Israel hears booms and sirens after Iran launches over 200 missiles and drones in an unprecedented onslaught.

Booms and air raid sirens rang out throughout Israel early Sunday after Iran fired hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles in an unprecedented retribution mission that brought the Middle East closer to a regional conflict.

Despite decades of hostility dating back to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, this was Iran’s first outright military attack on Israel. The United Nations leader and others quickly condemned the attack, with France saying Iran “risks a potential military escalation,” Britain calling it “reckless,” and Germany saying Iran and its proxies “must stop it immediately.”

 

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, claimed Iran fired scores of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, the most majority of which were intercepted outside Israel’s borders. He said that airplanes intercepted more than ten cruise missiles beyond Israeli airspace.

Hagari stated that a few missiles fell in Israel. Rescuers reported a 7-year-old girl in a Bedouin Arab community was critically injured in southern Israel, most likely by a missile hit, although authorities were still examining the circumstances of her injury. Hagari stated that a missile struck an army base, causing minor damage but no injuries.

 

“A wide-scale attack by Iran is a major escalation,” he added. When asked if Israel will reply, Hagari simply stated that the army “does and will do whatever is required to protect the security of the state of Israel.” He stated that the event was not ended, as scores of Israeli jets remained in the skies.

According to a US defense official and two US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation, US forces shot down three of Iran’s drones that were flying into Israel. Israel’s military said its Arrow system, which takes down ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere, handled the majority of interceptions, with “strategic partners” involved.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he was chatting with US President Joe Biden early Sunday. No information about their conversation was immediately made public. In contrast to his scathing condemnation of Israel’s handling of the Gaza conflict, Biden has stated that his commitment to Israel’s security is “ironclad” in the face of Iranian threats.

Iran had sworn vengeance after an April 1 bombing in Syria killed two Iranian generals inside an Iranian consulate facility. Iran accused Israel of being behind the strike. Israel has not remarked on the situation.

Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month conflict with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war broke out after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border raid on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 more. According to local health professionals, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has left enormous devastation and killed over 33,000 Palestinians.

Almost soon after the conflict began, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon, launched attacks on Israel’s northern border. The two sides have been exchanging fire on a daily basis, while Iranian-backed organizations in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen have launched rockets and missiles against Israel.

 

 

In a statement broadcast late Saturday by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard admitted launching “dozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.”

In a subsequent statement, the Revolutionary Guard issued a direct warning to the US: “The terrorist US government is warned that any support or participation in harming Iran’s interests will be met with a decisive and regrettable response by Iran’s armed forces.”

IRNA further quoted an unknown official as suggesting that ballistic missiles were used in the strike. A ballistic missile travels on an arch trajectory, ascending into space before gravity pulls the weapon down at speeds several times faster than sound.

 

 

Israel has a multilayered air defense system that can intercept a wide range of threats, including long-range missiles, cruise missiles, drones, and short-range rockets. However, in a major attack including several drones and missiles, the chances of a strike passing through are increased.

Iran possesses a massive arsenal of drones and missiles. Iranian state television released online films purporting to depict delta-wing-style drones like the Iranian Shahed-136s long utilized by Russia in its battle against Ukraine. The drones fly slowly and carry bombs. Ukraine effectively targeted them with both surface-to-air missiles and ground fire.

 

 

Some Israelis saw the interceptions illuminate the night sky.

Air raid sirens were heard in several locations, including northern and southern Israel, the northern West Bank, and the Dead Sea near the Jordanian border.

Israel’s army ordered inhabitants in the Golan Heights, near the Syrian and Lebanese borders, as well as the southern cities of Nevatim and Dimona and the Red Sea resort of Eilat, into protective zones. Dimona is home to Israel’s largest nuclear reactor, while Nevatim has a large air base. Loud booms may be heard in Jerusalem, as well as northern and southern Israel.

The army’s Home Front Command suspended school on Sunday and banned public gatherings to no more than 1000 individuals. Israel and several other countries in the region have blocked their airspace.

Previously, Netanyahu stated, “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”

In Washington, Biden called a principals meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the attacks.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, the chief of the US Central Command, was in Israel over the weekend to speak with Israeli defense leaders. The Central Command is in charge of US military operations in the Middle East.

 

The Iranian envoy to the United Nations issued a warning to both Israel and the United States. “Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” it said in an online statement. “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!”

For days, Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threatened to “slap” Israel over the Syria strike.

Witnesses in Iran’s capital, Tehran, reported huge lineups at gas stations early Sunday, with people appearing concerned about what might happen next. Dozens of hardliners rallied in favor of the attack at Palestine Square.

 

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported intense Israeli airstrikes and shelling on numerous places in south Lebanon following Iran’s drone launch. Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group, claimed to have launched “dozens” of Katyusha rockets into an Israeli military station in the Golan Heights early Sunday. It wasn’t immediately obvious whether there was any damage.

Iranian missiles or drones were intercepted in the skies above Jordan’s capital, Amman. Residents in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, and elsewhere reported seeing missiles in the sky and hearing explosions, which were most likely the result of interceptions. Explosions were heard throughout Syria, including the capital, Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor headquartered in Britain, stated that Syrian air defenses attempted to shoot down Israeli attempts to intercept Iranian missiles.