Iran launched a drone attack on Israel late on Saturday night along with missiles in a first-ever direct attack on Israel. Several videos of the drone attack have been going viral on social media in which sirens and loud booms can be heard in the sky over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. 

Authorities said a 7-year-old girl was critically injured, news agency Reuters reported. 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, Hagari said, and had caused light damage to one Israeli military facility. The Israeli military said later that it was not advising any residents to prepare to take shelter, revising an earlier alert in what appeared to signal the end of the threat.

Why did Iran launch strikes at Israel?

Iran has vowed retaliation for what it called an Israeli strike on its Damascus consulate on April crimes. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the consulate attack. Iranian Mission to the United Nations warned, "Should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran's response will be considerably more severe." They further added, "Its strike was a punishment for "Israeli U.S. to "stay away". However, it also said Iran now "deemed the matter concluded". United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Iran's attack, and said he was "deeply alarmed about the very real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation."

Joe Biden warns Iran against attack on Israel

U.S. President Joe Biden, who on Friday (April 12) had warned Iran against an attack, cut short a visit to his home state of Delaware to meet national security advisers in the White House Situation Room. He pledged to stand with Israel. "Our commitment to Israel’s security against threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad," he said on X after the meeting.

The Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, now in its seventh month, has driven up tensions in the region, spreading to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawing long-range fire at Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq. While Israel and Iran have been bitter foes for decades, their long feud has mostly unfolded via proxies or by targeting each other's forces operating in third countries.

(With inputs from agencies)

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