Israel claims unconvincingly it intercepted all Iran’s probing drone attack

The Israeli regime has claimed that it intercepted all of around 35 drones Iran fired earlier today in retaliation for this morning’s unprovoked US/Israel air and cyber attacks. Israeli station KAN, however, reported a strike in northern Israel, while so far unconfirmed reports suggest damage in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities.

However, Israel responded to June 2025’s highly successful Iranian missile attacks by banning media from reporting on massive damage inflicted by Iran’s bombardment, so Israel’s claims should be treated sceptically. Even more so given its ability today to hit heavily-defended US air and naval bases.

Indian news media do appear to be reporting major hits on Israeli cities. However, some appear to be re-using 2025 footage mixed with new — perhaps because of news restrictions in Israel. NDTV’s live feed appears to be among the more measured:

Some latest social media reports claim widespread impacts, but so far most of these are unverified. A member of Global Fact-Checking Network — a Russia-based network unsurprisingly attacked by western media — has published footage he says is on Israel’s attempted defence and successful strikes:

A series of Iranian missile attacks hit Israel, with big explosions in Tel Aviv and sirens plus blasts in Haifa. These strikes came after the US bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran responded by firing missiles at multiple Israeli cities. There are injuries and damage in both… pic.twitter.com/ZA0lGxOHhX

— Alexander Joseph S Babao🇵🇭 (@Josef_Alexandr) February 28, 2026

Overwhelming Israel’s air defences

It also appears that Iran’s focus today has been on hitting US air and radar facilities in the region, while doing little more than making Israel deplete its air defence resources. So far, reports indicate Iran has only used its cheap ‘Shahed‘ drones and other basic munitions against Israel, and only a few dozen. In the June 2025 12-day war, its tactics were to flood Israel’s defences with such weapons, then use its hypersonic missiles to inflict major damage. That is likely to escalate tonight.

Given the upgrades provided by China and Russia to Iran’s surveillance and targeting systems, there is no reason to expect such tactics to be anything but even more effective in 2026.

However, western readers should not expect to see proper reporting in the ‘mainstream’ media. Western authorities also appear to be moving to block access to Iranian and other media sites that are likely to report more frankly, in an attempt to keep western populations in the dark.

Featured image via the Canary