What A Day: Scared of his own shadow war

Iran launched an attack on Israel in response to Israel’s earlier strike on an Iranian consulate, as the Middle East lurched closer to an all-out regional war. The question now becomes how Israel will respond.

• Iran’s retaliatory strike on Saturday brought the two countries’ long-running shadow conflict bursting into the light. The move followed Israel’s April 1 airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic outpost in the Syrian capital of Damascus that killed two senior Iranian generals. Israeli officials said the Iranian attack included more than 300 missiles and drones, and the incident marks the first time Iran had launched a direct attack on Jerusalem. Yet despite the large show of firepower, the Iranian barrage did very little damage. Twenty-five of the 30 cruise missiles launched toward Israel were intercepted by Israeli fighter jets, and none were able to enter the country. Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said a “few” of the nearly 120 ballistic missiles fired towards the country fell inside its borders, causing slight damage to infrastructure on the Nevatim Air Force Base, which remains fully operational.

• The assault critically injured a 10-year-old girl, but caused no other casualties, according to Hagari. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement late Saturday that the U.S. military shot down “dozens” of missiles headed for Israel from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. The statement, in part, read: “We condemn these reckless and unprecedented attacks by Iran and its proxies, and we call on Iran to immediately halt any further attacks, including from its proxy forces, and to de-escalate tensions. We do not seek conflict with Iran, but we will not hesitate to act to protect our forces and support the defense of Israel.”

• Iran issued a statement saying that its military action was in response to the Israeli airstrike in Damascus, and said that Tehran now considers the matter “concluded.” President Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reaffirmed the United States’ Commitment to Israeli Security. However, Biden told Netanyahu that the United States would not participate in any Israeli counter-offensive against Iran, multiple outlets reported citing unnamed U.S. officials. Biden said he told the Prime Minister that Israel has “demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend itself.” Israel’s war cabinet weighed its response to the attack on Monday.

A chorus of international leaders urged Israel to proceed with restraint. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said it was time to “step back from the brink” of further escalation in the region as tensions remain white-hot. On Monday evening, four U.S. officials told NBC News that they expect an Israeli military response to be limited in scope and involve strikes against Iranian military forces and Iranian-backed proxies outside of the country.