It is just after 7am Israel local time and Israel's military is reporting the Iranian attack has stopped, several hours after Iran said its 'limited' operation has "concluded" - which involved an unprecedented hundreds of suicide drones as as well as ballistic missiles sent against Israel in retaliation for the April 1st Israeli attack on Iran's embassy in Damascus. Below is the top story from English-language Times of Israel:
Hebrew media reports claim that not a single drone or cruise missile managed to infiltrate Israeli airspace.
According to the unsourced reports, most ballistic missiles were also knocked down outside of Israeli airspace.
A report in Ynet says some 20 cruise missiles were downed short of Israel’s borders. The US, UK and Jordan helped take down many of the drones.
Israel is reporting very little damage inside the country (though previously admitting "minor damage" against at least one key airbase in the south).
After the enormous Iranian drone and missile swarm a senior Israeli official has been quoted by Israel's Channel 12 as saying "Iran’s attack was a strategic failure." The official added in a threatening manner, "Now they can get ready and not sleep in peace." Israel's war cabinet appears to be readying a military response...
Crucially, the Biden White House appears to be strongly signaling to the Netanyahu government that the attack is 'done' and that the United States will not back any follow-up counterattack operations against Iran:
US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US will not aid any Israeli counterattack on Iran, US media report, citing senior administration officials.
Axios and CNN report that message was passed during a phone call between the pair.
Axios reports that Biden told Netyanyahu the US will oppose any Israeli counterattack.
CNN reports that Biden said the US will not take part in any such counteraction.
Israel has called on a United Nations Security Council meeting to condemn the Iranian aggression, which is expected to take place late Sunday. The US administration appears to be lobbying for a status quo and for Israel to not mount a strong response.
Below is a portion of the Axios report on the Bibi-Biden late night phone call:
Behind the scenes: Biden told Netanyahu the joint defensive efforts by Israel, the U.S. and other countries in the region led to the failure of the Iranian attack, according to the White House official.
- "You got a win. Take the win," Biden told Netanyahu, according to the official.
- The official said that when Biden told Netanyahu that the U.S. will not participate in any offensive operations against Iran and will not support such operations, Netanyahu said he understood.
- U.S. Secretary of State Lloyd Austin spoke on Saturday with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant and asked that Israel notify the U.S. ahead of any response against Iran, a senior Israeli official said.
Meanwhile, Israel's official channels are filled with 'fighting words' like the following:
Israelis’ reality in the last hours:
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