shot down 99% of missiles and drones. A little girl is serious –

The revenge promised by Tehran for the April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, in which at least 16 people died, including two commanders of the Guardians of the Revolution, has arrived. Overnight, over 200 drones and cruise missiles, almost all intercepted by the Iron Dome defense systems, were launched on Israeli military targets by the Islamic Republic and its regional allies: the Yemeni Houthis, the Iraqi Shiite militias and Hezbollah. The Lebanese “Party of God” continued to hurl Katiuscha rockets at the Golan Heights until the first light of dawn, when the invitation from the authorities to leave the shelters had already reached Israel at four in the morning local time. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had assured that he was prepared to react and had a nightly telephone conversation with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who convened the G7. Tel Aviv claims to have shot down 99% of the drones and missiles, a success guaranteed by anti-aircraft support from the USA, Great Britain and Jordan. That 1% would have hit an air base in the Negev desert, causing infrastructural damage defined as “very small” by Israel and “heavy” by Iran. A Bedouin girl was seriously injured by shrapnel during the attack. Throughout the country, there are around thirty residents who have resorted to medical treatment, mostly bruised in the stampedes towards shelter.

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Biden claimed to have contributed to neutralizing “almost all” Iranian offensive means and will hear from the G7 allies, this year chaired by Italy, to agree on a “united diplomatic response” to Tehran’s aggression, which was condemned by Western chancelleries and the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. At 10 pm Italian time, at the request of Israel, the UN Security Council will be convened. Russia, which had shown support for Iran after the attack on the consulate in Syria, expressed itself only through its deputy representative at the Glass Palace, who feared a “new acute crisis”. China expressed “deep concern” and called on the parties to “calm”. Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which has put its army on alert, have asked the contenders for “maximum moderation”. The Israeli media leaked Netanyahu’s promise of a “significant”, or even “unprecedented”, reaction to the Iranian initiative. Washington immediately intervened to correct the situation. According to the Israeli media, Biden, in his phone call with the prime minister of Tel Aviv, asked him not to react. American newspapers then give voice to senior officials who express concern about their ally’s “frantic” military conduct and fear that Israel will respond hastily and disproportionately. In the meantime, something is moving and other well-informed people report shortly afterwards to the New York Times that Israel will coordinate its reaction with its allies.

Iran’s representation at the United Nations said it acted on the principle of self-defense after what it deemed an attack on its territory. And if Tehran had not responded to Damascus’s blow, internal pressures within Iran would have risen dangerously. The Israeli war cabinet will meet in the next few hours to evaluate the next moves. Biden, who in official statements reiterated his “iron” support for Israel’s defense, in private, according to NBC, said he was worried that Netanyahu was trying to drag the United States into a broader and deeper conflict. The White House believes that the Israelis are not seeking a direct confrontation with Iran, in light of the resources used in the war in Gaza, but it is not certain. Washington had deemed the attack on the Iranian consulate too risky, judging it to be detrimental to the negotiations on the release of the hostages held by Hamas. “I don’t think they had a strategy,” a senior US administration official confided to NBC, “the Israelis don’t always make the best strategic decisions.”