By Dan Williams and Parisa Hafezi
JERUSALEM/DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran launched a swarm of explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel on Saturday evening in its first ever direct attack on Israeli territory, risking a serious escalation as the United States pledged to support “armor ” Israel.
Sirens screamed and Reuters journalists in Israel said they heard loud thuds and bangs in the distance coming from what local media called aerial intercepts of explosive drones. Authorities said a 7-year-old girl was seriously injured.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Iran fired dozens of surface-to-surface missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted outside Israel’s borders. They included more than 10 cruise missiles, he said.
The Iranian salvo so far amounted to more than 200 drones and missiles, Hagari said, and had caused minor damage to an Israeli military facility.
The Israeli military later said it was not advising any residents to prepare to take shelter, revising an earlier warning in what appeared to signal an end to the threat.
Israeli television Channel 12 quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying there would be a “significant response” to the attack.
Iran had promised retaliation for what it said was an Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus on April 1 that killed seven Guard officers, including two senior commanders, and said its attack was retribution for “Israeli crimes “. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attack on the consulate.
“Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be significantly more severe,” the Iranian mission to the United Nations said, warning the United States to “stay away.” However, he also said that Iran now “considers the matter concluded.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Iranian attack, saying he was “deeply alarmed by the real danger of a devastating regional escalation.”
The U.N. Security Council plans to meet Sunday at 4 pm ET (2000 GMT), a diplomat said on condition of anonymity, after Israel called for it to condemn Iran’s attack and designate the Revolutionary Guard Corps Iranians as a terrorist organization.
US President Joe Biden, who had warned Iran of an attack on Friday, cut short a weekend visit to his home state of Delaware. He returned to Washington and met with national security advisers, including his secretaries of Defense and State, in the White House Situation Room. He has pledged to stand with Israel.
“Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” he said on X after the meeting.
The Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, now in its seventh month, has exacerbated tensions in the region, spilling over to the Lebanese and Syrian fronts and drawing long-range fire on Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq.
British maritime security firm Ambrey said in a statement that drones were also reportedly launched against Israel by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group.
These clashes now threaten to escalate into an open and direct conflict pitting Iran and its regional allies against Israel and its main backer, the United States. Egypt’s regional power has called for “maximum moderation”.
While Israel and Iran have been bitter enemies for decades, their long-running feud has mostly played out through proxy forces or by targeting each other’s forces operating in third countries.
US and British warplanes were involved in shooting down some Israel-bound drones over the Iraq-Syria border area, Channel 12 reported. Two US officials said the US military shot down dozens of drone planes heading towards Israel.
ECALATION
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose official plane took off shortly after the attack began, convened the war cabinet at a military headquarters in Tel Aviv, his office said.
Israel and Lebanon said they would close their airspace on Saturday evening. Jordan, which lies between Iran and Israel, has set up air defenses to intercept any drone or missile violating its territory, two regional security sources said.
Residents in several Jordanian cities said they heard strong aerial activity.
Iran’s ally Syria said it was putting its surface-to-air defense systems around the capital and major bases on high alert, army sources said.
The European Union, Britain, France, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands all condemned Iran’s attack.
Israel had been preparing for an Iranian response to the attack on the Damascus consulate since last week, when Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel “must be punished and will be punished” for an operation he called equivalent to that on Iranian soil.
Iran’s main ally in the region, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which has had a firefight with Israel since the Gaza war began on October 7, said early Sunday morning that it had fired rockets at an Israeli base.