Israel does not want full-scale war with Iran

Just over three weeks after Iran attacked Israel with 200 ballistic missiles, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) finally launched a retaliatory airstrike on Iranian military facilities last night. The IAF strike reportedly lasted three hours, and was carried out in three waves. It was based on impressively precise intelligence and targeted the missile manufacturing facilities where the ballistic missiles used in Iran’s attack earlier this month were made. The IAF also struck surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile arrays.

As soon as reports of the attack emerged, the Iranian disinformation machine whirred into action. Through official channels as well as online influencers and bots, Iran denied that its facilities were successfully bombed and claimed that the attack caused only ‘limited damage’. It released videos on social media showing that it’s ‘business as usual’ in Iran. Although its air defences have proven useless against the IAF, Iran claimed that its systems managed to intercept some missiles.