Israel-Hamas War Day 196: What's going on in Gaza, Iran?

If reports are correct that Israel has used drones to strike Iranian air force assets, whether Iranian drones, ballistic missiles, aircraft, or all of the above, at Isfahan, this would be straight out of a playbook that has worked before, as recently as January 2023.

It is also possible that long-range missiles were used, though initial reports indicate an attack from within Iran, which would be more consistent with drone strikes.

In January 2023, despite Iranian claims, a drone attack on Iran at Isfahan was a tremendous success, according to a mix of Western intelligence sources and foreign sources, the Jerusalem Post learned at the time.

There were four explosions at the site, which could even be witnessed on social media, against a facility developing advanced weapons, and the damage went far beyond the "minor roof damage" that the Islamic Republic claimed and which it had falsely claimed before also in other incidents in recent years.

Israel played both the current and January 2023 incidents mum, but most Western intelligence and Iranian sources credited the Mossad with similarly successful attacks against Iran's Natanz nuclear facility in July 2020, a different Natanz nuclear facility in April 2021, another nuclear facility at Karaj in June 2021 and with destroying around 120 or more Iranian drones in February 2022.

A ballistic missile lies on the shore of the Dead Sea, after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, April 14, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Alon Ben Mordechai)

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett later publicly admitted to ordering the attack on Iran's drone facility in February 2022.