An Israeli military official revealed on Tuesday that Iranian airstrikes last month hit some Israeli military sites, the first apparent public acknowledgment that such locations had been struck.
The official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity in accordance with military briefing rules, said that “very few” sites had been hit and that they remained functional.
The official declined to provide further details, including identifying which military locations were affected or how severe the damage was to military infrastructure.
The official’s remarks come after The Telegraph reported on Saturday that five IDF bases were struck with a total of six Iranian ballistic missiles during the war. That report was based on radar data obtained from Oregon State University, which tracks bomb damage in war zones via satellites.
Israel’s military censor generally bars the publication of the exact locations of missile impacts, particularly those which hit sensitive sites, over fears doing so will aid Israel’s enemies in refining their targeting.
Iran fired more than 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel during the war, in response to Israel’s sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and its ballistic missile program. Israel said the attack was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
In all, aside from the missiles that hit military bases, there were 36 Iranian missile impacts and one drone strike in populated areas in Israel. Those attacks killed 28 people and wounded more than 3,000, according to health officials and hospitals, causing damage to 2,305 homes in 240 buildings, along with two universities and a hospital, and leaving more than 13,000 Israelis displaced.
Iranian authorities have said that approximately 1,000 people were killed in the Israeli attacks, which also targeted sites in Tehran, the country’s densely populated capital.
Both military commanders and civilians were killed in Iran. In Israel, 27 of the 28 people killed were civilians, and one was an off-duty soldier at home with his family.
Israel and Iran agreed to a US-backed ceasefire on June 24, after the US bombed several Iranian nuclear facilities.
At a White House dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, US President Donald Trump and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said the US would hold a new round of talks with Iran over a nuclear deal. He also said the US was “ready” to bomb Iran again if necessary.
“They want to make peace, and I’m all for it. If that’s not the case, we are ready, willing and able, but I don’t think we’re going to have to,” Trump told reporters.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated that Iran remains interested in diplomacy but added that “we have good reason to have doubts about further dialogue.”
In recent days, Iran received messages indicating that the United States may be ready to return to negotiations, Araghchi wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times.
A French diplomatic source said Tuesday that European powers would have to restore United Nations sanctions on Iran if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests.