Iran on Saturday launched multiple waves of drones and missiles toward Israel in retaliation for Israel’s attack on an Iranian site in Damascus, Syria, this month. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said a “swarm of over 200 killer drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles” had been launched toward Israel. Many have been intercepted, according to the IDF.
Iranian strikes have hit Irbil in northern Iraq and the Arad region in southern Israel. An Israeli air base was also hit, causing “minor damage to infrastructure,” according to the IDF. Targets were intercepted in Jerusalem and Dimona on Saturday evening.
Iranian missile and drone attacks were launched at Israel from positions in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, according to the Iranian state-run Tasnim News Agency. In a statement, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli barracks in the Golan Heights, an Israeli-occupied strip of Syria, with a barrage of rockets after midnight local time.
The escalation prompted airspace closures in neighboring countries. Egypt suspended flights to Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, according to Egyptian state TV. The IDF described the wide-scale Iranian attack as a “major escalation.”