Sky News and several media outlets describe as unprecedented Iran’s direct attack on Israel on Saturday night with about 200 drones and missiles.
As reported, “This is the most dangerous moment for the Middle East region since the Hamas attack on October 7,” even surpassing the question “now what?” and the “geopolitical anxiety” created after the Hamas terrorist attack with hundreds of dead.
Even though most of the drones were intercepted and although human casualties are at zero – only one 7-year-old girl was seriously injured by shrapnel – the Israelis will now feel extremely vulnerable and the Israeli government will be forced to respond, adds the Sky News correspondent in Washington.
The use of cruise missiles further changes the dynamics of things, it adds. Recall that according to Israeli officials cited by the New York Times, Iran launched 185 drones and 36 cruise missiles with most of the launches coming from Iranian territory although there were some from Iraq and Yemen while Tehran also launched 110 surface-to-surface missiles
“Even if Iran had relied on the “maximum show of force/minimal impact” strategy, an objective which is easier with drones, the possibility of some miscalculation remained high,” the article added, with the author recalling that in choosing these “weapons” Tehran chose a tried and tested method of attack as it had used drones to strike oil fields in Saudi Arabia in 2019 in a move that caused no loss of life but cost Riyadh millions of dollars.
There is a deep psychological angle to the way Iran attacked, according to Sky News, as Israelis across the country did not sleep on Saturday night as they knew the drones were heading for their homeland.
For its part, the Institute for the Study of War noted in an analysis that Iran’s strike resembles Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.
“The Russian strikes tried to discover the best way to ‘pierce’ Western airspace and air defense systems. Russia has experimented in Ukraine with the combination of using ballistic and cruise missiles along with Iranian drones,” the analysis said.
Finally, as noted, Iran has recently tested the US Navy’s defense systems through Houthi drone attacks.
