8 October 2024

Iran’s Missile Barrage Fails Again: How Will Israel Respond?

Danielle Pletka

On October 1, the Islamic Republic of Iran launched a barrage of 181 ballistic missiles against the State of Israel -- retaliation, the government said, for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah the week before. And like its previous attack in April of 2024, the onslaught failed to leave a mark on the Jewish state, killing only one person, a Palestinian in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran for the attack, as it did in April. Both the nature of that retaliation and its timing remain unclear at this writing, but, per New York Times reporting, “the Iranian miliary has also prepared hundreds of missiles to launch from western borders should Israel or its top ally, the United States, strike back, two members of the Revolutionary Guards familiar with the planning said. ‘If the Zionist regime reacts to Iran’s operation it will face more fierce attacks,” said the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.’”

Bluster from Tehran is nothing new, and the Islamic Republic has continued to rack up humiliation after humiliation at the hands of the Israelis, including the elimination of senior Revolutionary Guard figures in Damascus, the assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, and the recent wave of Israeli attacks that annihilated Hezbollah’s top ranks. Israel’s ongoing mopping-up operation inside Lebanon promises more such casualties for Iran’s most important proxy.

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