CNN
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A wave of drones and missiles that flew toward Israel on Sunday night ushered in a new phase of tension, uncertainty and conflict in the Middle East.
Earlier this month, Iran launched an unprecedented offensive in response to what it believed was an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.
This marks a new chapter in the rift between the two countries, which has been percolating and spiraling for years since Israel declared war on Hamas last October.
Next steps remain uncertain, but Israel is being urged by its allies to step back from the brink of open warfare and choose a path to de-escalation.
Here's what you need to know:
More than 300 projectiles, including about 170 drones and more than 120 ballistic missiles, were launched toward Israel in a massive airstrike overnight. About 350 rockets were fired from Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon's Hezbollah, said Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari.
However, according to the Israeli military, “99%” of the projectiles were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems and its allies, and only a small number reached Israeli territory.
Iranian military officials said Sunday that Tehran's attack targeted Nevatim Air Base, and claimed that Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in early April was launched from Nevatim Air Base.
Hagari said an Iranian ballistic missile that reached Israel fell on an air base in the country's south, causing only minor structural damage. Hagari added that the base remained functional and operational after the attack, and aircraft continued to use it.
A senior U.S. military official told reporters Sunday that the United States assesses “no significant damage inside Israel.”
U.S. warships in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed four to six Iranian ballistic missiles in the attack, and aircraft in the region shot down more than 70 Iranian one-way unmanned aerial vehicles heading toward Israel. A US Patriot missile battery shot down a ballistic missile near Erbil, Iraq, officials announced.
Israel and Iran are long-time rivals and have waged a shadow war for many years.
Israel's war against Hamas has heightened these tensions since the extremist group attacked Israel on October 7.
Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria have launched attacks targeting U.S. military positions in those countries, and Iranian leaders have warned that attacks by their allies will not stop until Israel's war in Gaza ends.
But Iran accused Israel of bombing a Syrian diplomatic mission in early April, further fueling fears that the regional war could escalate.
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Iran's Foreign Ministry said at the time that the airstrike destroyed its consulate in the capital, Damascus, and killed Mohamed Reza Zahedi, the supreme commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and Mohamed Hadi Hadji Rahimi, a senior commander. At least seven officials were announced dead.
Zahedi, a former Iranian Revolutionary Guards ground and air force commander and deputy operations commander, has been in charge since then-US President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. Iranians were the most high-profile targets. 2020.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel would be punished for the attack, while President Ebrahim Raisi said it would “not go unanswered,” state news agency IRNA reported. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, backed by Iran, said the attack would be met with “punishment and retaliation.”
The region has been under constant tension ever since, with the United States and Israel warning intelligence agencies that an Iranian attack was imminent.
How did Israel and its allies respond to the Iranian attack?
Israel reacted angrily to the unprecedented attack, but praised the military's response.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the attack was “thwarted in an unprecedented manner” but added: “We must be prepared for all scenarios.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his first comments: “We intercepted and we contained. Together we will prevail.”
But Israel's allies in the West have called on the country to try to defuse the crisis rather than reacting in a way that could lead the situation into open combat.
US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and made it clear that the US would not participate in any offensive operations against Iran, a senior White House official told CNN.
Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he should consider Saturday night's events a “victory” because the Iranian attack had largely failed, and instead acknowledged Israel's “remarkable ability to defend and defeat even an unprecedented attack.” He said he had proven that.
After Sunday's virtual meeting, G7 leaders condemned the Iranian attack in a joint statement, saying it “risks triggering an uncontrollable regional escalation.”
“We call on Iran and its proxies to cease their attacks and remain ready to take further steps in response to further destabilizing efforts.”
02:29 – Source: CNN
Hear what White House officials said Biden told Netanyahu
The decisions taken by Israel's war cabinet will determine the immediate next steps.
One member, Benny Gantz, said Israel “will exact a price from Iran in any way and time that suits us.”
Hardliners in the Israeli government are calling for decisive action. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a response that “reverberates throughout the Middle East” and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Israel should “go crazy”.
An hours-long wartime cabinet meeting on Sunday ended without a decision on how Israel would respond, Israeli officials said.
The war cabinet is determined to respond, but the timing and scope have not yet been decided, officials said. One of the key dilemmas facing the cabinet is deciding how quickly Israel should respond. The official said the Israeli military was tasked with coming up with additional response options.
Israel “does not want any serious escalation with Iran” to the United States, a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Sunday.
“They are trying to protect themselves and protect themselves,” the official said.
Iran said on Sunday that a “new equation” had opened in its hostile relationship with Israel, and warned of “even larger” attacks against the country if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decides to retaliate.
“We have decided to create a new formula: If from now on the Zionist regime attacks our interests, assets, character and people, we will retaliate, wherever and whenever.” said. Hossein Salami of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) told Iranian state television. “Zionist regime” is the term Iran uses to refer to Israel.
