The Latest | Israel hails interception of drones and missiles in unprecedented attack by Iran

The Latest | Israel hails interception of drones and missiles in unprecedented attack by Iran

Israel hailed the success of its defences in the face of an unprecedented attack by Iran involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

An Israeli military spokesman said Sunday the launches numbered more than 300, but 99 per cent of them were intercepted. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Iran fired 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles. Several ballistic missiles reached Israeli territory, causing minor damage to an air base.

The Iranian attack on Saturday, less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building, marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel's six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on October 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.

An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,000 people, according to local health officials.

Here is the latest: JORDAN REPORTS IT BROUGHT DOWN IRANIAN OBJECTS OVER ITS TERRITORY AMMAN, Jordan — The Jordanian Council of Ministers says that its forces "dealt with" parts of the Iranian attack that flew over its territory, "to prevent them from endangering the safety of our citizens and residential and inhabited areas." It said that fragments fell in multiple places but did not cause any significant damage or injuries.

The German Foreign Ministry said in a travel advisory Saturday that the Jordanian air force had shot down Iranian drones over Jordan, including over the capital, Amman.

Jordan's airspace was reopened on Sunday morning.

JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER CONDEMNS THE IRANIAN ATTACK TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday condemned Iran's attack on Israel as a move to worsen the ongoing Middle East situation.

"I am deeply concerned and strongly condemn the escalation,'' he told reporters.

Kishida said his government will do the utmost for the safety of Japanese citizens in the region, and stressed the importance of diplomatic effort to prevent further escalation of tensions. He said there has been no report of injury to Japanese nationals so far from the attack.

Kishida made the comment shortly after returning to Tokyo after a weeklong visit to the United States, where he stressed Japan's role as a committed partner for the US in global security and other issues.

IRAN SAYS ITS STRIKE WAS MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN IT EXPECTED TEHRAN, Iran — The chief of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says the operation against Israel was more successful than expected.

Gen. Hossein Salami, in an interview with state TV, said they were still collecting information but that ''the part of the hits that we have detailed and documented reports from the field show that this operation was more successful." He also said the Iranian forces had carried out a limited operation that matched ''the evil that the Zionist enemy had done." Salami described the Israeli air defence system as complex, multi-layered and advanced and said passing through this system was a very difficult task.

"It means designing an operation that can pass drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles through this space and destroy them (targets) on the ground with extremely high accuracy,'' he said.

HAMAS LAUDS IRAN'S ATTACK ON ISRAEL CAIRO — Hamas on Sunday praised Iran's unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel, saying it was a "deserved response to the crime" of a strike on Iran's consulate in Syria two weeks ago.

The strike on the Iranian diplomatic compound on April 1 killed two Iranian generals and was widely attributed to Israel.

Hamas, an Islamic militant group backed by Iran, also appealed for continued support for its war with Israel in Gaza, now in its seventh month. Hamas directed the appeal at Arab and Islamic nations, as well as Iran-backed groups in the region.

Hamas said in the statement that it is fighting for "the right of our Palestinian people to freedom and independence and the establishment of its Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital." Hamas has been branded a terror organisation by the West and has rejected a so-called two-state solution, instead seeking Israel's destruction.

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(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)