Iran has launched hundreds of drones and missiles towards Israel in an attack that may trigger a major escalation between the regional archenemies.
Sirens wailed and journalists in Israel said they heard distant heavy thuds and bangs from what local media called aerial interceptions of explosive drones.
Israel's military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Iran launched dozens of ground-to-ground missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted outside Israeli borders.
They included more than 10 cruise missiles, he said.
The Iranian salvo amounted to more than 200 drones and missiles so far, Mr Hagari said, and had caused light damage to one Israeli military facility.
He said the engagement had not ended, and Israeli forces were still intercepting incoming threats.
Iran had vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven military officers including two senior commanders and said its strike was a punishment for "Israeli crimes".
"Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran's response will be considerably more severe," the Iranian mission to the United Nations said.
In a statement carried late Saturday by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard acknowledged launching "dozens of drones and missiles towards the occupied territories and positions of the Zionist regime".
Iran's Revolutionary Guard issued a direct warning to the US in a later statement: “The terrorist US government is warned any support or participation in harming Iran’s interests will be followed by decisive and regretting response by Iran’s armed forces."
Hundreds of Iranians gathered in Tehran's Palestine Square waving Iranian and Palestinian flags to celebrate the unprecedented military action against Israel.
Israel had put its military on high alert and called off school trips and other youth activities in preparation.
A number of drones were seen flying from the direction of Iran over Iraq's Sulaymaniyah 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 defences were ready to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones or aircraft that violate its airspace, two regional security sources said, adding the army was also in a state of high alert and radar systems were monitoring drone activity.
The United States confirmed Iran began an airborne attack against Israel and said it is likely to unfold over a number of hours.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country's "defensive systems are deployed; we are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively."
"We have determined a clear principle: Whoever harms us, we will harm them. We will defend ourselves against any threat and will do so level-headedly and with determination," he told people in a video message.
He also thanked the US for "standing alongside Israel, as well as the support of Britain, France and many other countries."
US President Joe Biden, who on Friday warned Iran against attacking Israel after saying such a scenario appeared imminent, has pledged to stand with Israel against Iran, the White House said.
Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel's six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a cross-border attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,686 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Explosives-laden drones
A retired Israeli general, Amos Yadlin, told the Israel's Channel 12 TV that the Iranian drones were equipped with 20kg (44 pounds) of explosives each.
Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said a handful of missiles managed to land in Israel.
Rescuers said one strike critically injured a seven-year-old girl in a Bedouin Arab town in southern Israel.
The official IRNA news agency said the attack had dealt "heavy blows" to an air base in the Negev desert, but the Israeli army said there had only been minor damage.
Mr Netanyahu convened the Israeli war cabinet at military headquarters in Tel Aviv, his office said early on Sunday.
"This is a severe and dangerous escalation. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack from Iran," said Israel's military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.
Channel 12 TV cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying there would be a "significant response" to the attack.
Israel's military said it was sounding sirens in locations throughout the country early on Sunday.
Blasts were heard in the skies above Jerusalem early on Sunday, AFP journalists said.
People in Jerusalem sought cover, as residents also stockpiled water.
"As you can see it's empty, everybody is running home," said Eliyahu Barakat, a 49-year-old grocery shop owner in Jerusalem's Mamilla neighbourhood.
Biden says US helped Israel down 'nearly all' Iranian drones
US President Joe Biden said on Saturday American forces helped take down "nearly all" the Iranian drones and missiles fired at Israel.
He added that he reaffirmed to Mr Netanyahu his "ironclad" support for Israel.
Mr Biden said in a statement he would convene his fellow leaders of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Sunday to coordinate a "united diplomatic response" to Iran's "brazen" attack.
"Iran — and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq — launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel. I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms," Mr Biden said.
He said he had ordered US military aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the Middle East in recent days as the likely Iranian threat to Israel became clear.
"Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our service members, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles," Mr Biden said.
The Israeli military later said it was not advising any residents to prepare to take shelter, revising an earlier alert and appearing to signal an end to the threat.
Airspaces shut down
Iraq also announced shutting down its airspace and suspending all air traffic on Saturday, Iraq's transport ministry told the country's state-owned news agency.
Jordan closed down its airspace ahead of the attack to all incoming, departing and transit aircraft, state-owned Al-Mamlaka news said on Saturday, leading to many people being stuck at the airport.
Residents in several cities in the northern part of the country near Syria and central and southern areas heard heavy aerial activity. A security source said the country's air force was intensifying reconnaissance flights.
Israel closed its airspace as a precaution, with its carrier El Al Airlines saying it cancelled 15 flights scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, affecting several destinations.
Syria put on high alert its Russian-made Pantsir ground-to-air defence systems around the capital Damascus and major bases in the event of an Israeli strike, army sources said.
They said they expected Israel would retaliate against army bases and installations where pro-Iranian militia were based after Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they launched dozens of drones and missiles against specific targets in Israel.
Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV also said the country has closed its airspace.
Iranian Defence Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani warned that Tehran would firmly respond to any country that "opens its airspace or territory for attacks on Iran by Israel", Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday he condemned Iran's "reckless" attack against Israel, which he said showed "intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard".
"These strikes risk inflaming tensions and destabilising the region," Sunak said in a statement.
The Egyptian foreign ministry, in a statement early on Sunday, called for the exercise of "utmost restraint" to spare the region and its people from further factors of instability and tension.
Iran seized cargo ship
The drone attack came shortly after Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, days after Tehran said it could close the key trade route.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that a Guards helicopter had boarded and taken into Iranian waters the Portuguese flagged MSC Aries, saying it was linked to Israel.
MSC, which operates the Aries, confirmed Iran had seized the ship and said it was working "with the relevant authorities" for its safe return and the wellbeing of its 25 crew.
MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, Zodiac said in a statement, adding that MSC is responsible for all the vessel's activities.
Zodiac is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.
Video on Iranian news channels purporting to show the seizure included a figure abseiling from a helicopter on to a ship. Reuters was able to verify that the ship in the video was the MSC Aries but not the date it was recorded.
An Indian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief to journalists, said 17 of the crew were Indians.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Tehran of piracy.
Reuters/ABC
