IDF: Israel Has Destroyed One-Third of Iran’s Missile Launchers

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) estimated Monday that it had destroyed one-third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers in less than four days of fighting, even if Iran was still capable of firing large barrages at Israel.

In a statement, IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that Israel had destroyed 120 of the regime’s estimated 360 missile launchers across Iran. Though the Israeli government estimates that Iran still has “thousands” of ballistic missiles, it is limited in its ability to use them by the number of launchers, as well as by daylight: the Iranian military prefers not to maneuver when its operations can be seen by Israel.

Iran was able to launch 65 missiles and dozens of drones at Israel overnight into Monday, most of which were intercepted, though there were four impacts that killed eight civilians. Iran has yet to hit a military target.

Israel anticipates that the Iranian missile threat will diminish over time, as the IDF eliminates the launchers and the Iranian military officials in the command structure.

Defrin also said that Israel had targeted twenty bases of the Quds Force, which operates Iran’s terror operations abroad, overnight. He confirmed that Israel has complete air superiority over Iran, and is able to operate continuously over Iranian skies, day and night.

Footage of Iranians fleeing the capital city of Tehran in massive traffic jams has been seen online for the past 24 hours, and is interpreted by many Israelis as a hopeful sign that the regime may be nearing collapse soon.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.