UNS/AFP :Iran launched more than 200 drones and missiles on Israel in an unprecedented attack late on Saturday, the Israeli army announced, “in response” to a deadly airstrike on its Damascus consular annexe earlier this month.
Iran’s proxies and allies also carried out coordinated attacks on Israeli positions as sirens sounded in many places and AFP correspondents heard blasts in the skies above Jerusalem early on Sunday.
Iran had repeatedly threatened to strike Israel in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike on its Damascus consular annexe and Washington had warned repeatedly in recent days that the reprisals were imminent.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) launched “extensive” retaliatory drone and missile strikes — as part of what they called the Operation ‘True Promise’ — against “certain targets” inside Israel.
Israel’s military said the drones, which Iraqi security sources said were seen flying over the country from Iran, would take hours to reach their targets, after the IRGC announced that Operation ‘True Promise’ was part of “punishment for Israeli crimes”.
“Iran launched UAVs from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement.
“We are working in close cooperation with the United States and our partners in the region in order to act against the launches and intercept them,” Rear Admiral Hagari said.
People in Jerusalem sought cover, as residents also stockpiled water. “As you can see it’s empty, everybody is running home,” said Eliyahu Barakat, a 49-year-old grocery shop owner in Jerusalem’s Mamilla neighbourhood.
US President Joe Biden vowed Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel after an urgent meeting with his top security officials on the spiralling crisis.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed a retaliatory drone and missile attack was under way against Israel in retaliation for the Damascus strike which killed seven Guards, two of them generals. The Guards said its ballistic missiles were fired almost an hour after the slower-moving drones.
Hundreds of Iranians gathered in Tehran’s Palestine Square, waving Iranian and Palestinian flags to celebrate the unprecedented military action against Israel.
The Israeli army said Iran had launched a “massive swarm of over 200 killer drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles”.
“So far, we’ve intercepted the vast majority of incoming missiles,” Hagari said. The army said it had scrambled dozens of fighter jets to intercept “all aerial threats”.
Iran’s allies in the region joined the attack with Yemen’s Houthi rebels also launching drones at Israel, according to security agency Ambrey, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement announcing rocket fire at Israeli positions in the annexed Golan Heights.
The official Irna news agency said the attack had dealt “heavy blows” to an air base in the Negev desert, but the Israeli army said there had only been minor damage.
Biden says US helped Israel down nearly all Iran attacks
The Iranian mission to the United Nations warned Washington to keep out of Iran’s conflict with Israel. “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the US MUST STAY AWAY!” it said.
It added that it hoped its action to punish the strike on its diplomatic mission would lead to no further escalation and “the matter can be deemed concluded”.
Despite Tehran’s warning not to get involved, US forces took part in shooting down drones aimed at Israel.
Biden said in a later statement that the United States had “helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles”, but appeared to guide the key US ally away from retaliating against Tehran by saying Israel had now shown its strength.
The US president said he had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reaffirm Washington’s “ironclad” support for Israel, after recent tense relations over Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks — sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” he said.
He said he had ordered US military aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the Middle East in recent days, as the likely threat following a presumed Israeli strike on Iranians in Damascus became clear.
“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” Biden said.
Biden said he would on Sunday “convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.” His comments hinted at the US balancing act between supporting its ally and wanting to deescalate tensions, amid fears of Washington being dragged into another Middle East war.
Early on Sunday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken with Biden.
