Israel 'planning blitz on Iran military sites' in response for missile attack

Israel is reportedly set to attack Iran with warplanes before the US elections on November 5 and is thought to be the first in a number of 'revenge reactions' against the country

Israel is believed to be planning to hit Iranian military sites in its forthcoming revenge attack and has told the US it does not foresee strikes on Tehran’s nukes and oil plants.

According to reports from the US, Prime Minister Netahyahu has said his warplanes will attack before the November 5 US elections, failing to narrow down Israel’s zero hour. And it is also believed the blitz will be the first Israeli move in a “series of reactions” to Iran’s major 200-strong missile attack on the Jewish state on October 1.

It comes amid bitter fighting in Lebanon and Gaza, where at least 15 people died overnight, including six children and two women, according to Palestinian medical officials. And there are increasing fears of a major terror attack in towns such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where security has been heightened because of the threat.

On Tuesday the Pentagon confirmed a top of the range US anti-ballistic missile system had arrived in Israel, along with the troops needed to operate it. The THAAD - Terminal High-Altitude Are Defence system - has been deployed in case Tehran unleashes another ballistic missile attack.

It comes amid reports that Israel has said it's much-talked about attack on Iran will launch before the November 5 US election. But the installation of the THAAD system - which controversially means US troops are now in Israel helping defend it - could bring the attack forward, it is thought. Iran has already warned against Washington having boots on the ground in Israel.

One person died on Tuesday from wounds after a terrorist gunman opened fire in Yavne, south of Tel Aviv, leaving four wounded. It followed reports of a shooting at a highway interchange in Yavne which was followed by another shooting near Nir Galim and police are investigating.

It is thought both shootings were of the same incident and an assailant was killed. Missile sirens blared out across northern and central Israel overnight, sending thousands of Israelis into bomb shelters.

One alert late Monday was for central Tel Aviv, although those missiles were intercepted and in total overnight 115 Hezbollah rockets were fired into Israel. The Israeli Air Force has smashed a staggering 200 Hezbollah targets in 24 hours, including anti-tank posts, terror cells and surface to surface missile launch sites.

But it is also desperately trying to hunt down Hezbollah’s drone launch sites, since an attack on an Israeli base in Binyamina killed four and injured 60. There are major concerns about how Hezbollah managed to dodge Israeli defences with a drone which then hit the training complex.

In Gaza the IDF infantry hit a terror cell in Jabaliya after coming under fire from anti-tank missiles. But a strike early on Tuesday hit a house in the southern town of Beni Suhaila, killing at least ten from one extended family, according to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis.

The dead included three children and one woman, according to hospital records. And in the nearby town of Fakhari, a strike hit a house this morning, killing five people, including three children and a woman.

In north Gaza, where Israel has been waging a new campaign in Jabaliya for more than a week, residents said families were still trapped in their homes and shelters on Tuesday. More than 400,000 children in Lebanon have been displaced in the past three weeks, a top official with the UN children's agency said, as he warned of a "lost generation."

Fighting in Lebanon has driven 1.2 million people from their homes, most fleeing to Beirut and elsewhere in the north. Ted Chaiban, Unicef's deputy executive director for humanitarian actions, has visited schools that have been turned into shelters to host displaced families.

"What struck me is that this war is three weeks old and so many children have been affected. As we sit here today, 1.2 million children are deprived of education. Their public schools have either been rendered inaccessible, have been damaged by the war or are being used as shelters.

"The last thing this country needs, in addition to everything else it has gone through, is the risk of a lost generation. What I'm worried about is that we have hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian children that are at risk of losing their learning.”

More than 2,300 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes, nearly 75% over the last month, according to the Health Ministry. In the last three weeks, more than 100 children were killed and some 800 injured, Mr Chaiban said.

He said displaced children are crammed into overcrowded shelters where three or four families can live in a classroom separated by a plastic sheet, and 1,000 share 12 toilets. Many displaced families have set up tents along roads or on public beaches.

Most displaced children have experienced so much violence, including the sounds of shelling or gunshots, that they cower at any loud noise. Then there is "evacuation orders upon evacuation orders. We're at the beginning, and already there's been a profound impact," he said.

The escalation has also put more than 100 primary healthcare facilities out of service, while 12 hospitals are either no longer working or partially functional. Water infrastructure has also come under attack.

Mr Chaiban called for civilian infrastructure to be protected and appealed for a ceasefire in Lebanon and in Gaza. He added: "What we must do is make sure that this stops, that this madness stops, that there's a ceasefire before we get to the kind of destruction and pain and suffering and death that we've seen in Gaza.”

The leak to US media about Israel’s plans to hit Iran came with an Israeli caveat as officials in Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office said: “We are listening to the opinions of the US administration but we will make our final decisions based on Israel’s national interest.”

That caveat gives Israel the option of changing its plans and going back on plans not to hit Iran’s nukes or oil plants if hostilities escalate.