Israeli Navy intercepts over 15 Iranian drones: Watch how the UAVs were tackled

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Tuesday said that its Navy intercepted over 15 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, launched by Iran on Monday night. 

“Just last night, our Navy intercepted over 15 UAVs launched by Iran,” the IDF said in a message on X. It also posted a video of the interception done by an Israeli Navy missile boat.  

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The conflict between Israel and Iran started on 13 June when the former launched a massive airstrike on Iranian military and nuclear sites, codenamed “Operation Rising Lion”. In retaliation, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) initiated a large-scale drone and missile campaign called ‘Operation True Promise 3’, targeting Israeli fighter jet fuel production facilities and energy supply centres.

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Tensions escalated further after the US conducted precision airstrikes early Sunday morning on three key Iranian nuclear facilities under “Operation Midnight Hammer”. Iran retaliated by launching multiple missiles at US military installations in Qatar and Iraq, including the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar – the largest US military base in the region.

Tentative truce falters?

Mere hours after US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the two warring nations on Tuesday, Israel accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace, which the Iranian military denied, an AP report said.

However, the report also said that explosions boomed and sirens sounded across northern Israel midmorning. Earlier, both Israel and Iran had accepted the ceasefire plan to end their 12-day war.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called the missiles a violation of the ceasefire and instructed Israel's military to resume “the intense operations to attack Tehran and to destroy targets of the regime and terror infrastructure.”

According to the AP report, between Trump's post and the start of the ceasefire, Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn, and Iran replied with an onslaught of missiles that killed at least four people in Israel.

An Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations said Iran launched two missiles at Israel hours into the tenuous ceasefire. Both missiles were intercepted, the official said.

“Tehran will tremble,” Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich wrote on X after the missiles were launched.

Iranian missiles kill 4 in Israel

Iran launched a limited missile attack Monday on a US military base in Qatar, retaliating for earlier American bombing of its nuclear sites. The US was warned by Iran in advance, and there were no casualties. Israel's military said Iran launched 20 missiles toward Israel before the ceasefire began on Tuesday morning. Police said they damaged at least three densely packed residential buildings in the city of Beersheba, the report added.

First responders said they retrieved four bodies from one building and were searching for more. Earlier, the Fire and Rescue service said five bodies were found before revising the number downward.

US military bases hit in Iraq

Drones attacked military bases in Iraq overnight, including some housing US troops, the Iraqi army and a US military official said Tuesday.

No casualties were reported, and no group claimed responsibility for the attacks in Iraq. Some Iran-backed Iraqi militias had previously threatened to target US bases if the US attacked Iran.

Iraqi army spokesperson Sabah Al-Naaman, in a statement, called the attacks a “treacherous and cowardly act of aggression” and said they had damaged radar systems at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, and at Imam Ali Base in Dhi Qar province. Iraqi forces shot down drones at other locations, he said.

A senior US military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, said U.S. forces had shot down drones attacking Ain al-Assad in the desert in western Iraq and at a base next to the Baghdad airport, while another one crashed.

(With inputs from AP)