Israel ‘badly miscalculated’ severity of Iranian response to Damascus strike – New York Times

An image grab from a video taken early on April 14, 2024, shows the Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, with the lights of missile interceptions visible in the night sky, after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel (AFP)
An image grab from a video taken early on April 14, 2024, shows the Dome of the Rock atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, with the lights of missile interceptions visible in the night sky, after Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel (AFP)

Israeli officials miscalculated the severity of Iran’s response to the April 1 strike on a building in Damascus in which several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders were killed, The New York Times reports.

“The Israelis had badly miscalculated, thinking that Iran would not react strongly, according to multiple American officials who were involved in high-level discussions after the attack, a view shared by a senior Israeli official,” the outlet says.

Two generals were among those killed in the alleged Israeli strike on what Iran said was a consulate building in the Syrian capital.

The outlet says that US officials were angered that they had only been informed a few minutes ahead of the Damascus strike, and that its significance had not been conveyed.

Two Israeli officials tell the Times that plans for the strike began two months before it was carried out.

The outlet says the plan was then approved by the war cabinet on March 22.

The newspaper says it viewed internal defense records that outlined potential responses by Tehran, and none of them predicted an attack on the scale seen over the weekend, when Tehran fired over 300 ballistic missiles and drones at Israel.

According to the report, Israeli intelligence initially expected Iran to fire a maximum of 10 surface-to-surface missiles at Israel. Last week, they increased the estimate to 60 to 70 surface-to-surface missiles, the report says, noting that this also turned out to be a misjudgment.

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