BREAKING: Iran attacks Israel, sends hundreds of drones

The drones are expected to take several hours to reach Israel. • US, Israel intercepting projectiles over Iraq, Syria

Iran launched hundreds of drones directly from its territory against Israel on Saturday night, in a radical change from its usual use of proxies, the IDF has confirmed. Drones and missiles were also reportedly launched from Yemen and other countries around the region.

Iran has confirmed as well that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has begun its missile and drone attack against Israel. Iran’s Nour News reported that as the drones approach Israel, the main part of what it called a “combined operation” – possibly a reference to attacks from other fronts – will begin against Israel.

Iran’s state news agency reported that a “first wave” of ballistic missiles has been launched from Iran towards Israel on Saturday night.

Israeli sources told ABC News that cruise missiles had been launched from Iraq towards Israel. Al-Arabiya reported that the US was intercepting drones over Iraq and Syria.

The IDF confirmed that more than 100 drones have been launched by Iran, while the defense sources had earlier told The Jerusalem Post that hundreds had been fired.
Declining to confirm or deny whether cruise missiles had also been fired, the IDF said that if they were fired, they would take around three to four hours to arrive. Unconfirmed estimates have said drones will start arriving in Israeli airspace in the middle of the night Israel time.
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IDF sources would neither confirm nor deny reports of shooting down drones in Syrian airspace based on operational considerations.

The IDF said that it is ready to shoot them down, though air defense is not hermetic. Israeli aircraft had reportedly already begun shooting down projectiles as of 12:00 a.m.

The IDF’s shoot-down capabilities include aircraft, Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Arrow missile system. In addition, the military can use GPS scrambling to disable certain kinds of attacking drones.

There are concerns that Tehran or its proxies may also fire long-range ballistic missiles and other rockets at Israel in some kind of overlapping wave with the drone attacks.

The Islamic Republic’s attack comes after it accused Israel of killing top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi on April 1, who had directed its proxy attacks on Israel in Lebanon and Syria, including being a top coordinator with Hezbollah.

The IDF declined to publicly commit to a preemptive strike on Iran now that the drones have been launched.
Israeli airspace closes as attack begins

The Israel Airports Authority announced that Israeli airspace would close starting at 12:30 a.m. local time.
Israel’s War Cabinet met on Saturday night to track the situation and approve further action.

Drones spotted over Iraq

Shortly after the Iranian strike began, Iraqi officials announced that Iraqi airspace was being closed. Lebanon and Jordan also announced that they were closing their airspace on Saturday night.
A number of drones were seen flying from the direction of Iran over Iraq’s Sulaymaniya province, three security sources told Reuters on Saturday.

“Dozens of drones were spotted flying from Iran in the direction of Israel over Iraqi airspace,” two Iraqi security sources also told Reuters.

Jordan’s air defenses were ready to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones or aircraft that violate its airspace, two regional security sources said.

They said the army was also in a state of high alert and radar systems were monitoring drone activity.
Netanyahu: Whoever harms us, we will harm them.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a video message said that “in recent years, and even more so in recent weeks, Israel has been preparing for the possibility of a direct attack from Iran.
He warned Tehran that “whoever harms us, we will harm them. We will protect ourselves from any threat and we will do so with steadfastness and determination.”

“Together we will overcome all our enemies,” he said as he urged Israelis to listen to the Home Front Command directives and thanked Israel’s allies such as the US, France and Great Britain for standing with the Jewish state.

“Our defense systems are deployed. We are prepared for any scenario, both in defense and attack,” Netanyahu said, as he stressed that the IDF, the state and the public were strong.

Biden: our support for Israel’s security is ironclad

The White House said that “US President Joe Biden is being regularly updated on the situation by his national security team and will meet with them this afternoon at the White House.”

The White House added that the attack is “likely to unfold over a number of hours.”

“President Biden has been clear: our support for Israel’s security is ironclad. The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran,” stressed the White House.
Reuters contributed to this report.