Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards Israel on Saturday night in its first ever direct attack on the Israeli state. Tehran said it was responding to a strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on 1 April that killed a senior figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards and eight other officers.
What happened?
Israel said Iran launched 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles towards its territory.
The Israeli military spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari said 99% of the incoming barrage was intercepted by Israel and its allies. He said all drones and cruise missiles were shot down before they reached Israel, but a few of the ballistic missiles did get through, causing minor damage to the Nevatim airbase in the southern Negev desert.
Hagari said 12 people were injured, including a seven-year-old girl who reportedly received head injuries from shrapnel. Lt Cl Peter Lerner, an IDF spokesperson, told Sky News that the girl was “fighting for her life”. The Agence France-Presse news agency reported that she was from the Bedouin community near the southern town of Arad and was in intensive care.
The noisy engines of the drones suggested they were slow-flying Shahed-136s, which would take six hours to fly from Iran to Israel, although some Israeli media reported that Iran had launched jet-engined Shahed-238s, which can travel three times faster and whose flight time matches the events overnight.
What has Iran said?
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement published at about 10pm BST on Saturday that it had launched “dozens of missiles and drones” against specific targets in Israel in an attack it named Operation True Promise.
It took several hours for the drones to reach Israeli airspace. Alerts began to sound across Israel just before 2am local time (midnight BST), with residents urged to seek shelter as Israel’s air defences lit up the night sky with detonations. Footage posted online showed drones being intercepted around Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque.
Which countries were involved?
Iran launched drones and missiles from its own territory, and projectiles were also fired overnight from Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni territory. Iranian forces operate in Syria and Iran is allied with militant groups in Iraq and Yemen.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement – Tehran’s most powerful proxy force – announced it had fired rockets at Israeli positions in the annexed Golan Heights at around the same time as the Iranian bombardment, as well as a second barrage hours later.
Meanwhile, Israel’s key ally, the US, rushed to shoot down incoming fire. Joe Biden said the US had helped to “take down nearly all” of the drones and missiles.
Rishi Sunak said RAF fighter jets had shot down “a number” of Iranian attack drones. Those drones were intercepted in Syria and Iraq, where the RAF was already operating as part of the Operation Shader mission against Islamic State.
Jordan’s air defences also intercepted and downed dozens of Iranian weapons that flew over its airspace, security sources told Reuters. The kingdom is highly critical of Israel but has a peace treaty and is a close US ally.
Hagari said France was among the countries involved in defending Israel, saying: “France has very good technology, jets, radar – and I know they were contributing in patrolling airspace.” He said that he did not have exact details on whether French jets had shot down any of the missiles launched by Iran.
What has the international reaction been?
The strikes have prompted international concern, with countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar urging restraint.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on Iran to “immediately cease” attacks, while the UN secretary general, António Guterres, condemned “the serious escalation represented by the large-scale attack launched on Israel by the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
What happens now?
The Iranian armed forces’ chief of staff, Gen Mohammad Bagheri, said the operation had achieved all of its objectives and was over. But Iran warned Israel of a larger attack on its territory should it retaliate, adding that US bases would be targeted if Washington backed any Israeli military action against Iran.
US officials have said they intend to reduce tensions and that their forces will not be part of any possible Israeli response.
The Israeli cabinet minister Benny Gantz said Israel would “exact a price” from Iran in response to its attack, while the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said Israel had an opportunity to form a strategic alliance against “this grave threat by Iran”.
