of 2023, inaugurating Iran into the small handful of nations with hypersonic capabilities.

Commenting on this information, Tehran University Professor Mohammad Marandi said there was no information to confirm that Iran used its fledgling hypersonic capabilities in Saturday night's strikes.

"Iran has not fired its hypersonic missiles. In fact, most of the drones and missiles that were fired were older drones and missiles. They were very inexpensive and were used as decoys. So Iran spent a couple of million dollars to force the Israelis to spend $1.3 billion in anti-missile missiles, which was itself a big achievement by the Iranians. And then a number of other missiles that the Iranians fired...cut through and struck their targets," the academic and geopolitical affairs commentator told Sputnik.

Iran’s Primary Target

Whether or not hypersonics were used, what is known for certain about Saturday’s overnight strikes is that despite the Israeli military’s assurance that “99 percent” of the 300+ Iranian drones and missiles launched were intercepted, at least some are known to have made it through, with the IRGC saying “designated targets,” including the strategic Nevatim Air Base situated in the Negev Desert, had been hit. The IDF confirmed “light damage” to the facility, which is known to host F-35I jets. However, the Iran in Arabic news agency has reported that Nevatim is also a permanent Mossad base, and that at least 44 intelligence officers were killed in Iranian attack.

Israeli media have not commented on this claim, but the Times of Israel did confirm that Nevatim was one of the primary targets of Saturday’s attacks. Social media footage showed Iranian missiles touching down in the base's vicinity after bypassing Israel’s air and missile defenses.

Israeli media further indicated that Netanyahu’s official plane, the ‘Wing of Zion’, had taken off from Nevatim several hours before the attack to prevent being targeted.

The IDF assured that the base was in tip top shape in an X post Sunday morning, posting a video of an F-35I coming in for landing at Nevatim as confirmation that the facility was operational, but not providing footage of the base’s structures.

Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri told media Sunday that Iran’s attack targeted to sites: “the Nevatim Airbase hosting the F-35 planes that were used for targeting our consulate in Damascus,” and an Israeli intelligence-gathering facility in the Jabal al-Shaykh heights in Israeli-occupied Lebanese territory.

“Both of these centers were destroyed to a considerable extent and became inactive. In this operation, a significant number of UAVs, ballistic and cruise missiles were used, along with well thought-out tactics which neither the Iron Dome nor [Israel’s] missile defense shield could take significant action [against],” Bagheri said.

Iranian media reported that “at least seven” missiles had also struck Israel’s Ramon Airbase, also situated in the Negev Desert, and hosting Israeli F-16I jets. Israel has not confirmed this information.

In an after-action report early Sunday, IRGC chief Hossein Salami confirmed that Iran’s “limited” strikes had targeted Israeli military facilities in the Golan Heights and the Negev Desert. “So far, we have not collected all the data relating to the strikes, but detailed, documented reports from the scene show that the operation was more successful than we expected,” the commander said.

“The deep and multilayered air defenses, with assistance from the US, [stretched] from Iraqi airspace to Jordan and even parts of Syria and Palestine,” Salami said. “Israel was using its F-15, F-16, and state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets, Gulfstream jets, as well as aerial refueling aircraft…to defend Israel’s positions,” making it “extremely difficult” to penetrate defenses.

Nevertheless, Salami said, “dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles managed to break into deep layers of Israel’s seemingly safe air defense system, impact the aerial coalition between the US, France and Israel and reach the designated targets.”

Sorting out Iran and Israel’s contradictory accounts of the night’s drone and missile barrage will take time, and require the publication of new footage, satellite photos, or the remains of Iranian missiles to corroborate statements made by either side. The actions taken by Israel in the days to come, which may or may not include direct attacks inside Iran, will offer additional clues about what happened Saturday night, with Armed Forces Chief Bagheri warning that such an attack would bring about an Iranian counterstrike "tens of times" more powerful than that which took place Saturday.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240414/scoop-iran-may-have-used-new-hypersonic-missiles-to-pierce-israeli-air-defenses-1117930117.html

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by Al manar

“We have lost the war”, such is the bitter observation of Haaretz according to which “Netanyahu is the worst leader of the Jews”.

According to his political columnist, Haïm Levinson, the fact of having lost the war “is the clear conclusion for every Israeli". "It is the difficulty of recognizing it that sums up the state of mind of the Israeli publicHe adds. "We are faced with a clear, acute and demanding reality, and we must begin to absorb it, understand it and draw conclusions for the future. But it's not nice to say we lost, so we lie to ourselves».

«After six months we could have been somewhere else, but we are captives of the worst leaders in Israel's history" Levinson noted in his article.

«It is not certain that we will be able to return to the northern border in complete safety“, he explained, emphasizing that “Hezbollah changed the equation in its favor».

«There is now a high probability that over the years any travel to the northern border will be targeted“added Levinson. “Not all prisoners will return. Any Iranian threat will shake us. Our international reputation has taken a hit. Our leadership weakness has been exposed».

The columnist of Haaretz estimate that "for years we have succeeded in the deception that we are strong, with intelligent people and a very powerful army. Practically, we are a small Jewish village with an air force».

«Part of the difficulty in admitting that we lost comes from the sanctity of the army, because it was forbidden to say a bad word about the army. Only on October 7 could we say – at some point – that this is a shameHe wrote.

«Rafah is the new scam sold by the trumpets to tell us that we are in front of a victory“, he declared, emphasizing that “the moment they enter Rafah, the event will lose all meaning».

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared between “one step away from victory», while insisting that the offensive against Rafah will take place. The Israeli occupation army had withdrawn most of its units in the south of the Gaza Strip, after several operations in Khan Younes, during which 15 Israeli soldiers were killed, according to Hamas.

«The truth is that the objectives of the war will not be achieved. Hamas will not be destroyed. The prisoners will not be brought back under military pressure. Security will not return», objects Levinson of Haaretz.

He went on to say: “the more the trumpets cry: we gain, the more we lose. Lying is one of them. We have to get used to it. Life is less secure than it was before October 7. The hard blow will last for many years", did he declare.

And to conclude: "International isolation will not disappear. The dead will not return. Nor many prisoners either».

Mossad chief David Barnea, responsible for leading the Israeli delegation for indirect negotiations with Hamas in Cairo, had informed Netanyahu that the release of all Israeli hostages under a truce would be impossible and in the best case 40 people only could be released, reported the Times of Israel.

The unfavorable opinion of the Prime Minister is gaining ground among Israeli observers. In another article from Haaretz, Anshel Pfeffer states that “everyone will agree that Netanyahu is the worst leader of the Jewish people" and "the only thing that matters is his retention in power and the way in which history will evoke him».

In the American media, the New York Times echoed the pessimism of the Israeli media. He revealed that many within the Israeli military are directing their criticism at Netanyahu:for not making difficult decisions».

In an analysis, the American newspaper estimates “that Israel stumbles and faces the possibility of losing the war in Gaza". He notes that Hamas has returned to areas that had been emptied of militiamen.

Such an unfavorable opinion was expressed by the Guardian who considers “that Israel faces a major strategic defeat linked to its reputation which has been seriously damaged, even among its most enthusiastic supporters».

According to the British newspaper, “the war in Gaza reveals the fall of the West which is paying the price for its arrogance».

In Israel negative feelings are overwhelming Israelis due to the continuation of the war in the south and north. According to the newspaper Maariv, citing a recent survey, 68% of them have negative feelings and those under 60 would be the most pessimistic.

A previous poll a few days ago revealed that 62% of Israelis are not satisfied with the results of the war.

In addition, reports the Qatari channel al Jazeera, polls also showed that three-quarters of Israelis would like Netanyahu to resign from the government.

Engaged in a standoff with several Israeli parties and a large part of public opinion, by wanting to impose contested legal changes, which had deeply divided Israeli society, the security setback caused by the Hamas operation, Flood of al-Aqsa, on October 7, further damaged his popularity. His inability to achieve his objectives after 6 months of murderous war pushed him to his lowest point. If he loses the war, the Israelis will never forgive him. Nor history.

source: Al manar

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twc8-l4vwCk

This month, Clare Daly called out the hypocrisy and performative humanitarian assistance carried out by the West to Palestine, while in the same breath increasing arms trading with Israel.

Clare and Wallace also discussed the double standards and selective nature of the EU Parliament's agenda on matters, such as:

i) Western sanctions on third-world countries but not Israel
ii) the use of spyware against journalists while preaching about freedom of the press
iii) the call for sanctions of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products while not addressing the root of EU's food securities problem: the price manipulation of Ukrainian grain products
iv) condemning the mistreatment and violence against women in Afghanistan but not ones in Gaza perpetuated by Israel
v) condemning Russia's illegal appropriation of Romanian national treasures, but not those historically appropriated by France or the UK

https://www.theinteldrop.org/2024/04/15/icelandic-art-as-spring-descends-minds-turn-to-the-ai-generated/

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