Iran Attacks Israel

Iran’s missile attack on Israel has ended, for now, and virtually none of the missiles reached their targets.

Iran last night launched more than 300 drones and missiles in retaliation for an apparent Israeli strike on an Iranian embassy two weeks ago. Iran’s attacks caused minor damage at one military base, and shrapnel seriously injured a 7-year-old girl from an Arab Bedouin community in southern Israel. But Israel intercepted most of the drones and missiles. The U.S. and Jordan also shot some down.

The big question this morning is whether the conflict between the two countries will now return to its previous situation — a long-running shadow war — or enter a more dangerous new stage.

Last night did represent something new: Experts believe it was the first time Iran attacked Israel from Iranian territory. But Iran telegraphed the attack days in advance, and it did not cause extensive casualties — which increases the likelihood that both countries will be willing to de-escalate.

Today’s newsletter tells you what else we know. You can follow the developments all day on The Times’s website and app.

What happened last night

• Air-raid sirens sounded across Israel around 2 a.m. Loud booms rang out in Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Explosions illuminated the night sky as Israel, the U.S. and Jordan intercepted the missiles. (See video of the attack.)

• The weapons that Iran used were more sophisticated than those that Hamas (which Iran finances) and other groups have recently fired at Israel. Last night’s weapons “can travel much farther, and some of them can travel much faster,” our colleague Jin Yu Young explained.

• Some Iranians gathered in Tehran to celebrate the attack. Others stockpiled fuel.

How leaders responded

• Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, wrote on social media: “We intercepted. We blocked. Together we will win.” Hamas expressed support for the attack.

• The attacks prompted emergency diplomacy. President Biden expressed “ironclad” support for Israel and planned a meeting with the Group of 7 leaders today. The United Nations Security Council is also expected to convene. Israel’s war cabinet is set to meet today.

• Israel’s defense minister said that the confrontation with Iran was “not over.” A top Iranian official wrote on social media: “The matter can be deemed concluded. However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe.”

What the attacks mean

• Some analysts said that the attack was mostly performative. Michael Singh, a former senior director for Middle East affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, told The Wall Street Journal, that it was “a slow-moving, thoroughly telegraphed, and ultimately unsuccessful retaliation.”

• Other experts called the attack more significant. Ahron Bregman, an expert at King’s College in London, called it an “historic event.” It brought Iran’s long shadow war against Israel into the open. The two rivals have no direct channels of communication, which can lead to dangerous military miscalculations.

• One reason to believe Israel may respond: “Any normalization of direct strikes by Iran is intolerable to the Israeli public and leadership,” The Economist magazine wrote. Dana Stroul, the former top Middle East policy official at the Pentagon, said, “Given how significant this attack was, it is difficult to see how Israel cannot respond.”

• Understand the shadow war: We recommend this article by Alissa Rubin and Lazaro Gamio. Iran largely fights through its proxies, like Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran provides arms, training, and financial aid to more than 20 groups in the Middle East. Israel conducts much of its fighting through espionage and assassinations.

Other Middle East news

• Hezbollah — an Iranian ally — fired rockets at an Israeli military site yesterday. In response, Israel said its fighter jets had struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

• Clashes across the West Bank wounded dozens of Israelis and Palestinians after a missing Israeli teenage boy was found dead. Israel’s military said that he had been killed in a terrorist attack.

• Several nations including Belgium and Canada have halted arms deals with Israel.

THE LATEST NEWS

2024 Election

• In the latest Times/Siena Poll, Biden’s popularity improved slightly. Donald Trump now holds only a slight advantage — 46 percent to 45 percent.

• Trump is considering which potential running mates might help him raise money.

More on Politics

• Arizona’s Supreme Court reinstated an 1864 law that bans almost all abortions. Patients at an Arizona clinic described their anxiety.

• Four Native American tribes in South Dakota barred Gov. Kristi Noem from their reservations after she said that Mexican drug cartels had a foothold there.

International

• Cycling is an integral part of Colombia’s identity. This year, a number of robberies and assaults on cyclists have left many riders in Bogotá on edge.

• A decade ago, the terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria. Read the story of one woman who was captured.

• Drones keep Russian and Ukrainian troops from moving on the battlefield, The Washington Post reports.

• Thousands of protesters in Niger called for the withdrawal of the U.S. forces there. Russia has been supporting the country.

• A stabbing attack that killed six in an upscale mall in Sydney, Australia, has shocked the country.

Other Big Stories

• The Vessel, a 150-foot-tall sculpture in Manhattan, will reopen this year with new safety measures. It was closed in 2021 after a series of suicides.

• Pittsburgh reopened a bridge that it closed as a precaution after barges broke loose on the Ohio River.

• O.J. Simpson owed millions to the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson at the time of his death.

THE SUNDAY DEBATE

A senior NPR editor accused his outlet of having a liberal bias. Is he right?

The claim: NPR’s coverage of multiple issues — Covid, Hunter Biden’s laptop, the war in Gaza — shows that “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview,” Uri Berliner, the NPR editor, writes for The Free Press. “An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR.”