• The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps says in a statement that it has begun an attack on Israel using “dozens of drones and missiles”.
• The Israeli army says Iran has launched several drones against Israeli territory, nearly two weeks after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria. The military says the drones will take hours to arrive.

• Lebanon announces temporary closure of its airspace

  The Lebanese government says it will reopen its airspace at 7 am local time (04:00 GMT).

  The country joins Iraq, Jordan and Israel in closing its airspace.

• Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari has issued a statement in which he said, “We are closely monitoring Iranian killer drones that are en route to Israel sent by Iran”.

  “This is a severe and dangerous escalation. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack from Iran”.

  Netanyahu has convened Israeli war cabinet

  The office of the Israeli prime minister says that the war cabinet has convened at military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

  This comes shortly after Iran said that it has begun an attack on Israeli territory with drones and cruise missiles.

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    The IRGC has released a statement

    The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has released a statement saying:

    “We launched an operation using drones and missiles in response to the Zionist entity’s crime of targeting the Iranian consulate in Syria”.

    “The operation was carried out with dozens of missiles and drones to strike specific targets in the occupied territories”, the statement read.

     (20:49 GMT)
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    Jordan’s air defence ready to shoot down any Iranian aircraft that violate its airspace

    Reuters, citing two regional security sources, reports that Jordan’s air defences are ready to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones or aircraft that violate its airspace.

    The sources said the army was also in a state of high alert, and that radar systems were monitoring drone activity

     
  •  (20:43 GMT)

     

    Iraq closes its airspace 

    Iraq’s Transport Ministry has announced that the country’s airspace is now closed.

    The management of Erbil International Airport also confirmed in a news statement that the decision to close Iraqi airspace also included the Iraq’s Kurdish region.

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     (20:40 GMT)

    Israeli airspace set to close 

    Israeli airspace will be closed to arrivals and departures as of 22:30 GMT, according to the national airports authority.

    Iran has launched a direct attack from Iranian soil: Israeli military 

   (21:15 GMT)

  Syria puts its ground-to-air defence systems around capital, major bases on high alert: Report

  Reuters, citing army sources, reports that Syria has put its Russian-made Pantsir ground-to-air defence systems on high alert around the capital, Damascus and major bases in the event of Israeli strikes.

  The sources said they expected Israel would retaliate to any attack from Iran by targeting army bases and installations where pro-Iranian militia were based.

   (21:05 GMT)

Iran has launched hundreds of drones as well as cruise missiles towards Israel, the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on the Jewish state, moving years of shadow war into the open and putting world capitals on high alert for major escalation as the six-month-old war in Gaza threatens to drag the Middle East into a full-blown regional conflagration.

The launch of what are believed to be powerful Iranian-manufactured Shahed drones was confirmed by both the Israeli military and what Iran’s state-linked Press TV described as military sources at about 11pm local time on Saturday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said more than 100 drones had been launched.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corp said an hour later it had also launched ballistic missiles at “specific targets” in Israel as part of what it deemed “Operation True Promise”.

“In response to the numerous crimes committed by the Zionist regime … the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired dozens of missiles and drones at specific targets inside the occupied territories [Israel],” state TV quoted a Guards statement as saying.

The attack was expected to unfold over a number of hours, with the first wave reaching Israel at around 2am local time (midnight BST).

The New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence sources believe the expected targets would be Israeli military installations in the occupied Golan Heights, in the far north, and the Negev desert, in the far south.

Dozens of drones were spotted flying from Iran in the direction of Israel over Iraqi airspace, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters, while Israel’s Channel 12 reported at midnight local time that the first Israeli interceptions of the Iranian drones had begun over eastern Syria and Jordan.

Yemen’s Houthi militia, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, also said overnight they had joined the attack against Israel.

The roar of Israeli air force jets could be heard across the country overnight. The country’s sophisticated multi-layered air defence system was expected to be able to intercept relatively slow-moving drones, although it could be overwhelmed by large volumes of incoming fire.

There has been nearly two weeks of speculation about when, where and how Tehran or its proxy forces would respond to the 1 April strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital of Damascus which killed Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards, and eight other officers.

Israeli officials almost never claim responsibility for attacks carried out on foreign soil. Tehran has blamed Israel for the strike.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly promised to respond against Israel over the attack, while Israeli officials have warned several times that the country’s forces would strike Iran directly if it launched any retaliatory action from its territory, raising fears over what is now a rapidly escalating tit-for-tat.

On Saturday, Israel’s armed forces were on full alert, and an announcement was made that schools will be closed for the next two days. Israeli, Lebanese, Iraqi, Jordanian and Iranian airspace have been closed. Neighbouring Jordan has declared a state of emergency.

There were unconfirmed reports overnight that US, UK and Jordanian planes had been mobilised to intercept the Iranian attack. Iran’s defence minister, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, told state TV in response that “any country that allows its airspace or soil to be used for Israel to attack Iran will receive a firm response from us”.

Israel has attacked scores of Iranian-linked targets in Syria during the 14-year-old civil war there with the apparent intent of disrupting arms transfers and other cooperation with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

Since the war in Gaza began six months ago, there have been near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border that have threatened to escalate into full-blown conflict.

A direct attack by Iran on Israel, however, was not believed to be on the cards: Tehran’s leaders have previously made clear that they are not seeking a war with Israel, which could also draw in the US.

Iran has never responded with such force to previous attacks, including many covert Israeli operations on its soil, or the US assassination of the powerful Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in 2020.

US president Joe Biden cut short a weekend stay at his Delaware beach house and returned to the White House to meet his national security team and monitor the situation shortly before the attack was announced.

The US leader, who this week reiterated Washington’s “iron-clad” commitment to the security of Israel, its most important Middle Eastern ally, was being regularly updated and was in constant communication with Israeli officials as well as US partners and allies, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement late on Saturday.

The latest war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s 7 October attack in which 1,200 were killed and another 250 abducted, has already spread to fronts with Lebanon and Syria and drawn long-range fire at Israeli targets from as far away as Yemen and Iraq.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza, where the 2.3m population is facing a dire humanitarian crisis and some areas have slipped into famine.

Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that a IRGC helicopter had boarded and taken into Iranian waters the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries

What we're covering

Jordan declares state of emergency over Iranian attack on Israel

Jordan has declared a state of emergency, state-owned Al Mamlaka news reports, amid fears of an Iranian attack on Israel.

Earlier this evening, Jordan announced it is temporarily closing its airspace to all incoming, departing and transit aircraft, saying the situation would be “continuously updated and reviewed according to developments.”

Interference in Jordanian air traffic affected Jordan’s GPS system prompting planes in the area to use alternative navigation systems, Haitham Misto, the chairman of Jordan’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, says on Al-Mamlaka.

IDF tracking more than 100 drones already heading to Israel from Iran

So far, the Israeli military has identified more than 100 drones launched from Iran at Israel.

The Israeli Air Force is tracking the drones and is preparing for additional waves of attacks, which may also include missiles.

The drones that are currently being tracked are expected to reach the country within hours, though the IDF will work to intercept them at an earlier stage.

Other threats, including ballistic missiles or cruise missiles, will take less time to reach Israel, and the IDF says it will update accordingly.

The IDF says it is well-prepared to handle the Iranian attack, and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi held another assessment in the last few hours.

Dozens of IAF fighter jets are currently in the skies and are prepared to strike wherever needed, according to the IDF.

Iraq says it is closing its airspace as Iran launches attack on Israel

Iraq announces that it is closing its airspace and suspending all air traffic after Iran launched a drone attack on Israel.

“Iraq’s airspace has been closed and air traffic has been halted,” Transport Minister Razzak al-Saadawi tells state news agency INA. The Civil Aviation Authority says the closure will last from 11:30 pm (2030 GMT) until 5:30 am (0230 GMT).

IDF says it struck Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in response to drone attack earlier today

Unrelated to the ongoing Iranian attack on Israel, the IDF says it struck Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in response to an explosive-drone attack on northern Israel earlier today, which seriously wounded a security officer.

Hezbollah sites were hit by fighter jets and artillery shelling in Kharayeb, Wardiyeh and Khilat al-Daba, the IDF says.

A member of Hanita’s security team was wounded in the earlier drone attack on the community.

Israel has reportedly begun intercepting Iranian drones over Jordan and Syria

Channel 12 reports, without citing any sources, that Israel has begun intercepting Iranian drones over Syria and Jordan.

The ability to do so is thanks to an aerial umbrella set up by the US in cooperation with regional allies.

Meanwhile, Iran’s defense minister has issued a statement warning neighboring countries that any of them that open their airspace to Israel in order to intercept the drones will be targeted.

Iran-linked media says Tehran has launched third wave of drones at Israel

Iran-linked media reports that Tehran has launched a third wave of drones at Israel.

European Jewish communities raise readiness level following Iran’s attack on Israel

Jewish communities are entering a state of “heightened vigilance” following Iran’s drone attack on Israel, a leader of European Jewry says.

“Given the current situation, Jewish communities in Europe have raised their level of preparedness,” Pinchas Goldschmidt, the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, says in a statement Saturday night. Iranian proxies have in recent years targeted Jews across Europe, including in Greece and Bulgaria, Goldschmidt notes.

Separately, the secretary of the Organization of American States, or OAS, Luis Almagro warns that Iran may target Jewish communities in Latin America. This applies especially to “autocratic regimes with close ties with Iran and its proxies,” Almagro says at a symposium in Washington DC, organized this weekend by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and B’nai B’rith International.

Jordan’s air defense ready to shoot down any Iranian aircraft that violate its airspace — sources

Jordan’s air defense is ready to intercept and shoot down any Iranian drones or aircraft that violate its airspace, two regional security sources say.

They say the army is also in a state of high alert and radar systems are monitoring drone activity.