Late Friday night, Israel struck Iranian military targets, retaliating after months of attacks from the Islamic nation. How are you praying? Please post your prayer in the comments.

From The New York Post. Israel launched airstrikes at military targets in Iran early Saturday in retaliation for Tehran’s ballistic barrage of 200 rockets targeting the Jewish state earlier this month, the Israeli military confirmed.

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Multiple explosions were reported near Tehran, Iran’s capital, and the nearby city of Karaj as Israel’s initial strikes appeared to have targeted a weapons depot, along with a barracks or office, senior Arab officials told NBC News. …

The Israel Defense Forces fired “precise strikes” on military targets in Iran “in response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

“Like every other sovereign country in the world, the State of Israel has the right and the duty to respond. We will do whatever necessary to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel,” Hagari added. …

Israeli officials confirmed the Jewish state is focused on striking military targets, with no plans in place to target any Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields, NBC News reported. …

Meanwhile, around the same time Israel launched its attack on Iran, several military sites in southern and central Syria were hit, leaving Syrian air defenses reportedly intercepting “hostile targets” in the sky near Damascus, according to local media.

Syrian state media, according to the Times of Israel, said the Jewish state was responsible for the attack on its soil. But Israel made no mention of any military action in Syria as of early Saturday. …

The Israel Defense Forces had pledged a “serious and significant” response to Iran’s attack, with Friday night’s strike serving as a rare and open direct assault on the Islamic Republic. …

From The Jerusalem Post. The Israel Air Force struck a dozen targets in Iran that were used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles as part of its retaliatory military action against the Islamic Republic, severely harming Tehran’s ability to replenish its inventory, it was reported on Saturday night.

The targets struck were sophisticated equipment that Iran could not produce on its own and had to be purchased from China, Walla reported. The targets were a critical component of Iran’s ballistic missile program, Walla cited three anonymous Israeli sources as saying.

An American researcher said an Israeli airstrike on Saturday hit a building that was part of Iran’s defunct nuclear weapons development program, and he and another researcher said facilities used to mix solid fuel for missiles also were struck.

The assessments based on commercial satellite imagery were reached separately by David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector, and Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at CNA, a Washington think tank. …

In posts on X, Albright said commercial satellite imagery showed that Israel hit a building in Parchin called Taleghan 2 that was used for testing activities during the Amad Plan, Iran’s defunct nuclear weapons development program.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and US intelligence say Iran shuttered the program in 2003. Iran denies pursuing nuclear weapons.

Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security research group, was given access to the program’s files for a book after they were stolen from Tehran by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency in 2018.

On X, he said the archives revealed that Iran kept important test equipment in Taleghan 2.

Iran may have removed key materials before the airstrike, he said, but “even if no equipment remained inside” the building would have provided “intrinsic value” for future nuclear weapons-related activities. …

Eveleth said an image of Parchin from Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm, showed that Israel destroyed three ballistic missile solid fuel mixing buildings and a warehouse in the sprawling complex.

Planet Labs imagery also showed that an Israeli strike destroyed two buildings in the Khojir complex where solid fuel for ballistic missiles was mixed, he said.

The buildings were enclosed by high dirt berms, according to the image reviewed by Reuters. Such structures are associated with missile production and are designed to stop a blast in one building from detonating combustible materials in nearby structures.

“Israel says they targeted buildings housing solid-fuel mixers,” Eveleth said. “These industrial mixers are hard to make and export-controlled. Iran imported many over the years at great expense, and will likely have a hard time replacing them.”

With a limited operation, he said, Israel may have struck a significant blow against Iran’s ability to mass-produce missiles and made it more difficult for any future Iranian missile attack to pierce Israel’s missile defenses. …

The Bible commands us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). Share your prayers and scriptures for Israel in the comments.

(Excerpts from The New York Post and The Jerusalem Post. Photo Credit: Amit Agronov / IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86005571)