Iran-Israel conflict LIVE | US denies Tehran gave prior notice about attack
G-7 condemns attack; US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaches out over phone to the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt
Unequivocally condemning in the strongest terms Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack against Israel, the G-7 leaders on Sunday (April 14) said the development risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation even as the UN Security Council decided to convene an emergency meeting discuss the issue.
Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel overnight, which Tehran said was in response to the April 1 strike on its consulate in Syria. An Israeli military spokesman said Sunday 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.
Israeli minister Benny Gantz, an official statement, said on Sunday: “We will build a regional coalition and exact the price from Iran in the fashion and timing that is right for us.”
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday reached out over phone to the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, while Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had calls with his Saudi and Israeli counterparts, amid signs of an escalating crisis in the Middle East following Iran’s strikes on Israel.
History of enmity
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.
Follow live updates below:
