The ministry condemned Israeli strikes “against a number of military sites in Iran, calling them a blatant violation of international law and international law.” The United Nations charter”, and its statement added, “based on the inherent right of self-defense, as also reflected in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers itself entitled and obliged to defend itself against acts of external aggression.

Iranian media reported that two soldiers were killed in the Israeli attack. The first wave of airstrikes focused on Iran’s air defense system, and the second and third waves focused on missile and drone bases and weapons production sites, according to Axios.

The Israeli airstrikes came in response to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack on Israel, in which the country fired about 180 ballistic missiles toward the Jewish state. Most of them were intercepted, some by U.S. forces in the area, but the attack threatened to kill hundreds of civilians.

Some hawkish Israeli leaders hoped to see a more significant response, including potentially going after Iran’s energy and/or oil infrastructure, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complied with US insistence that their retaliations remain proportional and non-aggressive.

“We could and should have demanded a much higher price from Iran,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said after the attack. “Iran is at the head of the axis of evil and must pay a heavy price for its aggression. »

Had Israel’s response been more devastating, it could have further escalated tensions in the region. Tehran could still respond to this attack, although Israel has reportedly warned, through intermediaries, that an Iranian response would provoke a much harsher Israeli response.

“The president and his national security team have of course worked with the Israelis in recent weeks to encourage Israel to mount a targeted and proportional response with low risk of civilian harm, and that appears to have been precisely what happened this year. evening. “an elderly person Biden administration an official said, adding that the president “encouraged the prime minister to craft a response that would serve to deter further attacks on Israel while reducing the risk of further escalation.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Friday as the attacks on Iran took place. United States military deployed additional resources to Israel this month in anticipation of a possible Iranian response.

Iran has supported and trained proxy groups in the Middle East, including Hamas, with the aim of fighting Israel so that they can maintain plausible deniability and not provoke direct conflict with Israel. Instead, Israel and Iran have historically clashed through espionage and targeted assassinations.

The Biden administration has continually, and sometimes unsuccessfully, sought to contain the war in the Middle East, which began on October 7, 2023, with the devastating Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel, which resulted in deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the kidnapping of several people. 250 other people.

The attack served, as Yahya Sinwar, then senior Hamas leader expected, as an inflection point that triggered the current conflict which is on the verge of further escalation.

Israel has declared war Hamas and invaded Gaza to oust Hamas from power in the enclave and destroy its military capabilities. After a year, Israeli forces decimated Hamas’ senior leadership, its ranks, and much of its infrastructure. The death toll in Gaza was estimated at more than 40,000 people, about half of whom were civilians, according to Israeli officials. Hamas spent nearly two decades in power reusing foreign aid to build its arsenal and a massive system of underground tunnels that allowed Hamas leaders to hide from Israeli forces.

Earlier this month, Israeli forces killed Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the October 7 attack. He had spent years planning and strategizing for the attack, going so far as to discourage fighting with the Israelis before it in order to give the Israelis the impression that they did not want conflict.

Israel is believed to be behind the assassination of the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Tehran, Iran, while he was in the country for the inauguration of the new president of the Republic Islamic.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt attempted to negotiate a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to end the war, free the hundred Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, force the withdrawal of Israeli forces and increase humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. While negotiations had stalled due to Sinwar’s opposition, his death represents a new opportunity for the mediators, which they are pursuing in the days to comeeven if his successor was able to maintain his hardened position.

Hezbollah, based in Lebanon and also backed by Iran, began attacking Israel a day after Hamas’ deadly attack a year ago. Hezbollah began launching thousands of rockets and missiles into northern Israel, and the Israelis evacuated more than 50,000 people from the area, fearing that Hezbollah would carry out a cross-border raid similar to that carried out by Hamas .

Israel intensified its attacks on Hezbollah last month and decimated the group’s top leadership, killing both Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his multiple possible successors. Israeli forces also began launching ground incursions into southern Lebanon. Hezbollahwhich was considered Iran’s main proxy, retaliated, resulting in the deaths of several Israeli soldiers.

Drones fired by Hezbollah have proven to be a difficult challenge to Israel’s air defense capabilities. A drone they fired last week hit Netanyahu’s house, even though neither he nor his wife were there at the time.

The United States also wants to see an end to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and American officials have pointed to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, but has never been fully implemented as a basis for an end to the conflict. hostilities.

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“Over the coming days, we are prepared to lead an effort to end the war in Lebanon through an agreement allowing civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return home safely. We are also ready to lead an effort to finally jointly achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, with the return of the hostages, which must take place without delay,” said the senior US administration official.

The resolution called on Hezbollah to move north of the Litani River in Lebanonwhich would prevent them from gathering along the Israeli border. If Hezbollah were forced to move north of the river, it would create a nearly 20-mile buffer zone between it and Israel.