<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-censors-reporting-military-sites-hit-iran-obscuring-extent-strikes">middleeasteye.net</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israel censors reporting on military sites hit by Iran, obscuring extent of damage</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By MEE staff</div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">
<span class="gmail-date-created">Published date:</span> 2 October 2024
</div>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page">
<a aria-label="Main content" id="gmail-main-content" class="gmail-visually-hidden" tabindex="-1"></a>
<p>Iran claims 90 percent of missiles hit their targets, with images showing massive crater left in one Israeli town</p>
<div> <span>
<img width="438" height="246" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/israel-iran-attack-october-2024-afp.jpg?itok=FMer6aQa" alt="A person checks the rubble of a destroyed building in Hod HaSharon in the aftermath of an Iranian missile attack on Israel, on 2 October 2024." style="margin-right: 0px;">
</span>
</div>
<p><font size="1">A person checks rubble of a destroyed building in
Hod HaSharon in aftermath of an Iranian missile attack on Israel, on 2
October 2024 (Jack Guez/AFP)</font></p>
<p><span>Published date:</span> 2 October 2024 19:07 BST
<span>| </span>
<span>Last update:</span> <span id="gmail-date-updatedago">13 hours 24 mins </span> ago </p>
<div>
<div><p>After <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a> launched waves of ballistic missiles across <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a>
on Tuesday evening, with video footage showing many of them hitting
their targets, Israel closed off several military zones and barred the
publication of reporting on where missiles hit the ground.</p>
<p>The censorship from Israel made it difficult to assess the full
damage from Iran's strikes, with both the US and Israel sending mixed
messages regarding the size and impact of Tehran's attack.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that an initial Israeli
assessment of the attack showed minor damage to military bases. The
Iranian attack hit the Nevatim air base in the Negev Desert, where
Israel has placed some F-35 fighter jets. But Israel's military declined
to share with the Journal the extent of the damage to the air base.</p>
<p>The military said "it didn’t want to give information to Iran" that
could help Tehran understand how much damage its attack caused.</p>
<p>Several missiles were also located near the Dead Sea, near where
Israeli nuclear facilities are located. It wasn't clear whether they
were intercepted by Israel or the US, according to the report.</p>
<p>One missile hit in the vicinity of a school in the town of Gedera,
with photos of the aftermath showing a massive crater in the ground and
major structural damage to the nearby buildings.</p>
<p>Israel said that its military and a coalition of allies including the
US and UK intercepted most of the missiles. However, video footage
online showed numerous missiles landing inside Israel and exploding
without being intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system.</p>
<div>
<p><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/israel-gedera-crater-iran-missile-october-2024-afp.jpg" width="438" height="246" alt="A crater left by an exploded projectile at a heavily-damaged school building in Israel's southern city of Gedera on 1 October 2024." class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;"></p>
A crater left by an exploded projectile at a heavily-damaged
school building in Israel's southern city of Gedera, on 1 October 2024
(Menahem Kahana/AFP)</div>
<p><span></span></p>
<p>The attacks caused two injuries inside Israel, while one Palestinian
was killed by shrapnel in the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank.</p>
<p>US national security advisor Jake Sullivan said during a brief moment
with reporters on Tuesday that the Iranian attack was both a
significant escalation by Tehran and also "ineffective".</p>
<p>"In short, based on what we know at this point, this attack appears
to have been defeated and ineffective. The word 'fog of war' was
invented for a situation like this. This is a fluid situation," he said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a
statement broadcast on state television that 90 percent of the missiles
it launched hit their targets successfully.</p>
<p>Iran said it launched the attacks in response to Israel's killing of
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, as well as its more recent killing of
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and IRGC commander Abbas Nilforoushan
in southern Beirut.</p>
<p>Israel's censorship of Iran's attack is not new, and the Israeli
government has ramped up its censorship during its ongoing war on Gaza,
which began in October 2023 after the Hamas-led attacks on southern
Israel.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.972mag.com/israeli-military-censor-media-2023/" target="_blank">report</a>
by +972 Magazine found that in 2023, the Israeli military barred 613
articles from being published by media outlets in Israel. That number
was a record for the magazine, which began tracking censorship in 2011.</p>
<p>The magazine also found that an additional 2,703 articles had been
redacted, which is the highest number of redactions since 2014, a year
Israel also launched a war on Gaza.</p>
</div>
<blockquote>Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled
coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To
learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees,
please fill out this <u><a href="https://middleeasteye.net/form/mee-syndication"><span>form</span></a></u>. More about MEE can be found <u><a href="https://middleeasteye.net/about-middle-east-eye"><span>here</span></a></u>.</blockquote>
</div>
</div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>