Iran launches strikes on Israel after weeks of threats (2024)

Israel has reopened its airspace following an unprecedented attack on its territory by Iran.

Israel’s Transportation Ministry said the country’s main international airport has resumed operations. It said domestic airports would reopen throughout the day on Sunday.

Israel says Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles toward its territory in the early-morning attack, and that air defences intercepted 99 per cent of them. Minor damage was caused to an air base, the military said.

The military announced measures on Saturday in anticipation of the Iranian attack, closing its airspace, cancelling school and limiting public gatherings to no more than 1000 people.

Iran mounted an immense aerial attack on Israel on Sunday (AEST), launching more than 300 drones and missiles in retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike in Syria two weeks ago.

The strikes caused only minor damage to one Israeli military base, and most of the airborne threats were intercepted, Israeli military officials said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in a statement broadcast on state television that it had launched “dozens of drones and missiles” toward Israel from Iran “in reaction to the Zionist regime’s crimes.”

Here’s what we know:

• A total of 12 people were brought in to the Soroka Medical Centre in southern Israel overnight, according to a hospital spokesperson.
• One of the targets was the Golan Heights, a strategic area bordering Syria that Israel annexed nearly 60 years ago. Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia backed by Iran, said it had fired dozens of rockets at an Israeli barracks there.
• In the hours after the attacks, as Iranians gathered in Tehran to celebrate, more air-raid sirens sounded across vast swaths of southern Israel, the West Bank and Golan Heights. The Israeli government also sent out warnings about possible missiles arriving in the Negev Desert, where there are several military bases.
• US President Joe Biden cut short a weekend at his holiday home in Delaware to huddle with his national security team. He also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss Iran’s attacks on Israel, the council’s president said. Israel’s UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, had requested the meeting.

A closer look at Israel’s multilayered air-defence system:

The Arrow: This system developed with the US is designed to intercept long-range missiles, including the types of ballistic missiles Iran said it launched on Sunday (AEST). The Arrow, which operates outside the atmosphere, has been used in the current war to intercept long-range missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen.

David’s Sling: Also developed with the US, the David’s Sling is meant to intercept medium-range missiles, such as those possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iron Dome: This system, developed by Israel with US backing, specialises in shooting down short-range rockets. It has intercepted thousands of rockets since it was activated early last decade – including thousands of interceptions during the current war against Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel says it has a success rate of over 90 per cent.

Iron Beam: Israel is developing a new system to intercept incoming threats with laser technology. Israel has said this system will be a game changer because it is much cheaper to operate than existing systems. However, it is not yet operational.

Patriot: This US-made system is the oldest member of Israel’s missile-defence system – used during the First Gulf War in 1991 to intercept Scud missiles fired by Iraq’s leader at the time, Saddam Hussein. The Patriot is now used to shoot down aircraft, including drones.

China is “deeply concerned” about escalating tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched drones and missiles in a retaliatory strike against Israel, a foreign ministry spokesperson says.

Iran’s strikes marked its first direct attack on Israeli territory, raising the threat of a wider conflict in the region where China has sought to play a role as a mediator and from where it sources a growing proportion of its energy imports.

“China calls on relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint to avoid further escalation of tensions,” the spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday in the form of a response to a question from unidentified reporters about the Iranian attacks.

“China calls on the international community, especially influential countries, to play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.”

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, now in its seventh month, has ratcheted up regional tensions, spreading to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire from Yemen and Iraq at Israeli targets.

The Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson said this round of tensions was a “spillover from the Gaza conflict,” adding that quelling it as soon as possible was “a top priority”.

China mediated between Iran and Saudi Arabia last year, and Reuters reported China had asked Iran to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing.

Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel overnight, 99 per cent of which were shot down, the Israeli military says, adding the armed forces remain fully functional and are discussing follow-up options.

In a post on X, the IDF said a small number of ballistic missiles caused minor damage to “infrastructure” at an airforce base in Nafatim, in the south of the country.

None of the approximately 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles entered Israeli territory, the post said.

In a televised statement, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the aerial defence was “a most impressible achievement”, but warned the confrontation with iran “is not over yet”.

In his first public statement since the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X “We intercepted. We blocked. Together we will win”.

The Iranian foreign ministry said its attacks were a “defensive measure”, which demonstrates its “responsible approach toward regional and international peace and security”.

Senior Liberal MP Julian Leeser has called on the government to close its embassy in Iran following its retaliatory attack on Israel.

“For decades, Iran has sponsored death and terror throughout the Middle East,” he said.

“All that has happened with today’s strikes on Israel is that Iran’s evil intent has been brought out into the open.

“Our embassy in Iran should be closed. There is good and evil in the world, and the government should not act with indifference towards the only democratic nation in the Middle East.

“Australia has nothing in common with Iran, we must cut ties with this despotic regime.”

US President Joe Biden said that US forces helped Israel down “nearly all” of the drones and missiles from Iran, as he pledged to convene allies to develop a unified response to Tehran.

“At my direction, to support the defence of Israel, the US military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the region over the course of the past week,” Biden said in a statement.

“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.”

He added that he would convene the Group of Seven advanced democracies on Sunday (Monday AEST) to develop a “united diplomatic response” to Iran’s attack.

Biden said he told Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on a call that Israel had “demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks”.

The Middle East remains on tenterhooks and global markets are poised to open lower after Iran’s first ever direct attack on Israel.

After rushing back to the White House from a weekend holiday to meet with his national security team, Biden spoke by phone with Netanyahu, confirming America’s “ironclad” commitment to defending Israel.

“I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” Biden said, before warning that the US was still on high alert for further attacks from Iran and would respond with full force if needed.

“While we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people,” he said.

Israel’s air defences, with assistance from the US and the Jordanian air force, intercepted and shot down the “vast majority” of an unprecedented barrage of 200 Iranian drones and missiles fired on Israel.

The attack was a retaliatory strike for a suspected Israeli bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria’s capital, Damascus, earlier this month which left two of Tehran’s top commanders dead.

Biden said the forward deployment of US aircraft and ballistic missile defence destroyers to the region over the course of the past week as well as the “extraordinary skill of our service members,” helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.

G7 leaders including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Iran’s “reckless” attack and said “Iran has once again demonstrated that it is intent on sowing chaos in its own backyard.”

The Albanese government has joined the condemnation of Iran’s missile and drone attacks, and pledged to support Israel throughout any escalating crisis.

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and acting Foreign Minister Katy Gallagher noted that anyone who cared for the protection of innocent life must stand against the attacks.

“This escalation is a grave threat to the security of Israel and the entire region,” they said.

“It risks greater instability and devastation across the Middle East. Australia continues to support regional security, including that of Israel.”

The Australian government, like others, holds Iran ultimately responsible for the October 7 terror attacks inside Israel, given its control of, and support for, Hamas.

Albanese and Gallagher hinted at further sanctions on the Iranian regime.

“Iran’s ongoing flouting of international law, its egregious human rights abuses and threat to international security is why this government has imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans, including Magnitsky-style sanctions, on 85 individuals and 97 entities,” they said.

“Australia will continue to work with the international community to increase pressure on Iran to cease its destabilising actions and to prevent the conflict from spreading.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has condemned Iranian airstrikes on Israel “in the strongest possible terms,” a spokesperson says.

“With this irresponsible and unjustifiable attack, Iran is risking a regional conflagration,” government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said on Sunday after Scholz’s arrival in the Chinese city of Chongqing.

“Germany stands closely by Israel’s side,” Hebestreit said. “We will now discuss further reactions closely with our G7 partners and allies.”

Iran launched a swarm of explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel late on Saturday (Sunday AEST) in its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, risking a major escalation.

Iran had vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April 1 that killed seven Revolutionary Guards officers, including two senior commanders.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the consulate attack.

Scholz started his three-day visit to China in Chongqing. Talks with the Chinese leadership in Beijing are planned for Tuesday.

The chancellor was kept informed of developments in the Middle East during the night on the flight to Chongqing, according to government sources.

The delegation has been in close contact with German security authorities, the sources said.