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Israeli Ministers told less than 300 would die in Iran attack
In the event of an Iranian attack on Israel, less than 300 people would be killed during three weeks of non-stop fighting on multiple fronts, according to estimates delivered to the security cabinet in a briefing. The assessment was made public by Channel 10 yesterday.
According to the estimates, described as a worst-case scenario, thousands of rockets and missiles would be launched toward Israel from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza as part of the Iranian attack. Missiles would also be launched at Israel from Iran, according to defence experts briefing the ministers, however, they said Tehran’s conventional missile capabilities are limited. The scenario took into account Israel’s defences as of 2012, with the Iron Dome rocket-defence system not yet fully deployed.
The estimates echoed comments made by Defence Minister Ehud Barak last year about a potential war with Iran. “Jerusalem does not want war”, he said in an interview with Israel Radio in November, but if a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities is unavoidable, fears of mass casualties are unfounded. “There’s no chance in such a situation for 500,000 killed, not 5,000 or even 500 killed,” Barak said.
According to Israeli defence officials, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas hold over 100,000 rockets and missiles. However, it is unclear if they would make their arsenals available to Tehran in the event of hostilities between Israel and Iran.