An Iranian drone above Al-Aqsa Mosque/The Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount, Jerusalem, April 14, 2024


EA on BBC: Iran’s “Demonstration” Attacks on Israel

Q&A: Is An Iran-Israel War Imminent?

EA on RTE — Will Iran Attack Israel and US?


Israel says that, alongside partners, it downed “99%” of more than 300 missiles and drones fired by Iran towards the country overnight on the region.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the attack was composed of 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles.

All drones and cruise missiles were downed outside of Israeli airspace, Hagari said. The few ballistic missiles that evaded interception caused minor damage at the Nevatim airbase in the Negev desert in southern Israel.

Hagari summarized:

This is a very significant strategic achievement. The Iranian threat met the aerial and technological superiority of the IDF, combined with a strong fighting coalition, which together intercepted the vast majority of the threats.

There has been one casualty: a 7-year-old girl seriously wounded in the head by shrapnel from a downed ballistic missile in southern Israel. She is undergoing surgery on Sunday morning.

The IDF, reportedly notified by the US as well as its own intelligence, confirmed at 11 p.m. Saturday that the unprecedented assault had begun. At the same time, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said through State media that cruise missiles and drones had been launched.

Air raid sirens began sounding in southern Israel about 1:42 a.m. and were soon heard across large parts of the country. The explosions from the intercepted Iranian munitions could be heard in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank as well as both the north and south.

US officials said American warplanes downed more than 70 drones. Security officials said US forces, operating from undisclosed bases, intercepted the UAVs in southern Syria near the Jordanian border.

Jordanian jets downed dozens of Iranian drones flying over the north and center of the country towards Jerusalem. Some were cut off on the Jordanian side of the Jordan Valley and others near the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The UK military said Royal Air Force jets were also involved in the operations.

The IDF’s Home Front Command said Israelis no longer need to stay near protected rooms. Restrictions on gatherings and the cancellation of all educational activities and school trips remain in place until at least Monday.

Iran’s regime had pledged a response to Israel’s assassination of seven senior military personnel — including the Revolutionary Guards commander overseeing Syria and Lebanon — in a missile strike on the Iranian embassy complex in Damascus, Syria on April 1.

The Supreme Leader proclaimed on Wednesday that Israel “should pay” and “must pay” for the assassinations.

On Saturday, the Revolutionary Guards seized the Portuguese-flagged container ship MSC Aries in the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz.

The MSC Aries is reportedly owned by the London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.

The MSC Aries, with a crew of 25, was heading from Dubai toward the Strait of Hormuz.