Iran launches drone-missile attack at Israel

Iran launched an aerial attack with a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel, marking a widely anticipated reprisal attack, reports BBC.

It is the first such direct clash between the two enemies, who have been engaged in a years-long shadow war, with Iran using proxy forces.

The Israeli military said Israel and other countries had intercepted hundreds of cruise missiles and drones, mostly outside Israeli airspace.

US President Joe Biden said, “We helped Israel take down nearly all” of them.

“Iran and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel,” he said, expressing strong condemnation.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack was aimed at “specific targets”.

Iran had vowed to retaliate for a strike on its consulate in Syria on 1 April which killed seven IRGC officers, including a top commander. It accused Israel of carrying out that attack, but Israel neither confirmed nor denied it.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a war cabinet meeting after the start of the Iranian attack, and later spoke to President Biden, who said he had reaffirmed “America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel”.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said some Iranian missiles had hit inside Israel, causing minor damage to a military base but no casualties.