1991 Iraqi missile attacks against Israel
On 17 January 1991, Iraq initiated a missile campaign against Israel. Over the course of the next month, approximately 42 Scud missiles were fired into Israeli territory, primarily at the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The missile attacks began on the same day as the Gulf War aerial bombardment campaign, which was targeting military infrastructure within Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. As many Muslim-majority and Arab countries were actively contributing to the American-led military coalition, the Iraqi government had expected them to rescind their support if Israel responded to the missile campaign by attacking Iraq. However, Israel did not retaliate. This is due first to King Hussein of Jordan meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir two weeks prior, where Shamir had been persuaded to consider Jordan's stability and demands that the Israelis not violate Jordanian airspace; and second, from the United States, the Bush administration had also urged Israel through pressure and defense aid not to retaliate, in the interests of holding together the coalition. The coalition began a ground offensive against Iraq on 23 February 1991.
Iraqi missile attacks against Israel | |
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Part of the Gulf War and the Arab–Israeli conflict | |
American surface-to-air missiles (MIM-104 Patriot) launching to intercept incoming Iraqi ballistic missiles (al-Husayn) over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, 12 February 1991 | |
Location | |
Date | 17 January 1991 – 23 February 1991 (1 month and 6 days) |
Outcome | Iraq fails to provoke Israeli retaliation |
Casualties |
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