cruises to from israel

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Cruise from Haifa, Israel

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Haifa Shore Excursions

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Star of the Sea

Three cable cars in Haifa, Israel

Take the cable car up to Mt Carmel (546 meters) and enjoy the magnificent views. Visit the Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery, Latin for "Star of the Sea." Admire the church's beautifully painted ceiling and dome. Stretching back to the Crusader era, the monks originally inhabited the mountain caves.

Romantic Quarter

Stroll around the picturesque, restored German Colony at the foot of the Baha'i Gardens. German Templars who came to establish a Christian community here built the houses in the 19th century. Cruise to Israel to admire the pretty stone houses, browse the little shops, and meet the locals in the lively cafes.

Local Cuisine

Fill up for your Haifa adventure with some burekas , a crispy phyllo dough pastry often filled with vegetables, spices and cheese. Enjoy Middle Eastern fare like falafel wraps slathered in tahini sauce or lamb shawarma brightened up with herbaceous parsley in the Wadi Nisnas or Hadar neighborhoods. For desert, taste sweet baklava , with layers of flaky pastry and pistachio sweetened with honey, or knefah , a light cheesecake soaked in sweet syrup.

Haifa's largest shopping mall is the Grand Canyon and includes over 200 designer and boutique shops. In the Haifa Flea Market, you can find vintage and secondhand items, including handmade silver and gold jewelry. During your Israel cruise, look for decorative plates and ceramics hand-painted with traditional geometric patterns or Holy Land-themed designs.

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A visit to Israel — the “land of milk and honey” — is even more bountiful on a Holland America Line cruise. Calls in Ashdod and Haifa offer the chance to walk through Jerusalem’s Old City, paying homage at the Western Wall and Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Ashdod also provides access to UNESCO-designated Tel Aviv and the Dead Sea, while Haifa leads to Galilee and the Golan Heights. Take full advantage on an Israel overland adventure that combines Jerusalem with pilgrimages to Masada or Bethlehem.

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Jerusalem (Haifa), Israel

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Visit the land of miracles - Galilee, the Jordan River, the Mount of the Beautitudes and Tabgha. Venture to Nazareth, home of the young Jesus. See the largest hanging gardens in the world at the Bahai Gardens of Haifa. Or visit the Nahalal Moshav, a commune established in 1921 by Jewish immigrants.

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Cruises to Haifa, Israel

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Haifa Israel Port Guide

Haifa is a portal to the rest of Israel, an industrial, well-connected city where passengers on a cruise to Haifa, Israel can easily book excursions and tours of Tel-Aviv or the Jordan River. It’s not well-known as a tourist destination, but the city boasts impressive museums and outdoor attractions like the beautiful Baha’i Gardens or the Haifa City Museum. In its own right as a destination, Haifa has a growing arts scene and areas like the German Colony are bustling commercial areas where travelers can grab a bite, rest from the day’s exploration, and catch views of the glittering Mediterranean Sea.

Haifa’s proximity to religiously sites for those practicing Jewish and Christian faiths makes the experience particularly meaningful for travelers passing through on their Mediterranean cruise . These days, Nazareth isn’t the small village depicted in the Bible—it’s a full- grown, modern city—but its role in the life of Jesus Christ makes it an important religious site. You can stand at the crossing of the Jordan River, only a little over an hour from Haifa. The Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is believed to have been delivered is merely an hour east, too.  

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Top sights & attractions for cruises to haifa, baha’i gardens.

This is one of Haifa’s most visited sites, attracting tourists from all over the world to witness the unique gardens. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Baha’i Gardens honor the Baha’i faith. The ornate, gilded shrine was built to commemorate the prophet Bab, whose missionary work spread the faith, which now is practiced by 7 million people. Take a free tour to the summit of the gardens, where a panoramic view of the gardens and Haifa unfolds below you. A guided tour provides extra context and history of how the gardens came to be.

German Colony

In 1868, German Templars constructed a settlement in Haifa, and today it’s a bustling area filled with cafes, shops, and restaurants. What once were 19th century homes were restored and repurposed to turn the German Colony district into a cultural center of Haifa. The German Colony is now surrounded by the Baha’i Gardens, and provides a signature view of the architecture of the area from the top. While on your Haifa cruise, this is a good place to grab a bite, relax after exploring the historic sights, and maybe find some exciting nightlife.

Stella Maris Monastery

Monks called this ornate monastery home during the 19th century. A tour won’t take long, and you’ll learn more than ever about the Carmelite monks and their significance in the area. You can take a cable car to get to the monastery from the Bat Galim promenade as well. You’ll see an overarching view of Haifa from the summit of the hill the monastery is perched on.

Elijah’s Cave

In Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faith, the prophet Elijah took refuge from Jezebel in this cave, which you can now tour while on your Haifa cruise. It’s a short walk from the Stella Maris Monastery to the cave, and signs will indicate where to enter. Those interested in historic sites will enjoy Elijah’s Cave for its religious significance to these groups.

Haifa Museum of Art

In downtown Haifa, the Museum of Art is Israel’s third largest art museum and places a particular focus on contemporary art. So many of the sights in Israel are ancient and history, so the Haifa Museum of Art provides a glimpse into modern Haifa.

Learn More About Haifa Shore Excursions

Top things to do in haifa, hike the mount of beatitudes.

Tour the area where it is believed Jesus’ Sermon of the Mount was delivered. The Mount of Beatitudes will offer a view of the Sea of Galilee on one side and striking cliffs on the other. The Mount of Beatitudes’ significance to the Christian religion means many flock to the site, and you should expect crowds.

Travel to Nazareth

If you want to take a trip outside of Haifa, you can be in Nazareth in a quick 45 minutes via car or taxi. Nazareth, like the Mount of Beatitudes, hold special religious significance for Christians. According to the New Testament, the Virgin Mary encountered the angel Gabriel here and found out she would give birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Today, Nazareth juxtaposes its role as an ancient religious site with new expansion as a tourist destination. Visit the Basilica of the Annunciation or Nazareth Village while you’re stopping through.

Head to the Jordan River

The Jordan River is a significant site for both the Jewish and Christian faith as both the place where the tribes of Israel crossed to reach the Promised Land as well as the river in which Jesus Christ was baptized. Via train or car, it takes about an hour to reach the Jordan River from Haifa.

See Lions and Tigers at the Haifa Zoo

A perfect activity for kids is a tour of the Haifa Zoo, where you’ll see lions and tigers as well as sea turtles and peacocks. It’s outdoors but mostly shaded, and kids will get excited to see the animals up close. The seasons affect when the Zoo is open, so be sure to check their hours before you go.

Top Food and Drink Spots Near the Haifa Cruise Port

Address: 1 Kibuts Galuyot Street, Haifa, Haifa District, Israel

Abu Marun is open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm seven days a week, and it serves traditional Israeli dishes in a casual atmosphere and a moderate price. Word on the street is that this place has the best hummus in Haifa. They serve handmade spicy fries, pickles, pita, and other classics.

Limousine Steakhouse

Address: 14 Horesh HaAlonim Street, Ramat Yishai, North District, Israel

If you’re traveling to Nazareth from Haifa, try Limousine Steakhouse, which is one of the only steakhouses in Israel that’s not in a major city. They offer sirloins, filets, lamb chops as well as veal and burgers with conventional sides like fries or salad.

Address: 38 Sderot Ben Gurion, Haifa, Haifa District, Israel

While you’re in the German Colony district of Haifa, you can sit outside at the terrace garden, where you’ll see the beautiful greenery and lights of the Baha’i Gardens in the distance. Get the hummus platter, the fattoush the place is named for, tabouli, shawarma, or try one of their many varieties of pie.

Cafe Louise

Address: 58 Moriya Boulevard, Haifa, Haifa District, Israel

Vegetarians and vegans will find plenty of options at Cafe Louise, which is located near Mount Carmel. Smoothies will give you the boost of fruits and veggies you need to keep exploring. Try the sweet potato and lentil with yoghurt sauce. They’re also known for one of the area’s best brunch menus.

Culture & History of the Haifa Cruise Port

Haifa’s history dates back to over 3,000 years ago, and the city is the third-largest behind Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv. Claims have been made to Haifa by various groups throughout the centuries like the Canaanites, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, the British, and others. When the State of Israel formed in 1948, Haifa became governed by its own municipality. Haifa historically has been a major industrial city for Israel, so it’s not as built up as a tourist destination as a result, but the nearby religious sites drive a lot of traffic and interest into the area each year.

Culturally, the area is a mix of Jews Christians, Muslims, Ahmedi, and other faiths including the Baha’i, and Haifa is renowned for its effortlessly blending multiple cultures into the fabric of the city. Every year, one of Haifa’s biggest events is the International Film Festival which lasts for a week in September. When you tour religious sites in Haifa and other parts of Israel, be sure to wear clothing covering your shoulders and knees to respect the religious practices of the region.

Haifa Port Facilities & Location

The Port of Haifa is one of three ports in the area, and the one closest to the center of the city. The other two ports are the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. The port services both cruise traffic and cargo. Within the terminal are souvenirs, duty-free shopping, areas for currency exchange, and free WiFi for passengers. The port easily connects passengers with the Haifa Center Railway Station. There’s also a subway that can take you to the top of Mount Carmel.

Transportation in Haifa

Haifa itself is a hilly but walkable city. The Port of Haifa will place passengers right in the city center once your Haifa cruise ship docks. Across the port is a railway station, where you can immediately catch trains to Akko and Tel Aviv. Buses run through the city’s neighborhoods, and of course taxis and private cars are an option for travelers.

Shopping Near the Haifa Cruise Port

Indoor shopping malls are popular in Haifa, like the Panorama Center in Carmel. South of Haifa, there’s an artists’ village called Ein Hod where local artists sell pottery jewelry, blown glass, and more. One of the shopping malls you can check out while on your cruise to Haifa, Israel is called the Grand Canyon, where hundreds of shops and big chains can be found. It’s about a 15 minute drive from the port of Haifa to the mall. There are also flea markets in Haifa where leather goods, handmade bags, and bargains await.

Local Currency & Tipping Customs

The official currency of Israel is the shekel (NIS), and you can also use credit cards while you’re in Haifa. The policy for tipping while you’re in Israel varies, but restaurants, bars, and cafes should receive a tip between 10% and 12%, or more at your discretion if the service was excellent. Locals don’t tip in taxis in Haifa, so taxi drivers don’t exactly expect a tip. Keeping a little cash on you is good so that you can tip in cash rather than adding to the bill, which is how restaurants prefer tourists to tip while they’re visiting Israel.

Cruises from Israel

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12 nights from Haifa

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Explore Israel

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Seabourn calls in Israel seasonally during cruises between the  Mediterranean  and  Asia . The ships call at two ports in Israel:  Ashdod , which is closer to Jerusalem, and  Haifa , which is nearer Tel Aviv. Since Israel is not a large country,  highlights throughout the Holy Land are accessible from either port and on overnight mid-cruise Journeys between them.

Tel Aviv is a lively seaside city whose  UNESCO World Heritage Site , the White City of Tel Aviv, consists of a neighborhood of distinctive Bauhaus structures around Rothschild Avenue built between the 1920s and the 1950s. The  oldest section, Jaffa , is the original entry port for Israel with narrow, crowded streets and retains a remnant of the character of bygone eras. The Jaffa Tales Visitors Center uses modern technology to recount a historic and mythic lore that includes Jonah’s embarkation to sail to Tarshish, St. Peter residing in the local house of Simon the Tanner and the princess Andromeda languishing in chains prior to her rescue by Perseus. Locals gather to chat and play board games along the pleasant parklike Tel Aviv Seaside Promenade.

Jerusalem contains so many places of religious and historic importance that it well deserves a two-day visit. Panoramic views of the Old City and the Temple Mount are available from the  Mount of Olives  or the Haas-Sherover Promenade. Various tours visit  Mt. Zion , the Room of the Last Supper and King David’s Tomb. The Old City Walls encompass Zion Gate, the Dung Gate and  the Western (Wailing) Wall .  The Jewish Quarter  holds the Roman Cardo and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with its five Stations of the Cross. The new city highlights include the  Knesset, Israeli Supreme Court, the Shrine of the Book with the Dead Sea Scrolls , the moving Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Children’s Memorial, as well as the Israel Museum with a scale model of the Second Temple. In the Valley of Kidron visitors can stroll the  Garden of Gesthemane and visit the Church of All Nations set amongst ancient olive trees .

Bethlehem beckons with the  Church of the Nativity  built above the Cave of the Nativity where Jesus is said to have been born. Over the Judean Mountains in Nazareth is the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of St. Joseph built over his carpentry workshop. In the region of the  Sea of Galilee is the Mount of the Beatitudes and St. Peter’s home village Capernaum .

Further afield, passing Qumran, the source of the Dead Sea Scrolls, stands the  clifftop fortress of Masada , accessible by cable car.

Non-religious attractions in Israel include  the ancient city of Acre  which has earned UNESCO World Heritage status for its Ottoman quarter and the beautiful Baha’i Gardens, as well as Crusader-era structures and the 18th-century Khan el-Umdan (Inn of the Pillars) caravanserai.

Caesarea is another archaeological wonder , with the excavated Herod’s Palace, a Roman theater, hippodrome, baths, a Crusaders’ fort, Byzantine Market and an aqueduct.  Mt. Carmel is also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, near the ancient city of Tiberius, Zippori National Park and the Golan Heights .

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Haifa (tel aviv), israel, recommended for you.

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Tel-Aviv (Haifa), Israel

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Considered one of the Middle East’s most picturesque cities, Tel-Aviv (Haifa) offers incredible sights everywhere you turn. It is also close to holy sites – travel to Galilee, Nazareth or Jerusalem. The views from Bahai Gardens on Mount Carmel, the largest hanging gardens in the world, are incredible, and make for a superb picture spot. Peruse the boutiques on Massada Street or go to the artists' village of Ein Hod for hand-blown glass and crafts. Explore more of Tel-Aviv (Haifa) on a Middle Eastern cruise !

Tel-Aviv (Haifa) Cruise Image Gallery

• Olive tree garden of Baha'i Temple
• The Bahai Gardens
• Park sculpture in Bahai Park
• Mount Carmel
• Bahai Gardens
• Bahai gardens forget gate
• Panorama of Haifa
• Old City of Jaffa

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Middle East crisis — explained

The conflict between Israel and Palestinians — and other groups in the Middle East — goes back decades. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.

Israel launches missile strikes into Iran, U.S. military official says

Rob Schmitz

Peter Kenyon

Demonstrators wave a huge Iranian flag in an anti-Israeli gathering in front of an anti-Israeli banner on the wall of a building at the Felestin (Palestine) Square in Tehran, Iran, on Monday. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption

Demonstrators wave a huge Iranian flag in an anti-Israeli gathering in front of an anti-Israeli banner on the wall of a building at the Felestin (Palestine) Square in Tehran, Iran, on Monday.

The Israeli military has conducted missile strikes against Iran, a senior U.S. military official told NPR on Thursday. There are also reports of explosions in Iraq and Syria.

The strikes appear to be the response Israel vowed to carry out after an Iranian attack on Sunday, when Tehran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. Most of Iran's volleys were intercepted or caused little damage. The U.S. military official spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday.

The extent of Israel's strikes and the weapons used weren't clear.

Iran state news agency IRNA reported a military official in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, Brigadier General Mihan Dost, as saying loud sounds heard east of the city were the sound of air defenses intercepting what he called a "suspicious target" and that no damage was reported in the area.

What we know so far about Israel's strike on Iran — and what could happen next

Other Iranian news agencies had not reported any such strike and have concluded the sounds reported near Isfahan were the interception of one or more drones.

Israel's military and prime minister's office have not yet responded to NPR's request for comment.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed on social media that there is no damage to Iran's nuclear sites.

Meanwhile, Israel's hardline National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that Israel's latest apparent strike against Iran was "weak" and too limited.

Commercial flights continue in and out of Israel, and the country's Home Front Command system, which is responsible for issuing threat alerts to civilians during tense military times, didn't change its threat level.

In Iran, flights were temporarily grounded in the morning, but resumed just a couple of hours later.

The U.S. and other western allies had been urging Israel to forego a military strike to avoid a regional conflict springing out of the Israel-Hamas war .

Those concerns rose when an air strike – which Iran blamed on Israel – killed two Iranian military commanders in the country's consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1.

How Iran and Israel became archenemies

Iran said Sunday's attack on Israel was in response to that.

The region has been on the edge of wider conflict since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 240 others hostage, according to Israel. Israel's military campaign in response in Gaza has killed more than 33,000 people, according to Gaza health officials.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have traded frequent fire over the northern Israel border. Houthi militants, also backed by Iran, have been going after international commercial vessels passing through the Red Sea in recent months. The group's leaders claim they're targeting ships with links to Israel in response to the country's ongoing invasion of Gaza.

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Cruises from/to Haifa, Israel

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• Hike along the slopes of the historic Mount Carmel that is bountiful with oaks, pines and flowers for a breath of fresh air and scenic views.  
• Relax on the Meridian Beach and enjoy the sunshine along the Mediterranean Sea when on your Haifa cruise.  
• Sample some of the area’s specialties like gefilte (white fish), falafel (deep-fried balls of mashed chickpeas), hummus (ground seasoned chickpeas) and shiska (charcoal grilled meat on a skewer).  
• The Baha’I Shrine and Gardens is one of the most visited attractions in the area, due to its gorgeous stone sculptures and cypress trees in a beautifully planned geometric design.  
• Visit the Haifa Museum where you will see exhibitions of Israeli contemporary artists and always changing exhibitions of various themes.

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Israel Attack on Iran Is What World War III Looks Like

Like countless other hostilities, the stealthy israeli missile and drone strike on iran doesn’t risk war. it is war..

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Israel’s attack on Iran late Thursday night was met with a dangerously premature sigh of relief from both the news media and U.S. government, that somehow full-scale “war” was avoided.

Outlets like the New York Times were quick to characterize the attack as “subdued” and “limited” in scope, pointing to Iranian statements that the attack was launched from within Iranian borders and used small drones rather than fighter jets. Then it was further revealed that the Israeli attack included a stealth cruise missile launched from long range so as to not upset Israel’s new Arab partners .

But this, in fact, is what actual war looks like these days: Sometimes it’s a volley of 300 missiles and drones, and sometimes it is lean, targeted, and carried out covertly. Gone are the days of vast conquering armies and conventional military confrontations between two parties. So long as experts, the government, and the media worry only about a kind of war that is obsolete, it cannot see the war right in front of our faces.

The misconception has even infected the U.S. government.

“The downplaying of direct attacks on its soil may indicate the Islamic Republic lacks the desire, or capability, to match its bluster with professed military might,” a State Department communiqué produced after the attack and obtained by The Intercept says. “Over weeks of unprecedented military exchanges between Iran and Israel … Iranian officials appear keen to avoid further escalation.”

On Thursday, prior to the attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian vowed that if Israel strikes back, “the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level.” Now, Tehran has to adjust to the reality that a massive Israeli counterattack didn’t come and might never.

As the media and the world awaits full-scale war between Iran and Israel and even frets about nuclear escalation, a huge reality of modern warfare is being overlooked: We are already fighting World War III. No, it is not empires marching armies through countries, conquering continents. And no, it isn’t millions of young men (and now women) pressed in uniform on scales of nearly 100 years ago. And no, in most societies where war is a constant, the public doesn’t even have to feel the pain of war, except in that the military dominates everything and robs everything else of resources : programs to fight poverty, food, housing, health care, transportation, climate change .

World War III instead is all around, a planet that is aflame with armed conflict and awash in arms sales , an overlapping Venn diagram of killing that engulfs the globe, and a constant bonanza for national security “ experts ” and the military–industrial complex .

Let’s take a tour of the battlefield.

In the Middle East, the U.S., Turkey, Iraq, and even Iran all have footholds in Syria as their internal civil war continues unabated. And all of it goes unremarked most of the time as people look elsewhere for World War II-like battles. Iranian; Iranian-funded or backed or inspired; or independent militias in Syria and Iraq target U.S. troops in Syria, Iraq, and now Jordan. The United States bombs, but so does Israel, and Turkey, and other silent partners of Washington in the war against Iran, and Syria, and ISIS, and Hezbollah. The fight against ISIS, Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. says , involves 80-plus “partners” fighting not just in Syria and Iraq, but also in Afghanistan and Libya. A coalition of 80-plus countries — but the U.S. is loath to name them all, especially the allied “special” operators who are clandestinely working on the ground.

What we do know is that 10 countries have been involved in airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, including the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, and South Korea. Like so many other conflicts, it’s not altogether clear who bombed who or from where, nor other members of the supporting cast. The U.S. bombs from aircraft carriers and from the Gulf states, and from Kuwait and Jordan, and possibly even from Saudi Arabia and Oman. But World War III is about keeping things secret, so who knows.

In the Red Sea, these same countries — plus France, Italy, Norway, Seychelles, Spain, Greece, Finland, Australia, and Sri Lanka — have joined to fend off Houthi attacks at sea . Even more countries are allegedly participating in the coalition in secret, given the sensitivities surrounding support for Israel during its war with Hamas. But then there’s also the war against pirates, and the war against nuclear proliferation, and the war against arms smuggling, and the Middle East war even against drugs, all carried out by a vast international maritime fleet involving dozens of countries.

While Israel’s war in Gaza, and its back and forth with Iran, is atop the Billboard charts for now, in Ukraine, a trench war and a standoff has now dragged on for more than two years. Here as well, all eyes have been on some kind of decisive victory or defeat, but World War III is more characterized by Ukraine or its proxies regularly attacking targets inside Mother Russia, attacks that Moscow downplays. Russians fighting on the Ukrainian side are now making regular incursions into Russia’s Belgorod and Kursk regions. Meanwhile, the real World War III is NATO already at war with Russia, increasing its activities adjacent to the enemy, expanding its ranks, building up its military, and supplying arms to Ukraine. The United States, meanwhile, is deployed from Norway to Bulgaria, and has in the past two years built up a major new base in Poland. Meanwhile, Iran and North Korea have played their part in shuttling drones, missiles, and artillery shells into the Russian war effort.

Though the blatant Russian invasion seems to embody the old-fashioned concept of occupying armies and World War II, the reality is that Ukraine never turned into “the largest tank battle” ever, as some predicted, nor did it “escalate” to nuclear war, nor has it even been decisive. 

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The war in Ukraine is certainly the world-altering event of the past five years, but even here, without more borders crossed, without escalation, and without Russia and NATO shooting at each other directly, some mighty lessons can be learned. Armies clashing is an illusion. World War III is thus not some conquering army sweeping its way across the continent. At no time have more than 300,000 soldiers been on the battlefield in Ukraine at any one time; in World War II, it was nearly 10 million facing each other on a daily basis (and some 125 million mobilized overall). Because of the greater lethality of weapons, military casualties in Ukraine have been enormous. But most of the ground engagements have taken place at the company or even platoon level; massing too many troops in one place is just too dangerous in today’s world. And this has all unfolded while neither Russia nor Ukraine have been able to harness airpower in the same way the United States has. Other than Vladimir Putin’s heartless offensive that used young Russian men as cannon fodder, few nations want to fight this way, preferring long-range air and missile (and now drone) attacks.

South of Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia continue to simmer. Last year, Azerbaijan attacked the breakaway republic of Artsakh . With the backing of Turkey and Israeli weapons, Azerbaijan attempted to permanently squash the ethnic Armenian enclave, successfully driving tens of thousands of civilians into neighboring countries. 

Past the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea is also brimming with maritime conflict. Constant Chinese naval passes around the borders of Taiwan are supplemented with close calls with South Korea, Japan and the Philippines (and the United States). Meanwhile, Myanmar’s civil war continues unabated.

On the Korean Peninsula, North Korea continues nuclear testing and the unannounced firing of ballistic missiles into the ocean, and tensions are a constant background noise of war games, military incursions, and cross-border incidents. Thousands of artillery batteries stare each other down across the Demilitarized Zone, as South Korea points the finger at North Korean technology used in Iranian missiles launched toward Israel. And, of course, the United States and other “partners” are active on the ground.

In a world of supposed “international order,” India and Pakistan continue to fight over their common border, as they have been doing for decades. And India and China face off, another flashpoint that could spell World War III to some but one that is already here in reality.

In Africa, military forces, terrorists, militants, mercenaries, militias, bandits, pirates, and separatists are active, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, in Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Sudan. China and Russia scramble for bases and influence (China already has a base in Djibouti). Russia’s Wagner Group is active in Africa and involved in combat, and in the past two months, Rwandan military forces have attacked targets in the DRC, and Morocco has conducted drone strikes on Polisario fighters near the Western Sahara border.

On the African continent, the U.S., France, and the U.K. have been engaged in expansive yet clandestine fighting, supposedly against Islamic terrorists , while all around the continent smolders and neither can claim any long-term wins on the dual fronts of counterterrorism and peacekeeping. American troops operating in Niger are stuck as the country’s U.S. government-trained junta claims America’s footprint is illegal. The United States has also been bombing targets in Somalia for years now, and the African Union mission in Somalia has been actively involved in combating al-Shabab.

U.S. forces continue to fan out across Latin America and the Caribbean, using missile cruisers to intercept drug smuggling submarines, sending marine anti-terrorism teams into a fully destabilized Haiti, and fast-tracking exports of helicopters, aircraft, and naval drones to Guyana as its neighbor Venezuela hungrily eyes its oil reserves. Senior Biden administration officials have floated sending U.S. troops into the treacherous swatch of jungle connecting South and Central America known as the Darién Gap to stem the flow of migrants and drugs across the U.S. southern border. 

And what even happened to neutrality in the past few years? Switzerland and Austria have provided arms to Ukraine. Sweden and Finland have joined NATO. Only little Costa Rica, Iceland, Mauritius, Panama, and Vanuatu have no formal armed forces, but even there, Iceland is a very active member of NATO and Panama is a close military ally of the U.S. Speaking of small countries taking on big fights, Fiji and Luxembourg both count themselves as members of the global coalition to defeat ISIS . 

Ubiquitous warfare, our World War III, paints a worldwide picture that is overwhelming, leaving little room to imagine that something can be done about it. And it’s hard not to conclude that the superpowers and the national security “community” aren’t somehow satisfied with the status quo. But as with addiction, the first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem — or in this case, a global war.

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Maps show how US, Israeli weaponry was used against Iran's aerial attack

Israel is weighing its response to an Iranian attack carried out by an estimated 300 drones and missiles Saturday, Iran’s first direct strike against Israel ever and a move that could lead to open warfare between the two nations.

The attack caused relatively minor damage, officials said. About 99% of the Iranian weapons were shot down with the help of the U.S., U.K. and Jordan, according to Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military and a defense force post on Instagram.

The attack is an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran and could spark a military escalation that could involve the U.S. and other countries and alter the  Israel-Hamas war  in the  Gaza Strip .

U.S. and European military forces intercepted more than 80 uncrewed one-way attack aerial vehicles and at least six ballistic missiles, the U.S. Central Command said Sunday.

In the Mediterranean Sea, two U.S. guided-missile destroyers, the USS Carney and the USS Arleigh Burke , shot down four to six ballistic missiles , the U.S. Naval Institute reported Sunday.

Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them.  

F-15E Strike Eagles from two squadrons shot down about 70 attack drones , according to The Washington Post.

Most of the drones and missile were fired from inside Iran. A few penetrated Israeli defenses, seriously injuring a 10-year-old girl with shrapnel and causing minor damage to a military base, Israeli officials said.

Did Israel bomb the Iranian Embassy in Syria?

Iran said it launched the attack in retaliation for an airstrike by Israeli warplanes on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on April 1. Iran said seven of its military advisers, including three senior commanders, were killed in the attack. Israel never confirmed it was behind the attack.

Iran said Sunday that it would not retaliate further unless Israel counterattacked.

What weapons did Iran use?

According to Israeli officials, aerial weapons used in the attack included:

• 170 Shahed-136 drones
• 120 ballistic missiles
• 30 cruise missiles

Ballistic missiles are powered by one or more rockets that lift the missile into the atmosphere on an arching trajectory . The rockets then shut down and the unpowered missile descends to its target.

Cruise missiles are powered by jet engines. They can be launched from the ground, air or sea. The missiles can fly very low and are difficult to detect.

Cruise missiles are self-guiding but can be controlled by remote operators with cameras.

How the Iranian attack unfolded

The attack started at about 3:30 p.m Eastern time, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War . It consisted of at least three waves over several hours.

Drones were launched first; ballistic missiles were fired about an hour later so they would strike Israel at about the same time, according to a statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps that was reported by the BBC.

The Defense Department said U.S. forces from undisclosed bases in the region intercepted dozens of missiles and drones launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Military forces from the U.S., U.K., Jordan and Israel began intercepting drones and missiles outside Israeli airspace between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern, the war study institute said.

Israeli defense systems helped thwart the attack

Israel's Iron Dome and Arrow 3 systems were credited with shooting down most of the drones and missiles from Iran.

The Iron Dome is a mobile all-weather missile defense system, designed to detect and shoot down short-range rockets fired into Israel. It’s also used against enemy artillery and drones.

How the Iron Dome system works:

Iron Dome can detect and engage rockets up to 40 miles away. Each of its 10 batteries can protect a 58-square-mile area.

It’s a portable system, towed by trucks. The batteries are units with three main elements:

• ELM 2084 Multimission Radar (MMR):  Radar that detects incoming threats from Palestinian territories and Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon.
• Battle management and weapon control system (BMC):  A computer that tracks a rocket’s trajectory and calculates whether it will hit an inhabited area. Rockets presenting the greatest threat are targeted. Rockets that will fall into uninhabited regions are ignored.
• Tamir missiles and launchers:  Each battery has three to four launchers, each with up to 20 Tamirs. The control system launches a missile that will intercept and destroy the incoming rocket.

Work on the Iron Dome began in 2007. It became operational in March 2011 and has been upgraded over the years. Its success rate has  exceeded 90% , says its manufacturer, Raytheon says.

Iron Dome is designed as protection against rockets at low altitudes. It's part of Israel's three-tiered air defense system that includes:

◾   David's Sling :  Defense against short-range ballistic missiles, large-caliber rockets and cruise missiles.

◾ Arrow-3 :  Defense against medium-range ballistic missiles.

Israel also uses U.S. Patriot missiles to defend itself from enemy aircraft and drones.

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; U.S. Department of Defense; Institute for the Study of War ; Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation; U.S. Naval Institute

Campus anti-war protesters dig in from New York to California as universities and police take action

NEW YORK (AP) - From New York to California, students protesting the Israel-Hamas war slept in tents at college campuses, as some universities moved to shut down encampments and arrested dozens of demonstrators after reports of antisemitic activity.

With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say enable the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

At Columbia University in New York City, where early protests sparked pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country, students and administrators have engaged in negotiations, the university said in a statement Saturday night.

“Dialogue between university officials and student organizers is ongoing. We want to be clear: There is no truth to claims of an impending lockdown or evictions on campus,” the Columbia administration’s statement said.

Though the university repeatedly set and then pushed back deadlines for the removal of the encampment, the school sent an email to students saying that bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive.

Decisions to call in law enforcement, leading to hundreds of arrests nationwide, have prompted school faculty members at universities in California, Georgia and Texas to initiate or pass votes of no confidence in their leadership. They are largely symbolic rebukes, without the power to remove their presidents.

Washington University in St. Louis locked some campus buildings and arrested protesters Saturday. The St. Louis Police Department said in a social media post that it assisted campus police, although city officers did not make any arrests.

The Riverfront Times, a St. Louis weekly newspaper, reported more than 80 people were arrested during the protest that began in public areas before moving to the campus in the afternoon. Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, said in a social media post that she was present and the protest remained calm “until the police came in like an ambush.”

Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein said in a social media post that she and two of her campaign managers were among those arrested on the Washington University campus.

The University of Southern California said on Saturday it had temporarily closed its University Park Campus to nonresidents, without providing details of the closure or possible enforcement measures.

Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications, said in a statement that USC property was vandalized by members of a group “that has continued to illegally camp on our campus,” as well as disrupting operations and harrassing students and others.

Students declined numerous attempts by university President Carol Folt to meet, and the administration hopes for “a more reasonable response Sunday before we are forced to take further action,” Curran said.

“While the university fully supports freedom of expression, these acts of vandalism and harassment are absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Curran said.

In Boston, police in riot gear cleared an encampment on the campus of Northeastern University on Saturday. Massachusetts State Police said about 102 protesters were arrested and will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. Protesters said they were given about 15 minutes to disperse before being arrested.

As workers pulled down tents and bagged up the debris from the encampment, several dozen people across from the encampment chanted, “Let the Kids Go,” and slogans against the war in Gaza. They also booed as police cars passed and taunted the officers who stood guard.

Northeastern said in a statement that the demonstration, which began two days ago, had become “infiltrated by professional organizers” with no affiliation to the university and antisemitic slurs, including “kill the Jews,” had been used.

“We cannot tolerate this kind of hate on our campus,” the statement posted on social media said.

The Huskies for a Free Palestine student group disputed the university’s account, saying in a statement that counterprotesters were to blame for the slurs and no student protesters “repeated the disgusting hate speech.”

Students at the Boston protest said a counterprotester attempted to instigate hate speech but insisted their event was peaceful and, like many across the country, was aimed at drawing attention to what they described as the “genocide” in Gaza and their university’s complicity in the war.

The president of nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in a statement Saturday that an encampment there had become a “potential magnet for disruptive outside protesters” and was taking hundreds of staff hours to keep safe.

“We have a responsibility to the entire MIT community — and it is not possible to safely sustain this level of effort,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said. “We are open to further discussion about the means of ending the encampment. But this particular form of expression needs to end soon.”

Indiana University campus officers and state police arrested 23 people Saturday at an encampment on the school’s Bloomington campus. Tents and canopies were erected Friday at Dunn Meadow in violation of school policy, university police said in a release. Group members were detained after refusing to remove the structures with charges ranging from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement, police said.

Arizona State University said 69 people were arrested early Saturday on suspicion of criminal trespassing for setting up an unauthorized encampment on a lawn on its Tempe campus. The protesters were given chances to leave and those who refused were arrested.

“While the university will continue to be an environment that embraces freedom of speech, ASU’s first priority is to create a safe and secure environment that supports teaching and learning,” the university said in a statement.

The tensions have piled pressure on school officials, who are scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies near.

USC drew criticism after refusing to allow the valedictorian, who has publicly supported Palestinians, to make a commencement speech. Administrators then scrapped the keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu. The school on Thursday announced the cancellation of its main graduation event, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested by police in riot gear.

Folt, the university president, made her first public statement late Friday, addressing the controversies as “incredibly difficult for all of us.”

“No one wants to have people arrested on their campus. Ever. But, when long-standing safety policies are flagrantly violated, buildings vandalized, Department of Public Safety directives repeatedly ignored, threatening language shouted, people assaulted, and access to critical academic buildings blocked, we must act immediately to protect our community,” Folt said.

The nationwide campus protests began in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel launched an offensive in Gaza. In the ensuing war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while critics of Israel say it uses such allegations to silence opponents. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Perry reported from Meredith, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists in various locations contributed, including Jacques Billeaud, Aaron Morrison, Stefanie Dazio, Kathy McCormack, Jim Vertuno, Acacia Coronado, Sudhin Thanawala, Jeff Amy, Jeff Martin, Mike Stewart, Collin Binkley, Carolyn Thompson, Jake Offenhartz, Jesse Bedayn and Sophia Tareen.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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What Iran’s attack on Israel revealed about its weapons arsenal

Iran’s first direct attack on Israel overnight Saturday demonstrated the country’s military might and the advances of its domestic weapons program, analysts said, while also revealing the limitations of its arsenal.

With more than 300 drones and missiles launched in a layered onslaught, it was Iran’s largest-ever conventional show of force . That it inflicted only minimal damage was due in part to the choreographed nature of the attack — giving Israel and the United States ample time to prepare air defense systems — but may also be attributed to shortcomings in its medium- and long-range capabilities.

“The operation showed that our armed forces are ready,” Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi told crowds gathered Wednesday in Tehran to mark Army Day. Parades in the Iranian capital featured many of the same munitions used in the attack on Israel.

What Iran used against Israel

110 ballistic

Iranian drones

These drones can deliver small payloads of explosives in self-detonating attacks.

Length: 11.5 ft.

Width: 8 ft.

Max. take off weight: 440 lb.

Max. speed: 115 mph

Range: About 1,100 - 1,500 miles

Its nose contains a warhead and can be equipped with a camera.

Length: 8 ft.

Width: 7 ft.

Max. take off weight: 300 lb.

The Shahed-131 is an earlier version of Shahed-136 with a similar principle of operation. The layout and aerodynamics are also identical.

Ballistic missiles

KHEIBAR SHEKAN

The Kheibar Shekan MRBM is a solid-propellant ballistic missile designed by the IRGC.

Length: 34 ft.

Diameter: 2.6 ft.

Max. range: 900 miles

Warhead weight: 1,100 lb.

Introduction: 2022

The Emad MRBM is an Iranian-designed, liquid-fuel ballistic missile based on Shahab-3.

Length: 54 ft.

Diameter: 4.1 ft.

Max. range: 1,056 miles

Warhead weight: 1,650 lb.

Introduction: 2015

The Ghadr-1 MRBM seems to be an improved variant of the Shahab-3A. It is also referred to as the Ghadr-101 and the Ghadr-110.

Max. range: 1,211 miles

Warhead weight: 1,760 lb.

Introduction: 2007

Cruise missile

Max. range: 1,025 miles

Introduction: 2023

What Iran did not use

The Sejjil-1 Iranian MRBM is a two-stage, solid-propellant, surface-to-surface missile.

Length: 60 ft

Max. range: 1,243 miles

Warhead weight: 1,540 lb.

Introduction: 2011

The Shahab-3 is a MRBM developed by Iran and based on the North Korean Nodong-1.

Diameter: 4.1 or 4.5 ft.

Max. range: 808 miles

Warhead: Single or multiple

with 5 warheads of 617 lb.

Introduction: 2003

Sources: OE Data Integration Network (ODIN),

CSIS Missile Defense Project

120 ballistic

120 ballistic missiles

30 cruise missiles

Overhead view

1,211 miles

1,056 miles

Max. range:

Warhead weight:

Introduction:

Sources: OE Data Integration Network (ODIN), CSIS Missile Defense Project

Raisi hailed the attack as a resounding “success,” but was also quick to qualify the strikes as “limited” and “not comprehensive.”

“If it was supposed to be a large-scale action, nothing would have been left of the Zionist regime,” he said. And if Israel retaliates, Raisi pledged, “they will be dealt with fiercely and severely.”

Yet after analyzing the munitions used in Saturday’s assault and the success of regional defense systems, researchers say it’s unclear how Iran could inflict greater damage on Israel through conventional military means.

“Iran basically threw everything it had that could reach Israel’s territory,” said John Krzyzaniak, a researcher who studies Iran’s missile programs at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. Like other analysts interviewed for this story, he has spent the past several days studying launch videos, imagery of debris and interception information to identify the Iranian munitions.

His conclusion is that Tehran “used some of every system they have.” And experts said it made sense that the Sejjil-1 and Shahab-3 missiles were excluded from the attack.

Shahab-3 “wasn’t used because it’s so old,” said Fabian Hinz, an Iran analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Berlin. “The Sejjil is a bit of a mysterious missile,” he said, adding that Iran has “used it very, very little during maneuvers.”

Other analysts noted the Sejjil was expensive to produce and may no longer be in production.

The quantity of munitions used also provides new insights into Iran’s capabilities. The deployment of over 100 ballistic missiles in a single wave suggests that previous estimates that Iran has about 3,000 ballistic missiles stockpiled are probably accurate, and could even be on the low end.

“If this is just round one of an unknown number of rounds to come, you wouldn’t fire a significant fraction of what you have just in the first round,” Krzyzaniak said.

The firing of over 100 ballistic missiles in the space of a few minutes suggests Iran has at least 100 launchers, he added — a new data point for researchers.

“This shows that Iran has really faced no limitation in domestically producing missiles and launchers,” he said.

Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, the largest of any country in the Middle East, is almost entirely homegrown. In recent years Iran has demonstrated the ability to upgrade some systems, improving their range and precision.

The spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said the munitions used in the strikes against Israel only represented “a fraction of” the country’s military’s might, according to a statement published on state-run media.

The evolution of Iran’s

missile program

In the mid-1980s, Tehran acquired Scud missiles from Libya, Syria and North Korea and also began adapting the technology for their own missile variants. During the eight-year war with Iraq, Tehran countered primarily with Scud B missiles, which have a range of 185 miles.

Shahab-1 , 186 miles

1994 to 2001

Iran developed its own version of the Scud B, the Shahab-1, and from 1994 to 2001 fired it at bases in Iraq used by the opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq.

A new generation of missiles

After 16 years without firing new missiles, Iran showed its technological advances in 2017 striking on an ISIS command center with 6 Zolfaghars with a range of 430 miles. In early 2024, it launched strikes against Islamic State targets in northwest Syria using Kheibar Shekan missiles that travelled 745 miles from Iran to Syria.

Fahteh 110 , 181 miles

Fahteh 313 , 310 miles

Zolfaghar , 435 miles

Qiam 1 , 497 miles

Kheibar Shekan , 900 miles

IRAN ATTACKS

Against ISIS

6 ballistic missiles

Deir ez-Zor, Syria

Against Kurdish dissidents

7 ballistic missiles

Abu Kamal, Syria

Against Oil fields and facilities

18 drones + 7 cruise missiles

Abqaiq, S. Arabia

Khurais, S. Arabia

3 cruise missiles

Against U.S. forces

Erbil, Iraq

1 ballistic missile

Ain Al Asad, Iraq

15 to 22 ballistic missiles

Against “Israeli strategic centers”

At least 10 ballistic missiles

73 launches + at least 20 drones

and suicide drones

Sulaimaniyah,

Against IS targets

Harem, Syria

Israeli “spy headquarters”

Against Jaish ul Adl

Balochistan,

Missiles and drones

Against Israel

120 ballistic missiles,

170 drones,

Sources: United States Institute of Peace, CSIS, IDF

The evolution of Iran’s missile program

IRAN TARGETS

KNOWN MISSILE

Zolfaghars,

Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia

Khurais, Saudi Arabia

Zolfaghars and

potentially

Ballistic missiles and suicide drones

Sulaimaniyah, Iraq

Kheibar Shekan

Balochistan, Pakistan

Missiles and drones against Jaish ul Adl

170 drones, 30 cruise missiles

Before the attack on Israel, Iran’s most significant use of ballistic missiles was in 2020, after a U.S. drone attack killed the powerful Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two U.S. military bases in Iraq, one in the country’s west and one in the north. While there were no fatalities, dozens of U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries.

Iran also used ballistic missiles in strikes this year on Pakistan, Syria and Iraq.

Iranian ballistic

missile ranges

1,240 miles

Locations of Iranian

missile strikes

INDIAN OCEAN

But the attack on Israel suggests that many of Iran’s munitions are of low quality. Israel’s military said 99 percent of the missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted or failed to launch.

“We saw that accuracy and precision are a work in progress,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who has written extensively about Iran’s missile program. “These weapons alone won’t win a war for Iran.”

Iranian drones made up the first wave of the attack. Cheap, effective and easy to produce, Iranian drones have been used in attacks across the Middle East for years. Iran has also supplied drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine , where they have been deadly.

During the attack on Israel, the slow-moving drones were probably deployed to occupy air defenses and allow more advanced munitions to get through. All the drones were shot down before entering Israeli airspace, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Ali Hamie, a Lebanese military analyst, said Iran had probably gleaned important lessons about Israel’s aerial defenses. Commentators on Iranian state television have made similar points.

“It could be a testing attack,” Hamie said, “and the Iranians got what they want. Making it past the air defenses is not only a symbolic victory, but real victory.”

One of the few missiles to make it through the interceptors hit an Israeli air base in the Negev desert. Images of the strike were run on loop on many state-run Iranian broadcasters in the days after the attack. Israel characterized the damage as minor.

General location of missile strikes

that reached the ground.

Beirut—

Populated areas

Haifa—

Tel Aviv—

—Amman

—Jerusalem

An emad missile

was found here.

The barrage of

missiles from Iran

included targeting

the Nevatim

General location of

missile strikes that

reached the ground.

Mediterranean

General location of missile

strikes that reached the

In addition to analyzing Israel’s air defenses, Tehran will probably also be studying the problems with its missile systems that reportedly led to failures at launch and in flight, according to Afshon Ostovar, a professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in California.

“Another attack could be more effective,” he said. But ultimately the kind of approach demonstrated in Saturday’s attack “is not really sustainable over a long-term conflict.”

Even if Iran changed the tempo of attacks and adjusted the munitions used, “they would still have to launch quite a lot of stuff for just a few [munitions] to get through,” he said.

Some Iranian officials have suggested they have held back their most dangerous weapons.

“We are prepared to use weapons we have never used before. We have plans for every scenario,” said Abolfazl Amoui, a parliamentary national security spokesman, in an interview with Lebanese broadcaster Mayadeen.

But analysts say it’s unlikely that any one type of munition could be a game changer. Rather, it’s more likely Iran would use the same kinds of munitions in a future attack, but in a different way: giving less warning, or launching the barrage in concert with allied militant groups in the region. The country’s proxy forces, from Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, played little role in Saturday’s assault.

As Israel mulls its response , Tehran has warned that a counterattack would come in “a matter of seconds.”

“Iran will not wait for another 12 days to respond,” Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said Monday.

While the United States and Israel have celebrated the thwarting of Saturday’s attack, analysts are urging humility.

“The number of munitions it took to repel the attack was enormous, costly and could be difficult to replicate,” said Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Israel may have gotten lucky and Iran may have gotten very unlucky.”

William Neff and Suzan Haidamous contributed to this report.

Israel-Gaza war

The Israel-Gaza war has gone on for six months, and tensions have spilled into the surrounding region .

The war: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel that included the taking of civilian hostages at a music festival . (See photos and videos of how the deadly assault unfolded ). Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement in the region since Israel’s creation in 1948 .

Gaza crisis: In the Gaza Strip, Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars , killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into “ famine-like conditions. ” For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave .

U.S. involvement: Despite tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians , including President Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons , funds aid packages , and has vetoed or abstained from the United Nations’ cease-fire resolutions.

History: The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 . Read more on the history of the Gaza Strip .

• After Israeli strike in Iran, both sides appear to downplay incident April 19, 2024 After Israeli strike in Iran, both sides appear to downplay incident April 19, 2024
• Homes burned, animals killed: Palestinians describe Israeli settler rampage April 16, 2024 Homes burned, animals killed: Palestinians describe Israeli settler rampage April 16, 2024
• Six months of the Israel-Gaza war: A timeline of key moments April 7, 2024 Six months of the Israel-Gaza war: A timeline of key moments April 7, 2024

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Miscalculation Led to Escalation in Clash Between Israel and Iran

Israeli officials say they didn’t see a strike on a high-level Iranian target in Syria as a provocation, and did not give Washington a heads-up about it until right before it happened.

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By Ronen Bergman ,  Farnaz Fassihi ,  Eric Schmitt ,  Adam Entous and Richard Pérez-Peña

Ronen Bergman reported from Tel Aviv, Farnaz Fassihi and Richard Pérez-Peña from New York, and Eric Schmitt and Adam Entous from Washington.

Follow live updates on Israeli military strikes in Iran.

Israel was mere moments away from an airstrike on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian commanders at Iran’s embassy complex in Syria when it told the United States what was about to happen.

Israel’s closest ally had just been caught off guard.

Aides quickly alerted Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser; Jon Finer, the deputy national security adviser; Brett McGurk, Mr. Biden’s Middle East coordinator; and others, who saw that the strike could have serious consequences, a U.S. official said. Publicly, U.S. officials voiced support for Israel, but privately, they expressed anger that it would take such aggressive action against Iran without consulting Washington.

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. On Saturday, Iran launched a retaliatory barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, an unexpectedly large-scale response, if one that did minimal damage.

The events made clear that the unwritten rules of engagement in the long-simmering conflict between Israel and Iran have changed drastically in recent months, making it harder than ever for each side to gauge the other’s intentions and reactions.

Since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, an Iranian ally, and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip, there has been escalation after escalation and miscalculation after miscalculation, raising fears of a retribution cycle that could potentially become an all-out war.

Even after it became clear that Iran would retaliate, U.S. and Israeli officials initially thought the scale of the response would be fairly limited, before scrambling to revise their assessment again and again. Now the focus is on what Israel will do next — and how Iran might respond.

“We are in a situation where basically everybody can claim victory,” said Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group. “Iran can say that it took revenge, Israel can say it defeated the Iranian attack and the United States can say it successfully deterred Iran and defended Israel.”

But Mr. Vaez said: “If we get into another round of tit for tat, it can easily spiral out of control, not just for Iran and Israel, but for the rest of the region and the entire world.”

This account of these tense weeks is gleaned from interviews with U.S. officials, as well as officials from Israel, Iran and other Middle Eastern states. All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters they were not authorized to reveal publicly.

Planning for the Israeli strike in Syria started two months earlier, two Israeli officials said. The target was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the commander for Syria and Lebanon of Iran’s elite Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

About a week beforehand, on March 22, the Israeli war cabinet approved the operation, according to internal Israeli defense records that summarized preparations for the strike and were viewed by The New York Times. The Israeli military did not comment on the internal assessment.

Those records also outlined the range of responses from Iran that the Israeli government expected, among them small-scale attacks by proxies and a small-scale attack from Iran. None of the assessments predicted the ferocity of the Iranian response that actually occurred.

From the day of the strike, Iran vowed retaliation , both publicly and through diplomatic channels. But it also sent messages privately that it did not want outright war with Israel — and even less so with the United States — and it waited 12 days to attack.

American officials found themselves in an odd and uncomfortable position: They had been kept in the dark about an important action by a close ally, Israel, even as Iran, a longtime adversary, telegraphed its intentions well in advance. The United States and its allies have spent weeks engaged in intensive diplomacy, trying to tamp down first the expected Iranian counterattack, and now the temptation for Israel to reply in kind.

When it came this past Saturday night, Iran’s show of force was significant, but Israel, the United States and other allies intercepted nearly all of the missiles and drones. The few that reached their targets had little effect. Iranian officials say the attack was designed to inflict limited damage.

U.S. officials have been telling Israeli leaders to see their successful defense as a victory, suggesting that little or no further reply is needed. But despite international calls for de-escalation , Israeli officials argue that Iran’s attack requires yet another response, which Iran says it would answer with still more force, making the situation more volatile.

“The question now is how does Israel respond in a way to prevent Iran from rewriting the rules of the game without provoking a new cycle of state-on-state violence,” said Dana Stroul, a former top Middle East policy official at the Pentagon who is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In fact, Israeli leaders came close to ordering widespread strikes in Iran on the night Iran attacked, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli officials say the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which caught them by surprise, changed the ground rules of regional conflict. To its enemies, it was Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza that did that, and it led to increased rocket fire by Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon. That in turn drew heavy fire from Israel.

The Israeli airstrike in Damascus killed seven Iranian officers, three of them generals, including Mr. Zahedi. In the past, Israel had repeatedly killed Iranian fighters, commanders and nuclear scientists, but no single strike had wiped out so much of Iran’s military leadership.

By March, the relationship between the Biden administration and Israel had grown increasingly fraught, as Washington criticized the Israeli assault in Gaza as needlessly deadly and destructive — “over the top,” as President Biden put it.

Then came the Israeli strike in Damascus. Not only did the Israelis wait until the last minute to give word of it to the United States, but when they did so, it was a relatively low-level notification, U.S. officials said. Nor was there any indication how sensitive the target would be.

The Israelis later acknowledged that they had badly misjudged the consequences of the strike, U.S. officials and an Israeli official said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III complained directly to Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a call on April 3, U.S. officials said, confirming an earlier report by The Washington Post. Mr. Austin said that the attack put U.S. forces in the region at risk, and that the lack of warning had left no time to ratchet up their defenses. Mr. Gallant had no immediate comment.

The vulnerability of thousands of U.S. troops deployed in the Middle East became all too clear earlier in the Israel-Hamas war, when Iranian-backed militias fired on them repeatedly, killing three and injuring more than 100. Those attacks stopped in early February only after retaliation by the United States and ominous warnings to Iran.

The night of the Damascus strike, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran to convey Iran’s outrage to Washington, along with the message that it viewed the United States, Israel’s primary backer, as accountable for the attack.

Using Oman, Turkey and Switzerland as intermediaries — Iran and the United States do not have formal diplomatic relations — the United States made clear to Iran that it had not been involved and that it did not want war.

The Iranian government went on an unusually open and broad diplomatic campaign, spreading the word that it saw the attack as a violation of its sovereignty that required retaliation.

The government publicized that it was exchanging messages with the United States and that Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian was speaking with representatives of countries in the region, high-level European officials and leaders of the United Nations.

On April 7, Mr. Abdollahian met in Muscat, Oman, with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi. Oman is one of the main intermediaries between Tehran and the West. The Iranian message at that meeting, according to a diplomat briefed on it, was that Iran had to strike back but that it would keep its attack contained, and that it was not seeking a regional war.

Before and after that meeting there was a whirlwind of phone calls between Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken; Mr. Biden; Mr. Austin; Mr. Sullivan; their counterparts in Israel, China, India and Iraq; NATO allies; and others, officials said.

The Biden administration did not think it could dissuade Iran from attacking at all, a U.S. official said, but hoped to limit the scale .

Mr. Blinken talked to senior Israeli cabinet members, assuring them that the United States would help defend against an Iranian attack, and urging them not to mount a rash counterstrike without weighing all considerations.

American and Israeli intelligence agencies worked closely together, with help from Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries, to learn what they could about Iran’s intentions.

Intermediaries and allies told the United States and Israel that Iran planned to hit military sites and not civilian targets, U.S. and Israeli officials said.

Iran’s message was that it would temper its attack so as not to elicit an Israeli counterstrike, Israeli and Iranian officials said. But in reality, the Israelis said, Iran was expanding its attack plans, and wanted at least some of its weapons to penetrate Israel’s defenses.

Initially, Israel’s military and intelligence services expected Iran to launch no more than 10 surface-to-surface missiles at Israel, an attack they code-named “Late Foliage.” By the middle of last week, they realized Iran had something much bigger in mind, and the Israelis increased their estimate to 60 to 70 surface-to-surface missiles. Even that turned out to be too low.

On Wednesday, Mr. Biden publicly reinforced what he and his aides had repeatedly said: Despite friction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the American commitment to defending Israel from attacks was “ ironclad .”

Still, the Biden administration also redoubled its diplomatic efforts to head off a confrontation, and Iranian officials said their government fielded calls last week urging restraint from countries across Asia, Europe and Africa — an effort they described as frantic.

Turkey, relaying an Iranian message, told the United States that Iran’s attack would be proportionate to the Damascus strike, according to a Turkish diplomatic source. Mr. Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, told state television the day after the Iranian barrage that Iran had given its neighbors 72 hours’ notice of the attack, though the specifics of that warning are unclear.

Israeli officials say that, thanks in part to international cooperation, they had a good idea in advance of Iran’s targets and weapons. The Israel Defense Forces evacuated families from some air bases and moved aircraft out of harm’s way.

The U.S. military coordinated aerial defense efforts with Israeli, British and French forces as well as — crucially — those of Jordan, which lies between Iran and Israel. The United States and Israel had been working quietly for years with friendly Arab countries to develop a regional air defense system with shared detection and alerts. The effort picked up steam after several drone attacks against Saudi Arabian oil facilities in 2019.

News of the first wave of the Iranian attack on Saturday, consisting of 185 relatively slow drones, spread worldwide hours before any of them reached Israel. The three dozen cruise missiles Iran launched later were much faster, but the biggest challenge was Iran’s ballistic missiles, which traveled several times as fast as the speed of sound. Iran fired 110 of them, posing the first major test of Israel’s anti-ballistic missile defense system.

American, British, French, Israeli and Jordanian warplanes and air defense systems shot down most of the drones and missiles before they reached Israel. Only 75 entered Israeli airspace, where most of those were shot down, too, Israeli officials said. The attack did only minor damage to one air base, and only one serious injury was reported.

Throughout the strike, Iran’s Foreign Ministry and the Revolutionary Guards kept open a hotline to Oman’s government, to pass messages back and forth with the United States, Iranian officials said.

At 3 a.m., the Swiss ambassador in Tehran was summoned again — not to the Foreign Ministry, the usual practice, but to a Revolutionary Guards base, according to an Iranian and a U.S. official. She was asked to convey a message that the United States should stay out of the fight, and that if Israel retaliated, Iran would strike again, harder and without warning.

Iran cast its barrage against Israel as a measured, justified act that should not lead to escalation.

“We carried out a limited operation, at the same level and proportion to the evil actions of the Zionist regime,” Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, said on state television. “These operations could have been a lot larger.”

Mr. Biden told Mr. Netanyahu in a call that Israel’s successful defense had demonstrated its technical superiority, according to John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

“The president urged the prime minister to think about what that success says all by itself to the rest of the region,” Mr. Kirby said on Monday.

But in interviews, Israeli officials described the attack in far more dire terms, in part because of its sheer scale. They emphasized that this was a sovereign nation, from its own soil, attacking Israel directly, and not through proxies abroad.

Israel’s war cabinet had ordered the military to draw up plans for a wide-ranging set of strikes against targets in Iran in the event of a large-scale Iranian attack. After news came of the Iranian launches on Saturday, some leaders argued behind closed doors that Israel should retaliate immediately.

Waiting, they said, would allow international pressure for Israeli restraint to build, and could let Iran think that it had set new ground rules for the conflict, which Israel considered unacceptable. Among the leaders making that argument, according to three Israeli officials, were Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, former military chiefs of staff who were in the Parliamentary opposition to Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing government and are usually considered less hawkish, but who joined the war cabinet last fall.

The Israeli Air Force was ready to carry out the order, but it never came. On Saturday night, after Mr. Netanyahu spoke with Mr. Biden, and because the damage was limited, the war cabinet postponed a decision, and more postponements followed.

The world is still waiting to see what Israel will do.

Reporting was contributed by Sheera Frenkel , Isabel Kershner , Michael Crowley , Vivian Nereim and Safak Timur .

Ronen Bergman is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, based in Tel Aviv. His latest book is “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations,” published by Random House. More about Ronen Bergman

Farnaz Fassihi is the United Nations bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the organization, and also covers Iran and the shadow war between Iran and Israel. She is based in New York. More about Farnaz Fassihi

Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times, focusing on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism issues overseas, topics he has reported on for more than three decades. More about Eric Schmitt

Adam Entous is a Washington-based investigative correspondent and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Before joining the Washington bureau of The Times, he covered intelligence, national security and foreign policy for The New Yorker magazine, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. More about Adam Entous

Richard Pérez-Peña is an editor for international news at The Times, based in New York. More about Richard Pérez-Peña