Satellite imagery appears to show damage at air base after Iranian missile strike
Photo shows hole in roof of hangar at Nevatim, in southern Israel, with no other apparent damage; IDF has said its capabilities were unharmed
New satellite images of a key Israeli military air base appear to show a large hole in the roof of an aircraft hangar, indicating damage caused by a missile fired by Iran Tuesday in its massive barrage on Israel.
Images of the Nevatim air base in southern Israel on Wednesday show the damage to the roof in a row of buildings near a runway. Large pieces of debris can be seen spread around the building.
The military censorship cleared the image for publication.
Nevatim is home to the Israeli Air Force’s most advanced aircraft, including US-produced F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the satellite images, but acknowledged that some of its airbases were hit in Iran’s attack.
However, the damage was deemed “ineffective,” meaning that no harm was caused to the continuous operations of the Israeli Air Force or to fighter jets, drones, other aircraft, munitions, or critical infrastructure.
The missile impacts damaged office buildings and maintenance areas in the bases, according to the military.
Tuesday’s Iranian salvo consisted of some 180 missiles and sent almost 10 million people into bomb shelters throughout Israel as projectiles and interceptors exploded in the skies above.
The IDF said that it intercepted “a large number” of them. According to the military, the missiles launched at Israel on Tuesday were not hypersonic as Iran claimed.
No Israelis were hurt by the missiles. One Palestinian man was killed in Jericho when the fuselage of an apparently intercepted missile slammed into the street as he walked by.
A previous attack using 300 missiles and drones in April — the first ever direct Iranian assault on Israel — was thwarted with the help of the US military and other allies. Israel reportedly responded at the time with a limited airstrike in Iran, targeting an air defense system near a nuclear site, but wider escalation was averted.
However, Jerusalem has vowed a significant response this time.
The confrontation between Israel and Iran has grown more direct in recent months. The Islamic Republic suffered major blows when leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah were assassinated, and has since vowed to attack the Jewish state in response.
July saw Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in a guesthouse in Tehran, hours after attending a swearing-in ceremony for the new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the assassination, yet the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister promised a “measured and well calculated” response against Israel.
In late September, Israel assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah when it dropped dozens of bunker-busting bombs over the terror group’s underground headquarters in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to attack Israel in response, as he himself was rushed to a secure location for fear of being similarly targeted.
“The blood of the martyr shall not go unavenged,” Khamenei said in the statement then.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
