According to Xinhua News Agency, on April 14, local time, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement announcing a large-scale missile and drone attack on Israeli targets.
After a missile attack on the consular building of the Iranian embassy in Syria and Iran vowed to retaliate, speculation has been about when, where and how Iran will strike back at Israel.
Two weeks later, Iran launched a counterattack against Israel. Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said on social media that Iran's attack on Israel could be considered "over" and that Iran's military action was based on the relevant provisions of Article 51 of the UN Charter in response to Israel's attack on Iran's diplomatic mission in Syria, and that "if the Israeli regime makes another mistake, Iran's response will be even harsher."
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a decades-long "shadow war" in the Middle East, which has been waged in the form of indirect confrontation. According to media analysis, now that Iran has directly attacked Israel's territory, the situation in the Middle East has entered a dangerous moment.
Israel claims that "it's not over yet"
The people of Israel have just experienced a long, stressful night. At midnight, air raid sirens sounded and the population was urged to seek shelter while explosions were heard, meaning that the air defense system had been activated.
On April 14, local time, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement announcing that dozens of missiles and drones had been launched at Israeli targets. The trigger for Iran's large-scale airstrikes was the Israeli airstrike on the consular building of the Iranian Embassy in Syria on April 1, local time, which is commonly known as the "bombing incident" in many media.
Since the outbreak of the new Palestinian-Israeli conflict, not only has the Lebanese Allah Party continued to exchange fire with Israel on the Lebanese-Israeli border, but Yemen's Houthi forces have also frequently attacked Israeli-related ships in the Red Sea waters, and in Israel's eyes, these armed groups are Iranian "proxies".
Israel has repeatedly launched strikes against what it identifies as Iranian targets, but this is the first time that Israeli forces have attacked Iranian embassies abroad. Reuters pointed out that this is the "most arrogant and deadli" of Israel's series of attacks on Iranian officials in Syria since December last year, and is a "major escalation" of Israel's actions to weaken Iran's influence in Syria.
About two weeks after the bombing, Iran launched a massive air strike against Israel as punishment for Israel's numerous "crimes." Lina Khatib, an associate research fellow at Chatham House, told the BBC that Iran's attack was an attempt to create a "spectacle" that the world wanted to witness, and that it was a well-planned counterattack, and that Iran was just trying to save face by sending a strong message in direct response to Israel, and that Iran did not want things to escalate further.
Footage of an Israeli air defense system activating an interception taken in the early hours of April 14 over Tel Aviv, Israel. Xinhua News Agency
Judging by the results, the impact of this airstrike on Israel was limited. Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said the damage caused by the airstrikes was minimal, but it was not over and Israel must continue to be vigilant.
It could get worse. Despite calls for restraint and news that Biden told Netanyahu that the United States would not support Israel's counterattack against Iran, Israel is still considering its options.
Israel has stated that it will respond to Iran's air strikes. An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that in an assessment of the situation conducted on the morning of April 14 local time, the Israeli side did not make a decision on how to respond to the Iranian attack.
According to other sources, the Israeli military and the wartime cabinet have been debating the matter, and the most likely action would be to target the bases where the missiles were developed, but there is also the possibility that Israel will further strike major military bases and training centers of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps throughout the country, causing casualties and property damage.
On April 14, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a wartime cabinet meeting at the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. Xinhua News Agency
In response to Israel's possible next move, the chief of the General Staff of the Iranian armed forces, Mohammad al-Bagheri, warned that if Israel retaliates against Iran, the Iranian side will carry out a larger strike against Israel.
"We are now on the 'middle rung' of a very dangerous ascending ladder, and governments in the Middle East are holding their breath to see the scope and intensity of Israel's response. The BBC wrote.
Decades of "shadow wars"
At the moment, there is "saber rattling", but Israel and Iran have not always been "hostile", and Iran was even one of the first Muslim countries to recognize Israel.
After the establishment of the state, Israel adopted a "peripheral strategy" in order to change its isolation in the Middle East. Eirik Kvindesland, a historian at the University of Oxford, said then-Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion sought to build relations with non-Arab countries on the "periphery" of the Middle East, including countries such as Iran and Turkey.
But things began to change in 1951 when Iran's democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, came to power, taking the lead in nationalizing the British monopoly oil industry and severing ties with Israel, which he believed was only serving Western interests in the region.
Covindeslan pointed out that Mossadegh's main intention was to expel British colonial power and make Britain lose control of Iran's oil industry, and that relations with Israel could be regarded as "collateral damage".
Two years later, on August 19, 1953, the CIA staged a coup d'état to overthrow Mossadegh. After the coup, Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi strengthened his power and forged close ties with the United States.
Tehran, the capital of Iran, taken in the early hours of April 14. Xinhua News Agency
Israel's relations with Iran have also been eased, and Israel has even established a de facto embassy in Tehran. Middle Eastern media said that at that time, Pahlavi was mainly driven by the needs of alliance, security and trade, and when dealing with Israel, he paid little attention to the situation of the Palestinians.
Pahlavi was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 and the Islamic Republic of Iran was established, followed by decades of discord between Iran and the United States, and Iran also severed ties with Israel, and the Palestinian issue became the core issue in the Iran-Israel conflict. Bloomberg pointed out that the contest between the two sides is mostly quiet, and in the case of Iran, it is often through "proxy" actions to avoid escalating into a direct war. For decades, the "shadow war" between Iran and Israel has shaped the landscape of the Middle East.
Tensions between Iran and Israel have long been exacerbated by the direct armed conflict between Allah and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Lebanon, which Israel believes is supported by Iran.
In addition, Israel views Iran's nuclear program as a potential existential threat and has repeatedly called for measures to limit Iran's ability to acquire nuclear weapons. Fox News notes that Iran's multi-year conflict with Israel has been driven by broader regional power struggles, as both countries seek to establish influence in the Middle East.
Today, the conflict between the two countries has gone from "shadow" to public. The BBC notes that this is the first time that Iran has directly targeted Israel from its own territory and is no longer a confrontation led by a series of powerful "proxies" in the region. After Iran's massive strike on Israel, the development of events will be an uncharted territory fraught with risks and unpredictability.
Beijing News reporter Luan Ruoxi
Edited by Zhang Lei and proofread by Zhang Yanjun