Israel, Allies Mostly Block Unprecedented Attack From Iran

(Bloomberg) -- Israel and its allies intercepted most of the attack drones and missiles launched by Iran, which said it was retaliating for a strike in Syria that killed top Iranian military officers. It was the first time Iran has struck Israel from its soil.

Iran launched more than 200 ballistic and cruise missiles and attack drones, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said early Sunday. A 10-year-old girl was badly injured and there was minor damage to an army base, he said. Hagari earlier called the attack “a severe and dangerous escalation.”

US President Joe Biden held a phone call with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attack was countered. Biden, who had returned to the White House from his private residence in Delaware on Saturday, said in a statement that American commitment to Israel’s security is “ironclad.”  

Biden will speak with G7 leaders on Sunday “to coordinate a united diplomatic response” to the attack, according to the statement. Biden told Netanyahu that the US won’t support an Israeli counterattack against Iran, Axios reported, citing an unidentified senior White House official.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said the action was a “legitimate” defensive response to the strike in Damascus, which Israel hasn’t acknowledged carrying out. “The matter can be deemed concluded,” it said in a social media post. “However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe.”

Multiple alarms sounded in various locations in Israel: Jerusalem, Beer Sheva and Dimona in the south, and the Jewish settlement Ariel in the West Bank. Residents of Jerusalem reported hearing blasts. Alarms also sounded in Israel’s north. The Israel Defense Forces said it cut off GPS services in some areas to help counter the attack.

A US defense official confirmed that its forces in the region shot down Iranian-launched drones targeting Israel. The US considered the military response to the Iranian attack a success, another American official familiar with the matter said. 

The UK Defense Ministry said it deployed Royal Air Force jets to intercept Iranian drones headed for Israel if necessary. 

Israel has upgraded its air defenses considerably over the past decade and a half, adding new systems for interceptions of ballistic missiles fired from as far away as 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles). That range includes Yemen, Syria and Iraq, where militant groups allied with Iran are based, as well as Iran.

Read more: Iran Attack Tests Limits of US-Backed Israeli Air Defenses

Israel’s most active and well-known air defense is Iron Dome, which has intercepted thousands of rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza since 2011. But Iron Dome is designed for missiles and drones with a short range, and is just one of the advanced missile-defense systems in place. 

Israel also has a medium-to-long-range interceptor known as David’s Sling and the Arrow defense system.

Attack Condemned 

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among the first leaders to respond to Iran’s attack. “The UK will continue to stand up for Israel’s security and that of all our regional partners, including Jordan and Iraq,” Sunak said in a statement. France, Germany and the European Union also condemned Iran’s action.

So did United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who called for an immediate halt to the hostilities, citing the risk of a “devastating region-wide escalation.” Israel asked for an emergency session of the UN Security Council.

The assault escalates a Middle East conflict that began on Oct. 7 when thousands of Hamas operatives broke into Israel from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 250. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the US and EU. 

A direct clash between Iran and Israel could draw in the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah, which like Hamas is backed by Iran, and heighten the possibility of a regional war. The statement from the White House said Iran’s proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq were part of Iran’s unprecedented attack.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly warned Israel will be “punished” for the deadly strike in Damascus on April 1, which destroyed the Islamic Republic’s consulate building and killed at least 13 people, including seven Iranian military personnel. Israel hasn’t claimed responsibility for the attack, in keeping with its usual response to accusations of targeting Iran.

Recent history suggests any assault will be measured against what might come next from Iran’s adversaries. When the US killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qassem Soleimani in 2020, for example, Iran opted for nonlethal attacks on military bases.

Israeli officials have said that if their country were hit, Iran’s leaders should expect a counterattack, although Israel may weigh what it portrayed as the failure of the Iranian assault in choosing its response. 

As Iran Threatens Attack, These Are Israel’s Defenses: QuickTake

Iran has tried to be circumspect on its role in hostile acts by allied militant groups beyond its borders. That policy became more difficult after Hamas attacked Israel, touching off an extended war in Gaza. Houthi rebels in Yemen used that as a pretext for missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, while Hezbollah has exchanged fire across the border with Israel almost daily since the incursion.

--With assistance from Ethan Bronner, Augusta Saraiva, Galit Altstein, Alex Wickham, Justin Sink and Jennifer Jacobs.

(Updates with statement from US President Biden in third paragraph)

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