Israel awaits details of explosions, sirens after possible missile attack
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN APRIL 22, 2021 02:52

View of the Israeli nuclear facility in the Negev Desert outside Dimona
(photo credit: JIM HOLLANDER / POOL / REUTERS)
Reports of sirens in southern Israel and foreign media reports of those sirens being near Dimona and also involving “a Patriot missile being fired” broke Thursday.
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Reports of sirens near the city of Dimona and explosions in central Israel represent the kind of sum of all fears that people go to bed with and hope not to wake up to. These are the reports in the first hours of Thursday morning around 2am. They began with reports of sirens in southern Israel and foreign media reports of those sirens being near Dimona and also involving “reports of a Patriot missile being fired,” according to Al-Hurra.
They go along with Iranian media reports at Fars News of the sirens and an explosion in Israel that could be heard as far away as the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Jerusalem and Modi’in. Reports at Shahab Arabic news also said that Beduin communities near Dimona said they heard sirens and explosions. These were also heard in the hills of Hebron. The unusual number of reports and their extent represent a serious incident that is unusual.

It comes on the heels of Iranian media claiming that an explosion in central Israel two days ago may have been “deliberate.” Likely a propaganda story, it nevertheless goes along with another Fars news report about Iran using a drone to conduct surveillance of a US carrier. Only days ago the Kayhan newspaper in Iran, linked to regime, called for Iran to target Dimona, according to to expert Yossi Mansharof. The Iranian media had called for “action” against Dimona claiming they would strike at an Israel “nuclear facility” in retaliation for an incident at Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.
Just after two in the morning there were reports on social media of sonic booms and air strikes in Syria. It was unclear the extent to which this was accurate or what was unfolding. Open source intelligence accounts online speculated. That a Fateh ballistic missile had been fired at Israel from Syria. Others postulated about an attack from Iraq or Yemen by pro-Iran proxies.
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The last major attacks on Israel from Syria have included a drone launched from T-4 base in Syria in February 2018 and a rocket salvo in May 2018. In 2018 and 2019 Iran was reported to have moved ballistic missiles to Iraq. It has also moved precision guided munitions to Iraq and Syria and armed Hezbollah with long-range rockets. In January Iran was reported by Newsweek to have moved a drone to Yemen that had a range to strike Israel. Iran has used drones to strike Saudi Arabia and targeted a US base in Iraq in January 2020 with precision ballistic missiles.
The Syrian missile landing near Dimona illustrates how dangerous this battle is. Had it struck inside the reactor compound, Israelis would be waking up to a very different reality.
m.jpost.com
@waz @Foxtrot Alpha can one of you lads please merge thread with the above mentioned thread by
@Arian ?
