Iran launches over 200 drones and missiles toward Israel in retaliatory attack: Live updates

Iran undertook a “very grave” action that pushes the region toward escalation, said Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a televised address.

Iran launched more than 300 projectiles at Israel overnight, the Israeli military said.

More than 99 per cent of them were intercepted, it claimed.

President Joe Biden condemned Iranian attacks on military facilities in Israel, pledged a coordinated G7 diplomatic response and said the United States had helped Israel take down “nearly all” of the attacking drones and missiles.

The US forces and facilities had not been hit, said Mr Biden.

The president said he reiterated the ironclad US support for Israel’s security in a call with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has had strained relations over Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza.

“I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks, sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel,” Mr Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

“Tomorrow, I will convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” he said.

Mr Biden said he had directed the US military to move aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week.

“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” he said.

China is deeply concerned about the current escalation of the situation, the country’s foreign ministry said about Iran’s strike on Israel.

It called on all relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation.

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The Indian government issued a statement about “the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran which threatens the peace and security in the region”.

“We call for immediate de-escalation, exercise of restraint, stepping back from violence and return to the path of diplomacy,” said the ministry of external affairs.

RAF jets have been used to shoot down Iranian drones after Tehran announced it had launched an attack on Israel.

Aircraft in Iraq and Syria have been deployed to intercept “any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions,” the Ministry of Defense said.

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said most of the drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles had been shot down outside the country’s borders with warplanes intercepting more than 10 cruise missiles.

He said a few missiles had reached Israel with a seven-year-old girl critically injured in the south of the country and light damage to an army base.

US president Joe Biden condemned Iran’s attacks against Israel and said he had spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s “ironclad commitment” to the security of Israel.

“Tomorrow, I will convene my fellow G7 leaders to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack,” Mr Biden said in a statement, referring to the group of seven major develped economies.

As well as knocking down drones, the US military shot down dozens of Iranian missiles bound for Israel in keeping with its pledge to defend its Middle East ally, three US official said.

Two of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said some of the missiles were shot down by the US Navy.

The US military rushed to help as Iran launched explosive drones and missiles in its first direct attack on Israeli territory, a retaliatory strike for the suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria that raised the threat of a wider regional conflict.

Joe Biden cut short a weekend stay at his Delaware beach house to meet with his national security team at the White House yesterday afternoon, returning to Washington minutes before Israeli officials confirmed that they had detected drones being launched toward their territory from Iran.

He convened a principals meeting of the National Security Council in the White House Situation Room to discuss the unfolding situation, the White House said, before speaking with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The attack marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, risking a wider regional conflict.

The Pentagon reported that defense secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart “to discuss urgent regional threats … and made clear that Israel could count on full US support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies”.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke with his counterpart to reinforce Washington’s “ironclad commitment to the security of Israel”.

National security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that “Iran has begun an airborne attack against Israel.” She added: “The United States will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”

President Joe Biden and his national security team monitored Iran’s aerial attack against Israel as US forces joined efforts to down explosive-laden drones launched by Tehran.

With tensions at their highest since the Israel-Hamas war began six months ago, Mr Biden pledged that American support for Israel’s defense against attacks by Iran and its proxies is “ironclad”.

The US forces shot down some Iran-launched attack drones flying toward Israel, according to a US defense official and two other US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

The US and Israel had been bracing for an attack for days after Iran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people, including two senior Iranian generals in the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force.

The US defense official said the effort to intercept Iran’s attack was continuing.