Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran early Friday morning, a senior U. S. official told ABC News.
The attack followed Saturday’s Iranian attack, when Tehran sent a barrage of more than 300 drones and missiles to targets in Israel, according to Israeli military officials. All of them were intercepted by Israel and its allies, the U. S. added, officials said. .
The weekend’s Iranian attack came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, after which the IDF began bombing Gaza.
Israeli officials said the country’s Iron Dome defense system had undergone a primary review after Saturday’s Iranian attack, intercepting 99 percent of the 300 “threats of type” filed against it.
According to Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps introduced 170 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more than 120 ballistic missiles and more than 30 cruise missiles in the attack.
Hagari said that “99% of the threats introduced into Israeli territory have been intercepted, a very strategic achievement. “
Hagari said the attack resulted in only one known Israeli victim, a 7-year-old woman who was seriously wounded when she was hit by shrapnel from an intercepted missile.
Foreign ministers attending the G7 assembly in Capri, Italy, issued a lengthy condemnation of Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend.
“We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack. “April 13 and 14, which Israel defeated with the help of its partners, was a damaging escalation, as Iran fired shipments of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,” the leaders said.
“We will hold the Iranian government accountable for its malign and destabilizing moves and will be in a position to adopt additional sanctions or take other measures, now and in reaction to extra destabilizing initiatives,” the leaders said.
They added: “In light of reports of April 19 movements [from Israel to Iran], we urge all parties to work to avoid further escalation. “
The G7 leaders also called on Israel to do more to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.
-Anne Flaherty of ABC News
On Friday, the House cleared a key procedural hurdle by offering foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, despite dozens of Republican defections, and Democrats helped President Mike Johnson stave off defeat.
The Israeli bill provides about $26 million in aid.
Once approved, the House will debate the bill Saturday morning before voting Saturday afternoon to send it to the Senate.
Three missiles were fired from Israeli warplanes at Iran in Friday morning’s very limited attack, according to a senior U. S. official.
The Israelis were targeting an air defense radar near Isfahan that is part of the coverage of the Natanz nuclear facility, the official said. The first assessment is that the attack destroyed the array but the assessment is not complete, the official said.
The attack was intended to send a signal to Iran that Israel has such capabilities, but not intended to aggravate the situation, according to the official.
U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied any U. S. involvement in Israeli retaliation against Iran.
Blinken asked at a news conference early Friday morning whether Israel had informed the U. S. about the measures in Iran.
“I’m not going to respond,” Blinken said, adding that “the United States is not involved in any Israeli offensive. “
After meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he appreciated their advice, but added: “We will make our own decisions and the State of Israel will do everything possible to protect itself. “””.
Cameron told reporters after the assembly in Jerusalem: “It is transparent that the Israelis are making the determination to act. “
“We hope they do so in a way that does as little as possible to aggravate the situation and in a way that, as I said yesterday, is prudent and tough,” Cameron added.
Cameron also reiterated that “what we really want is to refocus on Hamas, on the hostages, on the delivery of aid and on a pause in the fighting in Gaza. “
“That’s why I’m here to communicate with the Israeli government, to communicate with the Palestinian Authority to try to move those things forward,” Cameron said.
-Ellie Kaufman of ABC News