JERUSALEM – Iran launched dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel late Saturday in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East ever closer to a regional war.
The attack marked the first time Iran had launched a direct military attack on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Israel’s military said more than 100 drones were fired, but that its air defenses were prepared for the attack and ready to respond. It did not mention ballistic missiles, which are less easily shot down, but Iran said they were part of the attack. The US, with its large military presence in the region, said it would provide unspecified support to Israel.
“We are monitoring the threat,” Israeli military 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 intercepted any drones or what their targets were.
Iran has vowed revenge since an airstrike in Syria on April 1 killed two Iranian generals inside an Iranian consular building. Iran accused Israel of being behind the attack. Israel has not commented on this.
Israel and Iran have been on a collision course during Israel’s six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war broke out 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 another 250. An Israeli offensive in Gaza caused widespread devastation and killed more than 33 thousand people, according to local health authorities.
Almost immediately after the war began, Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon, began attacking Israel’s northern border. The two sides have been engaged in daily exchanges of fire, while Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen have launched rockets and missiles at Israel.
In a statement released Saturday by Iranian state news agency IRNA, the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged the launch of “dozens of drones and missiles against the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime.” The statement was not detailed.
IRNA later quoted an anonymous official as saying that ballistic missiles were part of the attack. A ballistic missile moves in an arcing trajectory, rising into space before gravity lowers the weapon at a speed several times faster than the speed of sound.
Israel has missile defense systems capable of hitting ballistic missiles. However, in a massive attack involving multiple drones and missiles, the probability of an attack getting through is greater.
Iran has a vast arsenal of drones and missiles. Online videos shared by Iranian state television purported to show delta-wing drones, similar to the Iranian Shahed-136 drones, long used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. The slowly flying drones carry bombs. Ukraine successfully used both surface-to-air missiles and ground fire to target them.
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 defensive and offensive responses. But he warned that air defenses are not 100% effective and urged the public to follow safety instructions.
On Sunday morning, the army ordered residents of the Golan Heights – near the borders of Syria and Lebanon – as well as the southern cities of Nevatim and Dimona and the Red Sea tourist resort of Eilat, “to remain near protective spaces until further notice.” Dimona is home to Israel’s main nuclear facility.
The Army’s Home Front Command canceled classes on Sundays and limited public gatherings to no more than 1,000 people. Israel closed its airspace and canceled all flights.
Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”
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 National Security Council directors 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.
General Erik Kurilla, head of the US military’s 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 possesses a formidable arsenal that includes long-range missiles and F-35 stealth warplanes.
For days, Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have threatened to “slap” Israel over its attack on Syria.
In Iran’s capital Tehran, witnesses saw long lines at gas stations on Sunday morning as people appeared worried about what might happen next. Dozens of radicals demonstrated in support of the attack in Palestine Square.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported heavy Israeli airstrikes and shelling at several locations in southern Lebanon following Iran’s drone launches. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had launched “dozens” of Katyusha rockets at a Israeli military installation in the Golan Heights on Sunday morning. It was not immediately clear if there was any damage.
Flight tracking data on Saturday night showed that the airspace over Jordan was empty, while few flights continued on their north-south routes over Iraq. A single Middle East Airlines flight from Dubai to Beirut remained in the air over Syria. Lebanon was closing its airspace.
On Saturday morning, commandos from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard jumped 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 Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC. Geneva-based MSC acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew were on the ship.
“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their well-being and the safe return of the ship,” MSC said.
Watson, the White House National Security Council spokesman, said the crew was made up of Indian, Filipino, Pakistani, Russian and Estonian citizens and urged Iran to release them and the ship.
IRNA said the Guard would take the ship to Iranian territorial waters.
A Middle East 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 rappelling into a pile of containers on the ship’s deck.
The video matched known details of MSC Aries. The commandos rappelled from what appeared to be a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which both the Guard and the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have used before to attack ships.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP correspondents Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Michael Balsamo in New York, Krutika Pathi in New Delhi, Stephen Graham in Berlin, Thomas Adamson in Paris and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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