New Delhi: Israel's Ambassador to India Naor Gilon on Sunday, April 14, slammed Iran accusing it of acting as a financer and trainer of terrorist group Hamas which carried out the October 7 attack on Israel. On Iran firing hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles towards Israel, Naor gilon said that its nothing new and Tehran has just switched to a direct offensive from proxy war. 

In a  retaliatory attack, Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. A military spokesman said the launches numbered more than 300 but 99% of them were intercepted.

“Iran is the financer, trainer of Hamas...What happened yesterday is that Iran turned it from a war by proxy to a direct attack on Israel. They fired 331 different kinds of rockets, cruise missiles...with the help of some friends of our region, but mostly by the capability of Israeli defence forces and air force, we were able to intercept 99% of incoming rockets. There was unfortunately 1 casualty,” said Israel's Ambassador to India Naor Gilon. 

Gilon clarified that Israel doesn't want any regional escalation, asserting that it is compelled to respond if attacked. “We don't want a regional escalation, at the same time we cannot stand ideal when people attack us, we only retaliate...Since Iran attacked, they will meet our reaction sometime down the road,” said Gilon.

The Iranian attack, less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.