April 13 (UPI) — Iran on Saturday launched more than 100 drones at Israel, according to Israeli defense officials.
Israel Defense Forces in a statement said Iran launched unmanned aerial vehicles “from within its territory toward Israel.”
Alerts started to sound across Israel by 2 a.m. local time the IDF said.
Israeli defense officials said they are tracking the drones and aim to intercept them before they reach their targets. Medie outlets reported bursts of rocket fire from the country’s air defense system streaking across the night sky.
The U.S. military reported it already shot down some Iranian drones that night. The United States is able to shoot down incoming drones from Iran via assets in Iraq and Syria.
Iran has vowed retaliation against Israel for its airstrike on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus on on April 1, which killed 16 people including seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
President Joe Biden in the past few days had warned that an Iranian retaliation could happen very soon.
The president on Saturday cut his weekend vacation short and returned to Washington after IRGC members earlier in the day captured an Israeli-related container ship in the Strait of Hormuz and rerouted it to Iranian waters.
Biden arrived at the White House at approximately 5:04 p.m. EDT and has been convening with the National Security Council in the situation room, according to White House officials.
“Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” Biden said in a post on X.
At 7:18 p.m. EDT, Iran said in a post on X that the drone attack on Israel was “in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus,” and that “the matter can be deemed concluded.”
“However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe,” the post read. “It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the U.S. MUST STAY AWAY!”
International leaders have condemned Iran for the attack. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a post on X said he condemns the attack in “the strongest terms.”
“Iran has once again demonstrated that it’s intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard,” the post read. “The U.K. will continue to stand up for Israel’s security and that of all our regional partners, including Jordan and Iraq.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on X that the Netherlands and other countries had told Iran “loud and clear” not to attack Israel and that “further escalation must be avoided.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on X that Iran’s actions “could plunge an entire region into chaos.”
“Iran and its proxies must stop this immediately,” the post read. “In these hours, we stand firmly by Israel.”
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
