Iran has fired a barrage of missiles and armed drones at Israel in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike in Damascus that killed several senior Iranian commanders, pushing the Middle East closer to a full-blown regional war.
Just before 2am Israeli time, sirens went off in Jerusalem, across southern and northern Israel and in the occupied Golan Heights. Skies over Israel were lit up by incoming missiles and Israeli air defence interceptors.
Daniel Hagari, Israel’s military spokesman, said that in total Iran had fired more than 200 killer drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at Israel. Speaking at 3am local time, he said that the attack was “ongoing”, but that so far the vast majority of projectiles had been intercepted.
The Israeli paramedic service said a 10 year-old Bedouin girl had been critically wounded in the country’s south. Hagari said that minor damage had been done to an Israeli military base in the south of the country.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed “dozens” of missiles and drones had been launched against Israel. A post published by the account of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei on the social media platform X said: “The evil regime shall be punished.”
A US defence official said US forces in the region “continue to shoot down Iranian-launched drones”.
Iran’s mission to the UN said on X that the attack on Israel was in response to the April 1 strike on the Iranian consular building in Damascus. It said “the matt…
Read more