Iran launched dozens of drones toward Israel on Saturday, Israeli and Iranian officials confirmed, in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East ever closer to regional war.
The Israeli military said more than 100 drones were launched, but that its air defenses were prepared for the attack and were ready to respond. The United States, with its large troop presence in the region, has said it will provide unspecified support to Israel.
“We are monitoring the threat,” Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced in a nationally televised address, saying it would take several hours for the drones to reach Israel. The Israeli military said it could not confirm whether it had intercepted any drones or what their targets were.
The attack marked the first time Iran launched a full-scale military attack against Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran had vowed revenge after an April 1 airstrike in Syria killed two Iranian generals inside an Iranian consular building. Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack. Israel has not commented on the matter.
Israel and Iran have been on a collision course during Israel’s six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two Iranian-backed militant groups, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. According to local health officials, a he Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people.
Almost immediately after the war broke out, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon, began attacking Israel’s northern border. The two sides have been involved in daily firefights, while Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have fired rockets and missiles towards Israel.
In a statement carried by state news agency IRNA on Saturday, the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged launching “dozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.” The statement did not elaborate.
Online videos shared by state television showed delta-wing drones similar to the Iranian Shahed-136 drones long used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. Drones carry bombs and fly slowly. Ukraine has successfully used both surface-to-air missiles and ground fire to target drones.
Iran has a large arsenal of drones and missiles. Tehran’s choice of Shahed-136 drones gives Israel and its allies hours to shoot them down. Iran does not appear to have used any of its ballistic missiles in the attack, which would pose a greater risk to Israel.
Israel has a multi-layered air defense network that includes systems capable of intercepting a variety of threats including long-range missiles, cruise missiles, drones and short-range rockets.
Hagari, the army spokesman, said Israel was “prepared and ready” with both defensive and offensive responses. But he warned that air defenses were not 100% effective and urged the public to follow safety instructions.
The army’s Home Front Command canceled school Sunday and limited public gatherings to no more than 1,000 people. Israel has closed its airspace and canceled all flights.
Last Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “Whoever harms us, we will harm him.”
In Washington, President Joe Biden cut short a weekend trip to his Delaware beach house to return to the White House. He was expected to convene a meeting of top National Security Council members on Saturday to discuss the ongoing attack, the White House said.
“The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of the U.S. Army Central Command, was in Israel over the weekend to consult with Israeli defense officials on the Iranian threat. Central Command oversees US forces in the Middle East, while Israel has a formidable arsenal that includes long-range missiles and F-35 stealth warplanes.
For days, Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had threatened to “slap” Israel over its attack on Syria.
In the Iranian capital, Tehran, witnesses saw long queues at petrol stations early Sunday morning as people appeared worried about what might happen next. Dozens of intransigents demonstrated in support of the attack in Palestine Square.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported heavy Israeli airstrikes and shelling on several locations in southern Lebanon following Iranian drone launches.
Flight tracking data late Saturday showed airspace over Jordan was empty, while few flights continued on north-south routes over Iraq. Only one Middle East Airlines flight from Dubai to Beirut remained in the air over Syria. Lebanon was closing its airspace.
Last Saturday, commandos from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard lowered themselves from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel.
Iran’s state-run IRNA said a Guard navy special forces unit carried out the attack on the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime.
Zodiac Maritime is part of the Zodiac group of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC. Geneva-based MSC acknowledged the seizure and said there were 25 crew members on board the ship.
“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their well-being and the safe return of the vessel,” MSC said.
Watson, the White House spokesman, said the crew consisted of Indian, Filipino, Pakistani, Russian and Estonian citizens and urged Iran to release them and the ship.
IRNA said the Guard would take the vessel into Iranian territorial waters.
A Middle Eastern defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, provided the Associated Press with video of the attack in which Iranian commandos are seen lowering themselves onto a stack of containers on the ship’s deck.
The video matched the known details of the MSC Aries. The commandos lowered themselves from what appeared to be a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which both the Guard and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen had already used to raid ships.