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‘Any enemy that fights us will be hit, no matter where they are,’ says Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
By: World Israel News Staff & JNS
Iran’s massive missile and drone attack over the weekend will not “deter Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud) told IDF troops Tuesday, lauding the highly successful efforts of the Israeli military and a coalition of Western powers and moderate Arab states in intercepting incoming projectiles.
Gallant visited Israel’s northern border Tuesday, where he held an operational situation assessment together with senior IDF officials and troops operating in the area of the Western Galilee.
During his visit, Gallant held a discussion with IDF commanders about efforts to drive Hezbollah forces away from the Israeli border, and commended soldiers for their performance.
The Defense Minister also discussed the Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend, emphasizing that Iran will fail to deter Israel and to prevent Israel from acting against Iranian attempts to strengthen its capabilities across the Middle East.
Gallant noted that less than 1% of the incoming missiles and drones managed to reach their targets inside Israel, despite a massive barrage of over 500 projectiles.
“The Iranians attacked us aggressively using over 500 weapons, [yet] not a single cruise missile or UAV reached Israel, and out of 100 ballistic missiles, four fell in Israel. This is the result of our preparations with our international partners, as well as the IDF’s capabilities,” Gallant told IDF soldiers.
“The Iranians will not be able to establish a new status of deterrence against the State of Israel. IAF aircraft operate everywhere – the skies of the Middle East are ‘open,’ and any enemy that fights us will be hit, no matter where they may be.”
“The tasks at hand are serious. I see what you [referring to the troops] are doing, and I am convinced that we will reach the stage when our citizens will be able to return to their homes safely – we will achieve this either via military action or via an agreement. It is always better to [reach] an agreement, but we are preparing for all possibilities.”
In other developments, JNS reported that attack drones launched by Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon lightly injured three people in the area of Moshav Beit Hillel in Israel’s Eastern Galilee on Tuesday afternoon, Army Radio reported.
“Two explosive drones crossed from Lebanese territory towards Israeli territory and exploded in the area of Beit Hillel. The incident is under investigation,” the Israel Defense Forces confirmed in an X post.
In a statement, Hezbollah claimed it hit an Iron Dome missile defense battery near Beit Hillel and that soldiers were killed and wounded.
The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar newspaper claimed that an Israeli UAV struck a vehicle near Tyre in Southern Lebanon in response.
Tehran’s terror proxy in Lebanon has been engaged in near-daily attacks on Israel’s evacuated border region since joining the war in support of Hamas a day after the Oct. 7 invasion of the northwestern Negev.
In response, the Israeli Air Force has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes, including targeted killings of Hezbollah commanders.
Overnight Saturday, Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into the Upper Galilee as part of Iran’s unprecedented multi-pronged attack on the Jewish state. Air defenses intercepted most of the projectiles.
On Sunday night, four IDF soldiers were wounded, including one seriously, in an explosion during operational activity in the border area.
(WorldIsraelNews.com & JNS.org)
