The Latest | Iran launches its first-ever full-scale military attack on Israel

Iran launched its first full-scale military attack against Israel on Saturday, sending drones toward Israel. Iran’s state-run media reported that dozens of drones had been fired.

The Israeli army’s spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said it would take several hours for the attack aircraft to arrive and that the country was prepared.

Iran had been threatening to attack Israel after an airstrike earlier this week widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.

Israel has made missile defense a priority, with a variety of air-defense systems available to shoot down incoming missile and drone fire.

Currently:

— President Joe Biden cut short a weekend stay at his Delaware beach house to meet with his national security team and monitor the situation in the Middle East as Iran launched an attack against Israel.

Here is the latest:

ISRAELI ARMY SAYS IT IS DETERMINED TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY

The Israel Defense Forces says that it is prepared to defend itself against a massive drone attack launched by Iran.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the army’s spokesperson, said the country is closely monitoring the drones that are headed to Israel.

“Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness,” he said. “Together with our partners, the Israel Defense Forces is operating at full-force to defend the State of Israel and the people of Israel.”

US PLEDGES UNWAVERING SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL AMID IRANIAN ATTACK

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Saturday that the United States “will stand with the people of Israel and support their defense against these threats from Iran.”

The Pentagon reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Israeli counterpart “and made clear that Israel could count on full U.S. support to defend Israel against any attacks by Iran and its regional proxies.”

National security adviser Jake Sullivan also spoke with his counterpart to reinforce Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to Israel’s security.

ISRAEL CLOSES ITS AIRSPACE AS IT ANTICIPATES DRONE ATTACK

Israel says it has closed its airspace after Iran launched dozens of drones against it late Saturday.

Israeli aviation authorities said they were closing the country’s airspace to all flights as of 12:30 a.m. local time (5:30 p.m. EDT).

ATTACK REPRESENTS FIRST FULL-SCALE ASSAULT ON ISRAEL BY IRAN

The attack late Saturday marked the first time Iran had ever launched a full-scale military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran has a vast arsenal of drones and missiles. Tehran’s choice of the Shahed-136 drones both give Israel and its allies hours to shoot down the bomb-carrying drones. For the time being, it does not appear Iran has used any of its ballistic missiles in the attack, which would pose a greater risk to Israel.

The Associated Press