Iran has launched an attack against Israel using dozens of drones and missiles, as confirmed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and a hundred of them have been intercepted by United States and United Kingdom aircraft outside Israeli airspace, specifically in Iraq. However, several agencies are already disseminating images of missiles or drones that have reached Israeli soil. Specifically, in the Negev desert, where Israel has an important base for its Air Force.
The US believes that between 400 and 500 drones and missiles will be launched from Iraq, Syria and southern Lebanon, but that the majority will be launched from Iranian territory, according to ABC News. Shouting “death to Israel” and “death to the United States,” small groups of people celebrated the attack against the Jewish State in the streets of Iran, in retaliation for the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
For its part, the Israeli Army is mobilized and on alert and all anti-aircraft defenses are deployed in strategic locations, as announced this Saturday by military sources. The missiles are believed to hit the Golan Heights and Negev Desert, according to the NYT. Likewise, anti-aircraft alarms have been heard in several parts of Israel, including the south, the north, the area near the Dead Sea and the city of Jerusalem, where more than half a dozen explosions have already been heard that could be intercepted attacks. .
"We are prepared for a direct attack by Iran against Israel, with defense systems deployed and on alert, and for any scenario, whether defense or attack," Israeli Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu said in an emergency television appearance. . Subsequently, he has convened the War Cabinet urgently in the face of the ongoing drone and missile attack initiated by Iran.
After days of tension and speculation, especially after the killing of seven Iranian commanders in an explosion at the Iranian consulate in Damascus earlier this month, Iran has carried out its long-awaited attack on Israel.
The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal already indicated on Friday that Israel was already expecting an Iranian offensive and that it estimated that it would occur in the last hours of the day or on Saturday. Likewise, the United States, in the words of its president, Joe Biden, assured that the Iranian offensive against Israeli territory would be carried out "sooner rather than later", as it has been.
The attack on Israeli territory can be described as expected since the tension between both countries had grown in recent days. Following the explosion at the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to retaliate, to which the Israeli Foreign Minister responded: "If you attack our territory, we will attack you on yours."
For its part, the White House also explained this Friday that it considered Iran's threats against Israel "credible" and promised that it will provide the Israeli Government with all the necessary help to defend itself. Already this Saturday night, he confirmed the Iranian offensive and Biden cut short the weekend for an urgent consultation on the situation in the Middle East.
After returning to the White House, the US president will meet in the Situation Room with the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin; Secretary of State, Antony Blinken; CIA Director Bill Burns; the White House National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown, among others.
This room is used in exceptional situations related to national security. The last record of its use - documented with a historical image - was during the development of Operation Neptune's Spear, when then-President Baack Obama followed the execution of Osama bin Laden live on May 1, 2011.
US intelligence already predicted earlier this week that an Iranian attack on Israeli targets was imminent, but it now appears that the attack would be within Israel's borders, The Wall Street Journal added.
ABC News has reported that the United States Government believes that Iran will launch between 400 and 500 drones and missiles from its territory and from countries with allied militias in Iraq, Syria and southern Lebanon, but most will be launched from Iranian territory.
Given the threat and subsequent confirmation of the Iranian attack directed at Israeli territory, several countries have decided to close their airspace as a preventive measure. One of them has been Israel itself starting at 00:30 local time, without giving more details of when it expects the flights to resume.
Jordan has done the same as a "preventive" measure and has also imposed a state of emergency in all the country's provinces.
Likewise, Lebanon and Iraq have followed the same strategy and have also temporarily closed their airspace, while the anti-aircraft defenses of Egypt, which borders Israel, are on high alert due to the start of Iran's attack, reported this Saturday the Al Qahera News channel, close to Egyptian Intelligence.
To justify its attack on Israel, Iran has invoked, through its mission to the UN, the United Nations charter, and specifically Article 51, since it considers its offensive "legitimate defense", although it implies that its response has already concluded.
