Israel will respond to Iran’s missile and drone attack, army chief tells soldiers

Israel’s army chief General Herzi Halevi, addressing troops on Monday at a military base hit in Iran’s unprecedented strike, said Israel will respond.

“This launch of so many (Iranian) missiles, cruise missiles, and UAVs into the territory of the State of Israel will be met with a response,” Halevi said when he visited Nevatim base in the country’s south, according to a statement issued by the army.

In a separate statement Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said “we will do whatever is necessary to protect the State of Israel, and we will do it at the opportunity and the time we will choose.”

Iran from late Saturday launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel, Israel’s military said, in retaliation for a deadly April 1 strike on Iran’s embassy consular annex in Damascus, which Iran blamed on Israel.

Hagari also said that those killed in a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus had engaged in “terrorism against Israel,” in his first official comment on the attack.

“To the best of my knowledge those who were killed in Damascus were members of the Quds Force. These were people who engaged in terrorism against the State of Israel,” Hagari added.

“Among these terrorist operatives there were Hezbollah members and Iranian helpers. There was not a single diplomat there as far as I know. I don’t know of any civilian who was killed in this attack,” he said.

Israel’s military said it intercepted 99 percent of the aerial threats with the help of the United States and other allies, and that the attack caused only minor damage.

The Nevatim based was “lightly hit” in the strike, it said.

On Monday the army released footage of a crater caused, it said, when a construction site at the base was hit in the strike.