Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel on Saturday evening in retaliation, setting off air raid sirens and loud booms across the country. However, Israeli officials claimed that air defense systems and the assistance of the United States and Israel’s other allies nearly entirely thwarted the attack.
Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari. He said that almost all of the weapons were intercepted before they reached Israeli territory and that the few ballistic missiles that did land in the nation caused relatively minimal damage to one military base. Hagari acknowledged that shrapnel “severely injured” a 10-year-old girl, but added, “As far as we know, there are no additional casualties.”
“The Iranian menace met the IDF’s aerial and technological dominance, as well as a powerful combat coalition that intercepted the vast majority of the threats.” 99% of the threats launched against Israeli territory were intercepted, which is a significant strategic achievement,” Hagari said.
Although Hagari’s full statement made no mention of casualties, the IDF reported in a separate, earlier statement on social media that Iranian-launched missiles injured some people, including at a military installation in southern Israel.
“Very little damage was caused,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement early Sunday, praising his own forces and Israel’s American and other international partners for having “thwarted this attack in an impressive manner.”
Hagari stated that Iran launched approximately 170 drones, of which “zero crossed into Israeli territory.” He said all 30 cruise missiles fired by Iran failed to reach Israeli land, with 25 intercepted by Israeli fighter jets.
“Out of over 120 ballistic missiles, only a few made it into Israeli land, with the rest being intercepted. These dropped at the Nevatim Air Force Base, causing minor structural damage, according to an IDF official.
According to two US sources, five ballistic missiles passed through Israeli and US air defenses before impacting Israeli land. US officials believe Iran’s primary target was Navatim Air Force Base, where four ballistic missiles landed. One missile struck a runway, another an empty hangar, and a third a hangar that was no longer in service. A radar station in northern Israel appeared to be the target of another ballistic missile, but it missed.
According to one US official, almost half of Iran’s 120 ballistic missiles failed to launch or crashed in flight.
The Iranian strike aimed to overwhelm Israeli and US air defenses with drones and cruise missiles, thereby laying the groundwork for ballistic missiles. U.S. aircraft operating from bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia were waiting for the drones and shot down between 70 and 80 of them, with some aircraft downing multiple drones.
According to a senior US official, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday at Israel’s request.
In a statement broadcast late Saturday night, President Biden criticized Iran’s assault—tthe Islamic republic’s first direct attack on Israel—aand stated that the US had “helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.”
U.S. forces in the region “intercepted dozens of missiles and UAVs en route to Israel, launched from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated separately.
The president revealed that over the last week, US forces had “moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region” in preparation for the strike.
Israel closed its airspace at midnight and fully activated its air defense systems in preparation for the Iranian assault. It took several hours for the drones to enter Israeli airspace. The IDF reported that alerts began to ring across Israel around 2 a.m. local time on Sunday (7 p.m. Eastern Saturday). Alarms went off in southern Israel, near the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, and the Shomron area.
Iran’s attack was the promised reprisal for Israel’s April 1 raid on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers.
The IRGC issued a statement claiming Iran has “launched a punitive strike against the occupied territories,” referring to Israel. It acknowledged an operation that included “the use of both missiles and drones.”
On social media, Iran’s envoy to the UN declared that the attack was a reaction to the strike in Syria, concluding the matter. However, if the Israeli regime makes another mistake, Iran will respond far more harshly.”
According to the mission, “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. must stay away!”
“If Israel retaliates against Iran, our response will be much larger than tonight’s military action,” the Islamic Republic’s chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, warned Iranian state television. He warned that if the US supported any Israeli retribution for the nocturnal assault, it would result in targeting US bases in the region.
Mr. Biden returned to the White House on Saturday, anticipating an imminent attack by Iran. Following a lengthy meeting with the National Security Council, he spoke via phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening.
In his remarks, Mr. Biden stated that he had repeated to Netanyahu “America’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security” and that Israel has shown a remarkable ability to fight against and defeat even unprecedented threats.
According to a senior US official, the president will meet with G7 leaders on Sunday “to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” and the U.N. Security Council will convene for an emergency meeting at Israel’s request on Sunday afternoon.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, stated on social media that Iran “must be held accountable” for Saturday’s acts.
A US official told CBS News that the US was prepared for any further action by Iran or its proxies in the region. Three US officials informed CBS News that US military assets, including those in Iraq and Syria, were poised to intercept incoming Iranian drones. The United States also keeps fighter jets on standby.
The US Navy destroyer USS Carney stayed in the central Mediterranean to provide extra protection if necessary, while the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke was in the eastern Mediterranean.
A US official told CBS News that the US prefers that the Israeli government wait and assess the impact of the Iranian reprisals before responding. The United States prefers a calibrated response. We anticipated that Israel’s response would depend on its ability to successfully intercept the incoming Iranian missiles and drones, as well as the presence of any casualties.
Following his video message Saturday night, Netanyahu met his war cabinet in Tel Aviv.
“In recent years, and even more so in recent weeks, Israel has been preparing for the possibility of a direct attack from Iran,” he added. “Our defense systems are deployed, and we are prepared for any scenario, both defensive and offensive. “The state of Israel, the IDF, and the public are all strong.”
In response to the Iranian attack, the British military scrambled jets from Cyprus, a UK official confirmed to CBS News. Britain’s defense ministry later said that it had dispatched extra fighter fighters and air refueling tankers to the vicinity.
“These UK jets will intercept any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions, as required,” the defense ministry stated.
French military planes also assisted Israel “in patrolling airspace” during the assault, according to IDF spokesperson Hagari.
Prior to the incident, the Israel Home Front Command issued guidelines that restricted any gatherings to a maximum of 1,000 people and prohibited them entirely near the Gaza border. The Israel Home Front Command ordered all schools, including day camps, to remain closed until at least Monday, and practically all schools will remain closed throughout the next week for Passover. Authorities warned people to stay near safe rooms and shelters.
The US government had also issued a shelter-in-place order for all personnel and their families in Israel, but it revoked it on Sunday morning, citing the “threat of drone and/or missile barrages has diminished.”
Wider travel restrictions limiting U.S. government officials and their families’ travel across Israel remained in effect, and all Americans in the country were cautioned not to go outside of major cities, which are better shielded from incoming fire by missile defenses.
On Friday, Mr. Biden urged Iran not to carry out the punishment it had pledged for more than a week, saying his advice to Tehran was “don’t.” Earlier this week, the United States dispatched a senior general to Israel to strategize with its close partner on any reaction to an Iranian attack.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Iran’s drone strike “in the strongest possible terms.”
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign affairs leader, stated on social media that the EU “strongly condemns the unacceptable Iranian attack against Israel,” calling it “an unprecedented escalation and a grave threat to regional security.”
China’s foreign ministry issued a statement urging all parties involved to exercise restraint, calling the strike “the latest spillover of the Gaza conflict” and demanding the execution of a recent United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in the fighting, which it said “must end now.”
Tensions in the region have risen considerably as Israel continues its battle in the Gaza Strip with Hamas, Iran’s close ally. Earlier Saturday, Iranian marines seized an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz.
The US government urged Iran to free the vessel and its multinational crew promptly.
“Seizing a civilian vessel without provocation is a blatant violation of international law,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson stated. We must condemn it unequivocally and work with our partners to hold Iran accountable for its actions.
The US placed all its embassies in the Middle East on high alert and ordered them to hold emergency action committee meetings. The US specifically instructed diplomats in Lebanon and Israel not to visit certain areas of both nations.
Earlier in the day, Lebanon fired rockets at northern Israel. Jordan has declared an emergency and restricted its airspace “in light of the escalating risks in the region,” according to official media.
According to sources who spoke with CBS News on Friday, the response could include attacks by Iranian forces as well as proxy groups throughout the region to which Iran has been funneling extra weaponry for weeks.
