The USA and Israel confirm that an air attack is underway on Israeli territory, while Jordan and Iraq close their airspace.
Iran has launched dozens of drones and missiles at Israel, the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed, after Israel said Tehran had launched attacks.
The IRGC said on Saturday that it had released the drones and missiles as part of the “True Promise” operation, adding that the move was part of punishment for “Israeli crimes.”
Israel said the drones would take several hours before reaching its airspace.
The attacks come almost two weeks after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria killed seven members of the IRGC.
“We launched an operation using drones and missiles in response to the Zionist entity’s crime of attacking the Iranian consulate in Syria,” the IRGC said in a statement.
“The operation was carried out with dozens of missiles and drones to hit specific targets in the occupied territories.”
Speaking in a televised speech on Saturday, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said: “Iran has launched UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] from its territory towards the territory of the state of Israel.
“This is a serious and dangerous escalation. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack by Iran.”
High alert
Israel has been on high alert since its attack on Damascus on April 1, although it has not commented on that attack. Iran promised revenge and a retaliatory attack was expected.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel was prepared for a “direct attack from Iran.”
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was “closely monitoring a planned attack” against it by Iran and its allies in the region.
US President Joe Biden, who on Friday warned Iran against attacking Israel after saying such a scenario appeared imminent, has pledged to support Israel against Iran, the White House said.
US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement that Biden is regularly updated by his national security team and is in constant communication with Israeli officials, US partners and allies.
Syria has also placed its Russian-made Pantsir surface-to-air defense systems on high alert around the capital Damascus and key bases in the event of an Israeli attack, army sources told Reuters news agency.
Meanwhile, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel announced that they have temporarily closed their airspace.
‘A country waiting’
A retired Israeli general, Amos Yadlin, told the country’s Channel 12 news that the Iranian drones were equipped with 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of explosives each.
Israel’s military said sirens would sound in any threatened area and that its defenses were prepared to deal with them.
“We know that planes are patrolling in the skies above [Israel]We know that Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with his war cabinets, his security cabinets tonight,” said Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem.
“This is a country… waiting for these drones to arrive,” he added.
Challands said that although Haggari has not confirmed how long it will take, “it will have to pass through the airspace of several countries… It could take around nine hours to arrive.”
Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its seventh month, has increased tensions in the region, extending to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire on Israeli targets as far away as Yemen and Iraq.
Earlier on Saturday, the Iranian military seized an Israeli-linked container ship near the Strait of Hormuz.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
